Do you save all your receipts? I have a friend who saves all his receipts and logs all his expenses to keep track of where and how his money is being spent. What he does I think is a great idea, but when I saw how he did it, it seemed very inefficient and time consuming. It was very easy to forget to input a transaction here and there. I told him that there are many iPhone apps out there that help maintain your spending budget. I told him about Mint and Budgettracker and how everything is automated. He liked the idea but didn’t like the idea of the need to link all of his personal accounts together.

I recently discovered Shoeboxed. It’s an online service where they help you keep track of all your spending by organizing all your receipts into a sortable database. All you have to do is send in the receipts. You can send them all together in a prepaid envelope or just take a picture of them with your iPhone and email it to them. That’s probably more convenient than sending them in through first class mail. The process is very simple. I took the following information from the website and pasted them directly below.

1. Shoeboxed is easy to use! Simply mail your receipts, business cards, and other documents to us using our postage paid envelopes. Or you can send in photos of receipts and cards with your mobile phone or our iPhone app. And for all those pesky email receipts from vendors like Amazon.com, just forward them directly into your account via email.
2. When Shoeboxed receives a document from you, we scan it, OCR extract and human-verify the data that it contains, then categorize and organize the document online in your secure account. You just log-in, and all the work has already been done for you.
3. After your documents are processed into your Shoeboxed account, just relax! Everything is ready to be viewed, printed, emailed, downloaded, or exported from your account in a wide variety of formats including PDF, Excel, CSV, QuickBooks, and Quicken file types. You can also integrate your Shoeboxed data with our growing number of partners including FreshBooks, Outright, Evernote, Bill.com, BatchBook, Constant Contact, and many more.

Sounds very simple to me. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, so I can’t provide a complete review. But it really does seem like it’s something worth trying out, especially for free for 30 days. The price seems a little steep for me, but for someone who has a lot of transactions, it could be useful, especially for those who run their own businesses.

They have three different levels of subscription service: Business, Classic, and Lite, at $49.95, $19.95, and $9.95 per month respectively. If you opt for an annual service, you will receive 2 months for free. Also, right now, you can get $10 off any mail-in plan with SAVE10.

If you have experience with Shoeboxed, I’d love to hear your thoughts on their service.

Purchase items tax-free in Maryland during the week of August 8-14, 2010 on qualifying items such as clothing and footwear. The maximum single priced item that qualifies is $100. Accessories, including jewelry, watches, handbags, ties, belt buckles, umbrellas are amongst the items that do not qualify for tax-free. You can find additional information at the Maryland Comptroller website at http://www.marylandtaxes.com/shopmd/default.asp. I have summarized the FAQ’s listed in their webpage.

Q. What items will be eligible for tax-free purchase during Shop Maryland week?
A. Clothing and footwear are eligible; a few examples of tax-free clothing and footwear items are sweaters, shirts, slacks, jeans, dresses, robes, underwear, belts, shoes, and boots priced at $100 or less.

Q. Will any clothing items be taxable during Shop Maryland week?
A. Yes. Items that cost more than $100 will be taxable. Accessories, including jewelry, watches, watchbands, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, belt buckles, and backpacks will be taxable.

Q. If I use a department store coupon to reduce the price of a $110 item to $100 or less, do I have to pay the tax?
A. Retailers can issue discounts or coupons to reduce the sales price of an item to $100 or less, which will qualify it for the exemption.

So enjoy a week of tax-free shopping in Maryland. You can save 6%.

I am a strong advocate of Netflix. I just love it. For awhile, I used blockbuster online rentals but once I switched to Netflix, I never turned back. Although Netflix already boasts over 15 million subscribers, they’re not done yet. They’re preparing themselves to tap into Canadian market and will start offering streaming only service in a few months.

Currently, due to lower profit per subscriber numbers, the Netflix stock price is declining. As of right now at 11:32 am EST, the price is down 10.66% at $106.81. I believe this might be a good time to invest in some Netflix stock. The fundamentals haven’t changed and the future still looks bright.

If you have not taken advantage of Netflix service, you can still try it out for free for two weeks. You can cancel within the two-week trial period and pay nothing. You can simply cancel the service online so you won’t have to deal with trying to come up with excuses talking to a real live representative.

I wrote about Netflix service a few times already. I have listed them here so you can refer to them easily.

Netflix Streaming Review: Save Money With Netflix
Roku Becomes Friendlier with Netflix
Use Your Wii To Stream Netflix, Save 10%
Hulu Competes With Netflix

Now, you can receive $100 bonus when you trade in your gold for cash. Cash4Gold.com is offering a special $100 bonus when you trade in your gold valued at least $250. So when you trade in $250 worth of gold, you’ll receive an extra $100 bonus, totaling your receivable amount to $350.

Trading in gold at Cash4Gold.com is easy. You simply fill out a form to request a return pack. Cash4Gold will then send you a package where you can place all your broken jewelry in. The package is pre-paid so no additional postage is required. When the package arrives at Cash4Gold facility, they take a photograph of all the contents in the package and each individual item is assessed for value. Value is determined by the amount of gold present in the item, quality of gold, and the current price of gold. After the assessment, a check will be sent to the customer. The entire process takes about one week, a little longer depending on mail delivery time. The people at Cash4Gold tries to make the entire process as easy as possible for their customers. If you’re not satisfied with the amount paid, there is also a 12-day return policy.

Remember, the current price of gold is sky high at over $1,200/oz. Market analysts are indicating that there is still room for gold prices to increase by the end of the year and also into next year. If you have jewelry that you don’t wear and would like to get some cash value out of it, cash4gold is there to help you out with that.

I’ve read all of the FAQ’s from their webpage and listed below what I thought were important information.

Q: How is payment of my items determined?
A: Payment is based on gold content (karat), weight, and the daily price of gold.

Q: I paid $500 for my ring. I should expect to get $500 from Cash4Gold, right?
A: Retail stores mark up jewelry five, 10 and even 20 times or more. Cash4Gold pays for the “melt value” of your jewelry – that is, the value of the gold itself once it has been melted down and sent to the refinery. Craftsmanship is not a consideration when assessing value of your gold.

Q: The insurance company appraised my jewelry for $500, so I should receive $500 from Cash4Gold, right?
A: Insurance companies will appraise your jewelry based on “retail replacement value.” In other words, what will it cost to replace your jewelry if it is lost or stolen? Therefore, these appraisals do not consider the value of the gold itself and have nothing to do with payment you should expect from Cash4Gold.

Q: What testing methods are used to determine purity of gold?
A: Upon receiving your gold, Cas4Gold testers will first look for a stamp on the jewelry made by the manufacturer indicating the karat. Testers then have three testing methods (acid/scratch test, electronic tester, and X-ray fluorescence scan) to verify the gold purity of your items.

Q: I sent my Jewelry Return Pack today. When can I expect to receive payment?
A: You will need to account for the time it takes for your Pack to reach Cash4Gold and then for the amount of time it takes for your check to go from Cash4Gold to your home. Once received, most Packs are processed the same day. Due to inconsistencies in mail times, it should take a total of 10-14 days for you to receive payment.

Q: What can I do if I am not satisfied with the amount I have been paid?
A: If you are unhappy with your payment, call customer service at 1-800-241-1811 within 12 days of the date on the check to request your items be returned. Once we have your check, we will return your gold or jewelry, no questions asked.

Q: Some of my old gold jewelry has diamonds, or semi-precious stones, in the settings. Do I try to remove them before sending to you, or do you return them to me?
A: Any jewelry containing diamonds will be credited back to your account and paid for on your settlement sheet. Any jewelry containing semi-precious stones will not be paid for. We recommend that you remove these stones before sending.

I usually tip 15% for lunches and 20% for dinners. But what’s the proper percentage? I heard on the radio the other day that the average diner is tipping less these days as opposed to a couple years ago, probably due to the recession. It’s kind of sad to hear that because if you can afford to go out and eat, you can definitely afford to pay a little extra for good service you received.

I open this discussion up to the readers because I had an argument with some friends when we were ordering pizza and wings one night.  Total bill came out to be around $58 and one friend suggested just giving $60 total. Another friend said that was too low and suggested giving 15% tip while still another friend said 10% is sufficient. In a case where the delivery person provides the same service whether one pizza is ordered or 10 pizzas, do you just give a flat tip for both situations or by percentage of the purchase price? I’m not sure.

What about when you’re dining at a restaurant but you sit at the bar? Will tipping be less because you’re not sitting comfortably at a table? What about for beers and other alcohol? Do you tip for a bottle of beer that the bartenders just grab from the fridge and hand to you? I’m not sure.

When you order water instead of a drink at a full service restaurant, do you not tip the service for water or tip for the cost of a regular drink?

I was curious about all these scenarios and decided to find out for myself.

Tipping Rule of Thumb

1. Bellman at Hotels: $1-2 per bag

2. Hotel Maid Service: $1 per night

3. Full Service Restaurants: 15-20%; If using a coupon or discount, tipping should be based on pre-discounted price.

4. Take-Out/Curbside Service: 10%

5. Self-Serve Buffets: 10%

6. Bars: 10%

7. Cabs: 15% of full fare

8. Valet Parking: $2-5

9. Food Delivery: 10%

10. Salon/Barber: 20%

Have I missed anything? How much do you tip and what’s your rule of thumb?

It’s been very frustrating lately as this site has been very slow to load each page. I had no problems a week ago and I haven’t installed anything new since. But lately, each page has been very slow to load. I thought maybe perhaps it’s my internet connection but other sites load fairly quickly as my site lags behind.

I use Lunarpages as my host server. Perhaps they are the culprit. I don’t have enough traffic on my site to make it lag at this point (that would be a good problem to have). I installed Super Cache plugin to help increase the load speed but I haven’t noticed faster speed.

Any suggestion or tip is definitely welcomed, as I am a beginner blogger. Thanks in advance.

**UPDATE**

I called my host server, Lunarpages, and they informed me that the server where my MYSQL server is located is not running properly. They moved me over to another server where they promised me that it’ll run much smoother. I’ve done everything I can do on my part and they informed me it’ll take a day or so to complete the transition. So, hopefully, this will resolve itself and the site will run smoothly again.

How often do you change your light bulbs? If you use the out-dated incandescent light bulbs, you probably find yourself replacing the bulb once every 6 months or so. If you use the more energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, you might find yourself replacing them every 3-4 years. Now, imagine if you didn’t have to replace your bulbs for 17 years! That’s truly a “set it and forget it” kind of deal.

Recently GE announced a new bulb that will last 17 years before it finally dies. It is an LED (light-emitting diode) version, which is even more efficient that the compact fluorescent counterpart. Their use is very comparable to incandescent as you do not need to wait a few minutes before it is fully bright, as compact fluorescent light bulbs do.

However, the cost for each bulb will be in the range of $40-50 each.

Here’s what you can expect from these new 17-year LED bulbs:

• Expected to consume just 9 watts—compared with 40-watt incandescent/halogen or 10-watt CFL, while delivering nearly the same light output;
• Expected 25,000-hour rated life—will last 17 years (4 hours per day), which is 25 times longer than a general service 40-watt incandescent or halogen bulb and more than 3 times longer than a standard 8,000-hour rated life CFL;
• LED technology delivers the instant full brightness of an incandescent or halogen bulb;
• Durable solid-state design with no filament to break;
• Contains no mercury and will be RoHS compliant; and
• Feels cooler to the touch than CFLs and far cooler than incandescent bulbs.

Expect these new LED bulbs to hit your local supermarket shelves later this year or early next year.

**Update (July 20, 2010)**

Before I left the company, I was offered company stock options at $6/share, but was given no assurance that I would be able to cash it in in the future. I was told that most likely, I would only be able to cash them in if the company ever went public. Of course, I declined the offer. Boy, do I wish I could go back in time. It appears that the ipo price will be somewhere around $14-16/share.

Refer to my list of best online stock brokers to find the one that suits your needs, especially if you would like to purchase a few Ameresco shares on IPO day.

Ameresco, Inc, an alternative energy solutions company, and my former employer recently filed for an Initial Public Offering, valued at about $125 million. The company started back in 2001 and became profitable the very next year. Since then, their revenue increased from some $20 million to over $400 million from 2001 – 2009. It’s an incredible growth and I wish them much more success in the future.

Typically, news like this draws little attention from me, but I took a special notice since less than 4 months ago, I used to work for them. I worked for them for over 6 years and I learned many things and the experience I gained will be useful and practical to me for the rest of my life. I learned about saving energy and recycling, and using compact fluorescent light bulbs and programmable thermostats. I also learned about solar energy use along with other alternative energy applications. It was this company which allowed me to purchase my very first home,  and learned about extra allowances for tax deductions to fatten up my paychecks. Working for Ameresco provided me with inspiration I have today to save energy and money at the same time. It’s where I discovered my inspiration for Money Green Life.

When I first started my blog Money Green Life, the direction of the blog I was hoping was to write articles about saving energy and saving money at the same time. Since I have extensive knowledge about saving energy, I figured it was a good match. I still have visions of carrying out such hope as I will continue writing about the topic. However, I also have been having visions of expanding and writing about other topics that I am passionate about. I love the topic of energy, I’m always in the lookout for money saving/making opportunities, and I love playing poker. If these topics were to be combined together, you get a single common denominator in personal finance.

In this new direction of the blog, I plan to write about tips, advice, and reviews of products that help save energy thus saving money as I have been doing currently. In addition, I will also write about poker strategies that I have learned over the course of a few years I have been playing. With the money saved and money earned from saving energy and playing poker respectively, personal finance will come into play and I will write about tips and strategies that help to optimize money savings.

I am very excited with this new direction of this blog. I hope that you will find it useful.

12/14/2009

Sometimes, when we put items in our recycling bins, we don’t even second guess ourselves because it’s obvious. Paper, plastic, cardboard boxes, and aluminum cans among many others are common items that we recycle everyday. However, if we’re not careful, we may be doing more harm to the environment by recycling items that are not recyclables. I’ve compiled a list of everyday household items commonly mistaken as recyclables.

1. Shredded Paper and Paper Towels: If you thought whole paper and shredded paper were alike, you’d be wrong. Shredded paper are less valuable because longer fiber lengths can be recycled to be made into stronger higher grade paper as opposed to shorter fiber lengths. For the same reasons, paper towels and napkins have very little recycling value due to short fiber lengths. Also, paper mills that buy recycled paper sort according to quality. When the paper is shredded, it’s becomes impossible to determine quality and is tossed into the lowest quality paper pile. Recycling facilities also use a filtering process to weed out all the non-fiber contaminants and small bits of shredded paper often becomes filtered out. For these reasons, many facilities do not accept shredded paper. If you must recycle shredded paper, bag them separately in a clear plastic bag so the recycling personnel can see what’s inside the bag. Many recycling centers train their employees not to open any bags unless it can be clearly seen what’s inside them. Otherwise, they are tossed into the landfill.
2. Plastic Bags: Plastic bags can be recycled but recycling trucks won’t collect them. Plastic bags are the top nuisance at recycling facilities. They get caught in the machinery and they eat up valuable staff time, since workers have to remove them one by one. Instead, most of the plastic bags that are at the recycling facilities end up at the landfill. However, most grocery stores these days offer plastic bag recycling. Just bring in your extra plastic bags with you next time you go grocery shopping and drop these bags in. When these bags are handled properly, they can be easily recycled. It takes about 90% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than to recycle a pound of paper.
3. Plastic Bottle Caps: Plastic caps usually are not recyclable due to a different melting point than the bottles they come with. Most plastic bottles are made of polyethylene which are easily recycled. However, the caps are made of different material that may not be deemed recyclable. What you can do is remove the caps from the bottle and then toss the caps in with your normal garbage. Another available option is to collect them separately and recycle them at your local Aveda stores. They will recycle these caps and reuse them for new Aveda products. They only accept polyproplyene plastic for recycling (plastic #5). You will usually see a number on the the side of the cap or inside the cap. If you don’t see #5, toss them away.
4. Frozen Food Containers: Although common sense tells us that a simple food cardboard box can be placed in our recycle bins along with other recyclables, frozen food boxes should not be placed in the bin. Actually, they cannot be recycled due to a thin layer of plastic liner sprayed onto the box/container to prevent freezer burn. The extra coating prevents the paper to break down properly for recycling. Another carton that cannot be recycled are soy milk cartons. They also contain an extra layer of plastic coating that prevents the carton to break down prooperly. Next time, don’t think twice and just throw the frozen food box and soy milk cartons away along with your everyday garbage.
5. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: These compact fluorescent bulbs contain mercury so placing them in your recycling bins can be very harmful to the environment. Instead, place all unbroken bulbs separately and drop them off at your local recycling center. They will properly handle the bulbs not to release any mercury toxin into the atmosphere.

When in doubt, it’s best to check with your local recycling center and ask them if the item in question is recyclable. Usually, even if it’s not recyclable, you may still be able to drop it off somewhere where it will be properly handled that will be environmentally non-hazardous.