Ok then, if I cannot talk you out of moving, here are a few tips to make it a little easier. These tips are the product of 8 moves in a dozen years, five of which occurred in four consecutive years. In Arizona. In the summer. But I digress.

Color code your boxes

Take a minute to think about your new home. How many floors are there? How many rooms will you need boxes placed in? For example, you may want all of the kitchen, living room and dining room stuff put in the living room temporarily. Or you may want all of the bedroom stuff put in the spare bedroom down the hall so you can have room to sleep. Write down a list of the places you want boxes dropped off. We decided to have one color for each floor, so my list was:

1. First floor (kitchen, living room, dining room)
2. Master Bedroom & wife’s office
3. My office and den
4. Basement

For each drop off location, I assigned a color that made some kind on mnemonic:

1. First floor (kitchen, living room, dining room): Green (ground floor)
2. Master Bedroom & wife’s office: Blue (blue for two)
3. My office and den: Red (for danger, it’s a 3rd floor walk-up)
4. Basement (Black for basement)

Calculate roughly how many boxes you will need and then go to FindTape.com and order at least a dozen rolls of colored packing tape (3 of each color, or 2 of some, 4 of others, depending on how many boxes you estimate. Whatever you have for the kitchen, double it). It’s about as cheap as regular packing tape, and it comes in a few days. It’s better to over-order than under–at least you’re saving on shipping, and colored tape will find uses after your move. You should also buy about a dozen rolls of clear packing tape and at least two packing guns ($9 each at Home Depot).

When you start packing, load one tape gun with clear tape and the other with the color of the drop off location you are packing for. Create a box using clear tape (see below). Fill the box and tape it shut using the colored tape. Roll a line of colored tape around all four sides of the top of the box. Write with a permanent marker on the colored tape the room it’s going to and briefly, what’s in it. (If you don’t write on the box, you can resell the boxes or give them to a friend).

On moving day, you will have a color-coded stack of boxes that you or your movers will know instantly what is in them and where they should go.

Hire movers
If you can afford to hire professional movers, you should. If you cannot afford to, wait until you can. Movers, if they are professional, know what they are doing and can move heavy and bulky items in a fraction of the time you can. Moreover, most movers are motivated to get out quickly even if they’re paid by the hour. A few tips on hiring and using movers:

1. Don’t go with bargain basement movers. Get a mover whose cost is in line with the value of your possessions. If you’re still living with mostly IKEA, like I am, you can probably hire mid-range movers for $1200 to $1800 for a 2-3 bedroom move. If you have anything whose name includes reference to a French King, go for the top-end movers.
2. Insurance: if you have homeowners or renters insurance at either location, ask your insurance company if your move is covered. It probably is, as most policies cover your possessions wherever they are on the planet. Provided your move date is within one of your policies’ coverage period, there is no reason to pay for additional insurance from the movers.
3. Treat the movers right. Make sure you have a case of bottled water at the old and new location. If the move starts early, pick up a box of joe and some donuts ahead of time. And talk to the foreman about what they want for lunch and/or dinner. You may spend a $100 or $200 on these niceties, but the respect you show will be returned. No one wants to break the stuff of a guy they like. Cheapy McNoTip, however, somehow always finds a puzzle where his plates were.
4. Don’t forget to tip. Movers generally do not get a lot for the move, and a tip at the end of the job ($50-$100 per guy depending on the work and how well it was done) is more than appropriate.
5. Don’t rely on the estimator. Moving companies like to hire professional liars to conduct estimates. If they say 9:00, and you ask for an “early start,” they will agree, but the guys will show up at 9:00. Same too if you say five guys when they only offered four. Four guys will show up. At 9:00. When making your decision, think about any special treatment you’ve asked for, and see if you would still pick those movers without it.
6. Check the house after the truck is loaded, and check the truck after it is unloaded. Movers are just as honest (and dishonest) as the next guy, but mistakes can be made by anyone. I’m still pining for baking supplies I lost two moves ago.

Get organized about address changes
If you have a few weeks before your move, collect a list of your non-junk mail as it comes in. Add to that all the companies or government agencies that you know will need an address change notification. You will work off of this master list later, when the move is done and you make the address change. My basic list includes:

• DMV of new and old location
• You and your wife’s employers
• Gas, electric and oil companies
• Telephone companies
• Credit cards and banks (remember that your zip has changed, so when you enter it at a gas station or online, you need to use the new zip)
• Professional boards (bar association, medical association)
• Magazines
• Amazon or any other site you order from frequently

Bolster that with a forwarding request online, and you should not miss a package or letter (or bill). Keep in mind, even if you’ve signed up for e-billing, your credit card and bank addresses have changed. The credit card will likely be rejected if the billing address is out of date.

Don’t spend a lot of money on boxes
There is nothing so costly for the time you use it as moving boxes. Okay, maybe aluminum foil, but moving boxes are up there. The best way to get moving boxes is to have a friend who moved recently give you theirs. You can also get decent boxes from a local store (we had a GNC in our neighborhood that threw out more boxes than we could handle).

If you take odd or used boxes, first make sure they are still serviceable. You should not see any of the corrugation, and they should be able to hold their form against gravity (no flopping). It’s mostly the tape that keeps the stuff together, so a little wear and tear won’t hurt (provided you tape properly). Second, try to find boxes that are all the same size; or at least 4-5 of each size. Stacking uneven boxes is dangerous for you and your stuff.

You should also discuss with your mover how many and what type of boxes they will provide. Most movers will include several wardrobe boxes (the most valuable type of moving box) and an assortment of china, linen and book boxes. If you have a lot of heavy things, including books, shift the balance to book boxes. If you have lots of pillows and small appliances, shift towards the larger boxes. Finally, for last minute boxes, try Home Depot or Lowes. U-haul and UPS charge over $2.00 for simple boxes. Home Depot has book boxes for $.67 each. Find the moving section of your local store and stock up.

Learn how to tape a box
Here is my method. It may use some tape, but it won’t let you (or your stuff) down:

1. Turn the box over, push the inner flaps in and align the outer flap seams.
2. Using a tape gun, pull a length of tape from one side of the box, perpendicular to the seam, to the other side. There should be about a hand’s width of tape on both sides of the box. This perpendicular strip will keep the flaps aligned as you tape the seam.
3. Again, starting about a hand’s width from the bottom of the box, pull a length of tape tightly across the seam and cut it so there is another hand’s length on the other side.
4. If the boxes are not going to be stored long and there’s no risk of water getting to them, run two lengths of tape perpendicular to the seam at two spots, both midway between the first perpendicular strip and either end of the box. You should now have three roughly evenly spaced strips of tape going across the seam and one longer strip covering the seam. If you have particularly heavy things, or particularly weak boxes, you can run a long piece of tape along the perimeter of the sides, covering the hand’s width pieces of tape. This will create a tape basket that, even if the box breaks, should keep your stuff from falling out.
5. If the boxes will be stored a while or water (or bugs) might get to them, instead of running the two strips of tape above, run one long strip around the perimeter of the box so that half the tape is on the side and the other half is below the bottom of the box. Once you complete a perimeter around the box, cut the tape and fold it so that the dangling half sticks to the bottom of the box (the turns will become triangles that overlap at the corner). This will seal the box, so that bugs, water and everything else will need to get through cardboard before surprising you in your new house.
6. Flip the box over and fold the top flaps down (outside of the box, not inside). Take two short lengths of tape and join the flaps on diagonal sides. (For example, the right flap and the front flap are taped to each other on the near right corner, and the left flap and rear flap are taped at the far left corner). A small (1-2″) piece of tape will suffice to keep the flaps down while you load the box.
7. After you’ve filled the box, remove the small tape strips and switch to your colored tape gun.
8. Run a length of colored tape tightly across the top seam, sealing the box. If you stand next to the box so that the seam runs towards your stomach, you can pull the box in to insure it is well aligned as you tape it. (The boxes will be a bit wonky if you do not square them as they are taped. You should not see any cardboard overlapping the top flaps.)
9. Run a second length around the perimeter of the sides, so that the color is visible no matter how you stack the boxes.
10. Use a thick permanent marker to briefly note the contents (or at least something that will tell you what’s in it) and the target room in the new location.

Good luck, and congratulations on your new home!

It’s not easy doing a home inspection, mortgage loan and negotiating with sellers on a house in NY when you’re in Europe almost every week. Thanks to my lovely wife, we got it done and are moved in and ready for the next challenge.

Those who follow me on Twitter will have noticed that many of my Broken News posts have been hitting, but they have not been updating on this website. That’s a technical glitch we’re working through. Please bear with us while we work it out.

A lot has happened since my last blog post. Democrats lost the House and most of their lead in the Senate. Dictators have been toppled in the Middle East. The American Federation of Teachers and the SEIU both hired a new spokesperson, Barrack Obama. But some things have not changed enough, including Mr. Obama’s stance on world affairs. Which is akin to saying that unicorn feed has not changed.

In any event, now that the uphill battle has been won (at least in the House), look for more every-day advice and curmudgeonly wisdom on these pages. I’m working on a post about tips for moving, which I plan never to do ever again. Never.

It’s simple, it’s elegant and it’s what more than 52% of the American people believe: Barack Obama is outside the Circle of Trust:

Get yours now at store.dailydanet.com.

Tune in tomorrow night for the Daily Danet liveblog of the monthly narcissism conference at 8 p.m. Eastern.

We have crossed the debt Rubicon.

I tell you all this because, as Americans, we have crossed the debt Rubicon. We have to begin to face our consumerism and our debt issues openly and honestly. This is as true of our personal debt as it is of our public debt. The first step in that process is admitting that you have a problem. I am happy to report that, after about three years of focusing and firm, but not psychotic discipline, my wife and I have weened our consumer debt back down to nearly four figures and expect to pay it off in the next six months. The purpose of this article is to provide generalized guidance on how you can do the same.

First, some emotional advice: take a deep breath and relax. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Nothing is going to change overnight. Just like it took years to get this far into debt, it will take years to get out of it. Don’t dwell on the money or the depression. Don’t think about what you can’t have. Think about how much money you’re paying off each month, and then think about what you can do with that money when you’re free from debt. It will make your heart sing, trust me.

Second, a few disclaimers: this is not for people who are truly insolvent. If you are unable to make the minimum payment on your loans and credit cards, you need to seek protection, possibly in bankruptcy. This post is meant for people who have a lot of debt and are feeling overwhelmed.  If you’re beyond that and are already defaulting on debt and receiving calls from collection agencies, you should get help elsewhere.  There are places you can go for that guidance, some starting points are listed below. Everyone’s tolerance and preferences are different. Saving money is like dieting. Some people can go cold turkey and make drastic changes and stick with them. Dave Ramsey is the guy for you. Other people need to live by the 80/20 rule: live within the lines 80% of the time and relax and have the chocolate cake 20% of the time. If that sounds like you, this may help.  A word about credit counseling: anyone who tells you to stop paying your credit card companies is a scam artist, drop them like a hot rock.  A legitimate credit counseling agency would not put you at risk of default, but would negotiate better terms while you repay your credit cards.

This is the Law of Unintended Consequences once again slapping Congress in the face, but consumers are the ones feeling the sting.

Third, some lay of the land: as I have already mentioned here, and here, I am not a fan of the newly passed Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights. I work in the industry, so I suppose I am biased, but even so the unintended consequences should have been obvious. Although the credit card companies have made some egregious errors in judgment and there are clear systemic problems, these laws create massively perverse incentives against consumer interests. Banks will not lose money.  They will always find a way to protect their financial interest within the rules of the game.  As you may already know, credit card companies are reducing cardholders credit lines, changing grace periods,  and increasing their base interest rates. Many industry experts predict that 0% interest teaser rates and some rewards plans may also go away. This is the Law of Unintended Consequences once again slapping Congress in the face, but consumers are the ones feeling the sting.

So how to navigate this new morass, and get rid of your debt while keeping your sanity.  The general plan is to payoff the credit cards as fast as possible.  The way to do this is to get the lowest interest rate possible, so that your payments go towards principal, rather than interest.  The best way to ensure you’re getting the best interest rate is to know and improve your FICO score and your credit history.  Here are some simple steps to do that, and more importantly, why:

1. FICO Score: The first thing you need to do is obtain and monitor your FICO score and at least one credit report.  I use MyFICO.com, but FreeCreditReport.com and others are just as good.  You should check your FICO score and your credit report at least once per year under normal circumstances.  If you’re looking to make a major purchase (like buying  a house or a car), just paid down a large amount of debt or made other changes, you should check more frequently.  I subscribe to MyFICO’s monitoring service, which notifies me when my score fluctuates by more than a set amount.  I recommend that service, which costs about $85 per year.  Why? Credit card companies and most financial institutions base most of their decisions on your FICO score.  It may be unfair, but so is life.  If you know your score, you will know your chances of being approved for a 0% interest credit card, a mortgage loan or any other loan or insurance policy.  Knowing is half the battle.  The rest involves objective setting and TPS reports.

Knowing is half the battle.  The rest involves objective setting and TPS reports.

2. Use Your Credit Cards More: This may seem counter-intuitive, but you need to use your credit cards–or at least one of them–more often.  Credit cards are a financial tool (said the guy who works in the industry).  When used properly, they allow you to stretch your purchasing power, keep better control of your expenses, avoid carrying cash and checks, and a whole host of other benefits.  If you use them properly, there is no reason you will have to go into debt.  BUT, YOU MUST PAYOFF THE NEW AMOUNT EVERY MONTH. If you don’t do this, you will only be making things worse.  Pick the card that meets the following criteria: (i) a good rewards program that you can actually use (points for air miles are great, but if you don’t travel a lot, what good does it do you?  And should you really be traveling a lot if you’re trying to pay down $60,000 in debt? I’ve picked one with retail gift cards to give me more flexibility.); (ii) enough credit limit remaining to provide you with 1.5 months of recurring expenses (more on this later) and (iii) a reasonably low interest rate (this is only important if you need to carry a balance on this card–if you are starting from zero, the interest rate is irrelevant).  Then take this card, your new utility card, and do three things (a) use it for your recurring payments (more on that in a minute); (b) move it to the front of your wallet for groceries, gasoline and all the other expenses your now paying in cash or debit and (c) if possible, move any balance you have off of that card (it’s best to start with a brand new card with no balance, but if your credit isn’t great, this may not be possible).  Recurring expenses are monthly payments like your cable bill, your phone bill and your mobile phone.  Contact all of these companies and put them on auto-pay with your credit card.  Most companies will be happy to have the certainty of a credit card on file.  Some utilities, however, (like Con Ed) will charge a “convenience fee” for accepting credit cards.  Don’t pay this, it’s a waste of money.  Just keep paying them by check until they join the 20th century.  (That wasn’t a typo).  Why? This will do several things:
   1. Rehab. Most importantly, this will rehabilitate your credit.  When you pay your bill, credit card companies generally put you into one of three categories: (a) paid less than the minimum; (b) paid the minimum; or (c) paid more than the minimum.  Most companies will put you in the last category even if you pay a dollar more than the minimum.  If you put recurring payments and ordinary expenses on your credit card and pay off the entire amount every month, your credit history, and eventually, your FICO score, will improve.
   2. Affluency. Charging these amounts (and paying them off every month) will make you a medium to high-spend customer–your bank’s favorite friend.  If you’re like me, a family of two, you spend about $450 per month on cable, telephone, internet, mobile phone, NetFlix and other assorted recurring bills.  Groceries add another $1,200-$1,300 per month and gas adds another $250.  That’s $2,000 per month in expenses or $24,000 per year.  Keep in mind, this is money that you are already spending.  Banks earn money every time you use the card, even if you pay it off without paying interest.  (See my post here for more on interchange).  The bank will love you and it will treat you very differently than a customer that keeps a few thousand dollars and pays the minimum every month.  You will get more and better offers (and if you’re not a platinum cardholder, you probably will be soon) and when you call to negotiate a new rate, your spending habits will be taken into account.
   3. Simplicity. This will uncomplicate your life.  The utilities and other expenses you have to pay every month are to about 5-10 different companies.  This will make all those payments into one company at one time each month.  You can schedule this payment to coincide with the paycheck opposite your rent or mortgage payment.  (Banks will work with you to reschedule your due date.)
   4. Interest Free Loans. Credit cards give you a 20-28 day grace period (but the calculation of interest on the grace period often depends on whether you carry a balance, which is why its best to start with a blank slate).  By using the grace period, you’re stretching your money and taking a 20-28 day interest free.  Although your cable bill gets paid on the 1st, you might not pay off your credit card until the 20th.  For 19 days, that money sits in your checking, money market or savings account earning interest.  It may not seem like a lot, but $24,000 earning interest over the course of a year adds up.  And its money your giving away today.
   5. Rewards. Rewards points will accumulate fast.  If you’ve selected a card with a rewards program that works for you, you will see the effects almost immediately.  We use a Citi card with the Thank You Points program and redeem the points for retail gift cards.  6,000 points equate to a $50 card, so about every 2-3 months we can get a $50 gift card for Best Buy or Bed Bath and Beyond or somewhere else and either buy something we need or something we want, but wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.
   6. Protection. When you buy things with your credit card, depending on the brand and type of card, you will probably be getting price, warranty and theft protection under your card agreement.  This may not help for your weekly arugula salad, but it will help when you buy something at the drug store or supermarket that’s meant to last past dinner time.
3. Zero Percent Interest. This is the key to a speedy payoff: getting and manipulating zero or low-interest cards.  First, you should not apply for new zero percent credit cards if your FICO score is well below 700.  The market is still adjusting, but if your credit score is at 650 (the old “good credit”) you may want to try.  If you’ve rehabilitated your credit and you’re ready to start looking, try www.creditcards.com.  They provide a list of credit cards by type (zero interest, balance transfer cards, rewards, etc.)  The risk in applying and getting turned down, of course, is that by merely applying for a new credit card, your FICO score may go down.  (Your FICO score, among other things, is based in part on the number of times banks have looked into your credit history in the past six months.  So requesting a new credit card, asking for a higher credit line or applying for a loan are all things that should be done sparingly.)  The second option is to use what you already have.  If banks are not already, as you repair your credit, your existing banks will begin sending you balance transfer offers.  These rates are calculated based on your FICO score and credit history.  The better your history, the better your rate.  Here are some suggestions on how to use the zero percent or low interest rate cards:
   1. One Basket. Do your best to pick one card per year (most offers are good for 12 months) and load up only this card with all of the debt you are carrying.  This may not be possible at first, but work towards it as your goal.  This will do two things: (a) it puts all your eggs in one basket; you only need to make one payment per month and you will know how much you owe at any moment; (b) when it comes time to transfer the balance, when you get another card with a limited balance transfer fee (these are becoming more rare), you will only pay it once.  For example, let’s say you owe a total of $30,000.  If Capital One is offering 0% for 12 months with a 3% fee up to $75 per transfer; you would pay $75 to transfer one balance from, say a Chase card.  If, however, that $30,000 was split over 4 cards, you would need to do 4 separate transfers and the fee would cost you $300.  That $225 difference is a monthly payment.
   2. Flip it. As the offers expire, go to the next card or cards in your inventory and transfer the remaining balance to those new cards.  This will not be free.  As mentioned above, most cards have a balance transfer fee of about 3%, but some still cap this fee at a fixed amount ($75-$150).  The offers come out on a monthly basis, usually at the beginning of the month.  When you flip, be sure that you don’t miss a payment on the outgoing card.
   3. Don’t cancel the cards. This may seem counter-intuitive.  Part of your FICO score is based on the length of your credit history and the utilization of your available credit.  If you drop an existing credit card, your total available credit will go down and you will eventually only have a very short period of credit history with a handful of banks.  Moreover, as you accumulate cards, you will get offers on cards that have no balance.  Of course, use your judgment.  When your debt stabilizes, if you have 10 credit cards and only need three and six of them have a credit limit of $1,000, feel free to cancel those six.
   4. Keep the Utility Card Separate. Whether you have zero or low interest cards, do your best to keep them separate from the card you are using above for recurring and ordinary expenses.  If you are paying that off every month (and you had better be), the interest rate on that card is irrelevant, so don’t waste a zero percent balance transfer offer on that card.  (If that bank makes an offer and you need room, do take advantage, but things get complicated as the rules for which balances get paid down vary based on the bank and the new legislation).

   The lottery is a tax on people who can’t do statistics

4. Learn to Live Within Your Means. The first three suggestions were about what to do on a technical level.  The rest are about how to change your lifestyle.  This is one of the hardest things to do because it requires a fundamental change in your psyche.   Nonetheless, this is the most important step because without it, even if you hit the lottery tomorrow (and don’t play lotto, the lottery is a tax on people who can’t do statistics), you would eventually be back in debt.  Learning to live within your means requires  (i) an emotional detachment to money and consumerism; (ii) discipline to stick to decisions once they are made; and (iii) knowledge and know-how about finance and money.  This blog post, even at 3,700 words, won’t get you there.  What will is a lifetime of deciding to get back up when you’re knocked down.  Here are a few suggestions to start you on the path:
   1. Pay Yourself First. One of the easiest and most effective ways to learn to live within your means is to pay yourself first.  Decide on an amount of money that you can live with each month, call it an allowance, a stipend, a tin or petty cash.  Put that money aside in a separate account or withdraw it into cash in your wallet or a coffee jar.  Do not mingle it with household money or use it for groceries or gas or any “needs”  or to pay off debt.  This is a promise you’re making to yourself.  Use this money for movies, dinner, drinks, a pedicure–all of the fun stuff that make you happy and make  life worth living.  Why? Saving and dieting are like holding your breath under water.  If you go too far too long, you’re going to come up gasping.  You need to have an outlet to allow yourself life’s little pleasures on a regular basis so that you don’t snap and binge.  I take about $600 every month for personal expenses.  For me, this includes snacks, (I don’t drink coffee), dinners away from home, gifts for my wife, toys for my dog, the occasional Wii game, etc. If you’re struggling with debt, $600 is obviously a lot of money, and you need to set an amount that works for you.  But do it knowingly.  You need to add up all the Starbucks runs, all of the lunches, all of the McDonalds, all of the candy, cigarettes, skoal, and every other little personal item.  And then you need to decide, am I going to give it up or am I going to make it part of my stipend.  Either way, you are spending the money now.
   2. Situational Awareness. “Budget” is one of the scariest words for people with financial problems.  If you’re like me, it conjures up thoughts of spreadsheets, gut wrenching conversations, belt tightening and buckets of antacid.  As I note below, there are alternatives to rigorous budgets, and if you’re like me (I hate calorie counting, too), All Your Worth, is a good place to start.  But what you do absolutely need to do is figure out where you are now.  Invest in a program like Quicken or Money or use a free online program like Mint.com to keep track of your finances.  This will help you find recurring expenses, know how much you’re spending on groceries and find places to save money.  In addition, just like the journalist’s diet, just knowing how much you’re spending will help you curb unnecessary expenses.
   3. Debtor, Heal Yourself. Often, one of the hidden reasons for debt is another, related issue.  Now I hate psychobabble, so let me be clear: I am not saying you use credit cards too much because you weren’t breast fed (or you were breastfed too much).  But if you are, like I am, overweight, or if you have emotional issues like one of my friends did that meant her self-worth was tied to shopping, these are serious problems that need to be fixed.  Most healthcare plans will cover weight-loss and psychotherapy.  If you’re covered, look into your plan’s coverage and see what the options are.  If not, look at your employer’s mental health benefits.  They may have counseling that you can go to.  Why? Taking obesity as an example: I recently went on a diet and lost 30 lbs.  I feel great and am in far less danger of dying before 40.  But financially, I am also better off.  My body needs less food at every meal, instead of eggs, bacon and a snack for breakfast, I have a shake.  My snacks between meals are limited to protein bars ($2), rather than candy bars, soda, chips, etc. ($5-7).  Over a week the $3-5 adds up to $20-$30.  For lunch and dinner, I no longer go for the chicken parm hero or the extra food with my meal.  Some slices of chicken breast, some broccoli and carrots and I’m full).  I save on food, clothing and even utilities (skinny people don’t need the thermostat set at 65º–although that may have a reverse effect in February).
   4. Read. There are a few books that changed my perspective on money and made me stop chasing the Joneses.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren, Amelia Warren Tyagi.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad made me question my understanding of consumerism and whether I needed a big house, a BMW and a large screen TV.  (No, no and yes).  It will also make you realize that being an employee is not such a great bargain.  Atlas Shrugged will make you appreciate capitalism and money in a way you probably have not before.  All Your Worth provides an easy to use budget theory that you can apply to your lifestyle without being a CPA.
   5. Get support. Talk to people who are going through the same thing.  If your married, be open and honest with your spouse.  There’s nothing worse than bearing the burden of crushing debt alone, especially while your spouse unknowingly spends you both further into debt.  It’s not fair to either of you, and it will strain your marriage and only drive you deeper under.  If you’re not married, find friends who are going through the same thing and rely on them.  If you don’t, you’ll be hanging out with people for whom money is no object.  That’s what got you into this in the first place.

Reliable Resources for Credit Counseling and Financial Literacy

Start with these webstites and come back to them to check on any credit counseling agency you may be thinking about.  Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

• Feed the Pig Financial literacy and savings non-profit.
• MyMoney.gov Government-run website that provides information on credit counseling companies.
• National Foundation for Credit Counseling These are accredited credit counselors who will work with you to develop a debt management plan (similar to bankruptcy, but voluntary).  This will adversely effect your credit rating, so don’t do this on a whim.
• MasterCard’s Debt Know How. Financial literacy program.  Priceless (and free).

Think Rationally, Act Normally, lovingly crafted in the hippie 70′s style font similar to the original. We’ve replaced Mother Earth with da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man for added nerd points. The design comes on shirts, hats, mugs, bumper stickers, license plate frames, messenger bags and yes, even canvas tote bags!  You will fool even the snootiest limousine liberal on their way to Whole Foods.  Check out the Daily Danet Store and get your’s today!

We estimated that this would cost between $9-$40, depending on how many times they needed to recut the batch.  Comparing that with a long night with exacto knives, my wife and I decided to spend a little money and headed to the FedExOffice in White Plains.

My lovely wife did the dirty work  as she’s awesome and more than knows her way around a graphic design studio (she’s more than helped out with the design of the site) while I tended to my day job via blackberry in the truck.  When I went in to check, Clyde, the very nice older gentleman who was helping us, was doing his best to trim the flyers to our specifications.  It was a nasty day, a front was passing through, dumping rain and rumbling thunder all day, and nobody was enjoying themselves.  I could tell that the machine and Clyde were not getting along either.

Although the cuts where clean, the machine had left oil streaks on some of the edges, and the alignment was not perfect.  My wife worked with Clyde, who turned out to be a man of infinite patience, and after an hour, got the marketing materials to where they were good enough to go.  The problem, of course, was that Clyde had had to cut them about 100 times to get them right.

He went to the manager, a woman who’s name I regrettably did not get,  and asked her how much he should charge us.  Without thinking more than a second, she comped the entire job for us.  I did not expect that, but I certainly do appreciate it.  Neither my wife nor I complained or asked for a manager’s intervention.  The manager understood that we expected a quick and painless service, and because their machine was a bit faulty, we had to wait a lot longer.  Because of that, she decided to comp us rather than charge us a relatively small amount of money.

I may have complained about their prices, but I am impressed with their service.  Because of that, I can tell you that when I do need duplicating services I will be going back there.

So for what FedExKinkos Online is trying to charge me $450, I could do myself for $300 and at the end of it, I would have a color printer, a year’s worth of toner and 150 sheets of cardstock left over.  I called the local FedEx and they quoted me $2.33 per page.  That puts the same run at $233, still more than the cost of the color printer.  So guess who’s getting a new color laser printer?

This reminded me of something else that’s been bothering me lately.  Almost everywhere you look lately some schmuck is trying to sell you gold.  Glenn Beck is hawking it on Sirius XM, G. Gordon Liddy and That Guy are pitching it on FNC and elsewhere.  I hope people out there are not buying gold now.  That’s like buying an extended warranty after your car breaks down.

Gold near an all time high now because of the financial mess.  Gold always increases in value when things get bad, but it loses value when the broader economy (businesses, housing, commodities) get better.  While it’s true that things could and might get worse, (i) do you really think they will and (ii) are you willing to bet that they are with what little investment money you have left?  Buying gold now is a foolish investment, and Glenn Beck and others should be ashamed of pitching it.  Buying gold now is buying high; when, exactly do you expect to sell?

As for what makes sense, the same advice that has worked for generations is still the best: buy low, sell high.  If you have money to invest, now is the time to invest in the companies that are getting beaten up by the current market, but will (in your opinion) survive the storm.  For example, certain banks are better than others.  They are well managed, but are taking a beating because they’re colleagues aren’t.  Buying the right bank stock now would make you a fortune later.  As Warren Buffet says, be cautious when others are greedy, be greedy when others are cautious.

The point of all of this is, other than provinding 500 words in a suitable order for publishing, is engage your brain before your credit card.  If someone offers you a service, (or God forbid, an extended warranty) think about what it is that you are really paying for and whether or not it’s worth it.  In negotiating, there is a concept known as the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA.  Keep that concept in mind whenever you have your wallet out: what are my other options.  You could save yourself some money, or you could wind up with a new color laser printer.  Shiny!

Daily Danet will be back.  We’re upgrading her look (newspapers are dead, so a new theme has been added), and adding a few features.  The “Broken News” segment will be quick hits on the news of the day.  I cannot promise daily posts, but I can promise not to rename the blog (godaddy charges too much).

In the meantime, thanks for your patience and I hope to entertain you again soon.