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Uglify Your Stuff To Keep It Safe
By Paul Michael
I don’t know about you, but I buy things based on how they look as well as what they do. I was once told that you don’t buy a power drill because it looks cool, you buy it because you need holes. Well, yes and no. As a designer and creative, the aesthetic also plays an important role. But what attracts you to objects also attracts thieves. And so, has the time come to "uglify your stuff?"
I first read about this last year, when I saw that a number of people who owned very expensive bikes were doing their level best to make them look like $20 Craigslist rejects. It’s a simple enough idea. You take your wonderful $1000 bike, and proceed to repaint it, badly, apply stickers and scratches and scuff marks, bits of old tape, dirt, grime, in fact anything you can think of, and hey presto – one expensive bike that performs like a dream but looks like a nightmare.
Your average thief wouldn’t look twice at this "old" thing, even though it’s probably the most expensive bike in the rack. Of course, you have the downside of riding a bike that looks less than cool, but if you’re a real biking fanatic that won’t bother you. Just like the drill is a means to an end, so is a great bike.
It seems as though this has spread to all sorts of other personal possessions now, and it runs the gamut.
In May this year, blogger Jimmie Rodgers wrote about his ugly camera, and described the lengths he had gone to to make this expensive digital camera look like a cruddy old film camera.
Here’s what Jimmie had to say after the uglification process:
"I was able to take over 5,000 pictures with it in Brazil. I was able to follow around a number of well known graffiti artists, and you can check out some of the pics here. I was also able to go into some fairly dangerous areas, and walk out with my camera. I was even mugged a second time, and they left my camera alone, and took my $20 cell phone instead."
It’s a trend that’s picking up steam. You can buy faceplates for expensive car CD players that turn them into old cassette players. Who’d want to steal that? And it can even go as far as uglifying your sandwich! Yes, people in offices everywhere who are tired of seeing their lunch go walkies are buying zip-loc bags that have mold stains inside the plastic, making a fresh snack look like a breeding ground for bacteria.
Nick Cannon has a list of 16 anti-theft ideas that puts the green sandwich bags on top of the pile. And by the way, those things are real. You can buy them at Perpetual Kid in packs of 25 for $9.99. Yes, they’re more pricey than your average zip-loc baggie, but how much does it cost to replace your lunch?
So, would you uglify your stuff to make it more theft-proof? Is it worth it? Aside from affecting the resale value of some things, do you value the aesthetic quality as much as the functional aspect? I, for one, wouldn’t make my iPod video look like crap. And as for my MacBook Pro…stay away from that or suffer a fate worse than death!
But if that doesn’t bother you, then what would you uglify, and why? Over to you.
Permalink | Comments | Paul Michael's blog | Channel: Consumer Affairs, DIY, General Tips
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I Went Christmas Shopping With Fake Money
By Carrie Kirby
Of all the post-holiday letdowns, the one I hate the most isn’t the scale or the January weather or the household clutter: It’s getting that credit card bill and finding out what my Christmas gifts from my spouse cost us.
In the spirit of avoiding that particular letdown, my husband and I made a new pledge this year: No use of the marital credit card to buy each other’s presents. Instead, we would try to come up with gifts for one another completely off the books, using "fake money" like rewards points, rebates, store credits, pocket change, PayPal balances and coupons. Or we could make gifts for one another, but with three little kids running around, neither one of us has much time to be crafty.
I was about 97% successful in shopping for my husband with fake money. He was somewhat successful in shopping for me that way, and he’s still working on it — he bought himself an extension by transferring some money from our savings account to his PayPal account, and is hoping to pay it back if and when some of his items listed on Ebay sell.
I got my husband a video game
Here is how I bought that stuff while only using about $3 of "real money":
- Swagbucks. Late last year, I signed up for this program, which pays you to let Web search data aggregators eavesdrop on your Google searches. After about 14 months, I had accumulated around 700 "SwagBucks," which I traded in for Amazon gift cards. I also transferred a little money to PayPal. I ended up getting $65 in Amazon gift cards, which paid for the video game, part of the CD, and I think something else I got for someone else. (The remaining $3 of the CD, which was marked down to $5 in an Amazon Lightning Deal, was the only money I spent on our credit card.)
- Amazon Promotional Credit: I took advantage of one of Amazon’s free magazine offers, where you can send in a form to request a credit for the value of the subscription instead. This put a $10 credit on my account, which allowed me to buy a pack of bungee cords marked down to $7.99 on another Amazon Lightning Deal.
- PayPal: While my husband and I agreed that we would not use payment from our regular jobs, we each had received payments for random small transactions through PayPal. For instance, the pittance that I earn through Google Ads for my personal blog goes into PayPal, as do the payments and reimbursements I get for occasional mystery shopping jobs. Any Ebay sales we make also go into PayPal. (Confession: There was some money laundering going on here. I paid for several mystery shopping transactions and postage on an Ebay sale with our credit cards, but was reimbursed via PayPal.) I used PayPal to get the photo card and the coffee for my husband.
- Store Credits: I used Register Rewards to buy a can of peanuts and some chocolates, I used CVS Extra Bucks to get him a huge Reece’s Peanut Butter cup, and I used a $5 Catalina coupon at Jewel-Osco along with a coupon to get him some pistachios.
- Coupons: I used $10 Fannie May coupon from the Sunday paper to get him half a pound of fancy chocolates (and paid the $1.50 remaining after the coupon with pocket change), combined manufacturer’s coupons with a Walgreen’s store coupon to get some free Toblerone bars, and used "buy one, get one free" Reece’s coupons with a "buy one, get one free" sale to get some of those for free. I also gave my husband another $10 Fannie May coupon to spend on me, and while I was typing this I ate some of the half pound of chocolate-covered caramels it bought. Thanks, Epu, and thanks Fannie May, because these things are friggin’ delicious!
I also used fake money to get gifts for some other people on our list; there were plentiful free photo items available through Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery and others, as well as various $10 off a purchase of $10 or more at stores. And, I got all our wrapping supplies for free: wrapping paper and tape from the Hallmark store using the generous $5 off $5 or more coupons they put out (now expired), and tissue paper and gift tags from CVS during a free-after-Extra-Bucks offer.
Meanwhile, my husband got me several books from his office book exchange without spending any cash. As for the Kindle
I feel that this experiment in fake money shopping was successful, so we’re going to go for it again next year, this time with a whole year to plan. Actually, we might try to get one another’s birthday gifts with "fake money" as well. I’d love to get to the point where I could fund ALL my Christmas shopping with fake money; I’m not counting on it, but who knows? Here are some unturned stones that we could still try:
- Resale income: I actually brought a bunch of maternity and children’s clothing over to our local consignment shop in order to generate cash for my husband’s gifts, but I have not yet collected the proceeds. Assuming I make a little cash there, I’ll set it aside for future gifts. Also, I haven’t gotten around to putting various household stuff up for sale.
- Referral program earnings. I recently started referring friends to Alice.com, the Web site where you can buy toilet paper and stuff for regular prices and have it delivered free. I haven’t earned a ton from this — $21 in the first month — but over the course of the year this could certainly add up to another video game. Another referral program that I haven’t tried but want to is children’s clothing seller Boden, which pays you $5 in store credit for every friend’s address you hand over. Just click the "Recommend to a Friend" link on the upper right of the Boden home page to get in on this program, and of course don’t be spamming people!
- Rebates: I have been shopping through Ebates, Mr. Rebates and Shop at Home whenever I buy online, so I’m starting to have small balances accrue in those accounts. Most of them pay a check when you hit $20 or so.
All these little rebates and such don’t seem much when they trickle in. That’s why I like the idea of saving them all for one purpose — they certainly seem worth the effort when I put them together and am able to make my husband happy without spending any of our hard-earned paychecks.
If any readers out there used creative means to gift their spouses this year, be it crafts, money laundering or the ever-appreciated "backrub coupon," I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Disclosure: I used my referral links to the various stores and reward programs I used, so if you would like to sign up for any of them through this post, I will receive a small payment or credit. And then I’ll have more virtual pocket change to apply to the hubby’s gifts next year, so I should really have him write you all some thank-you notes!
Permalink | 5 comments | Carrie Kirby's blog | Channel: Shopping
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One Week Left: BillShrink Giving Away $2,500 to Wi...
By Will Chen
In one week, Bill Shrink will be giving away $2,500 to lucky Wise Bread readers! To enter the contest, simply leave a comment telling us how you would spend all that money. Will you pay some bills, start a college fund, or have some fun?
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Best of Personal Finance: 10 Jobs That Will Get a ...
By Linsey Knerl
Welcome to Wise Bread’s Best of Personal Finance roundup. In this article, we’ll we look at 10 jobs that will get a raise in 2010, a super easy approach to decluttering your home, tax tips for children and newborns, and 4 wine pairing rules to break!
Top 5 Articles
10 Jobs That Will Get a Raise in 2010 – Are you a natural-born multi-tasker? If so, you could be earning more next year than you were today. CNN Money
The Super Easy Approach to Decluttering Your Home – If silk dress shirts from the 90’s or install floppies from old version of WordPerfect are taking up even an inch of precious space in your home – you need this article! Dumb Little Man
6 Mistakes of New Earners and How to Fix Them – So you’ve earned your first fat paycheck. Things are looking up, right? Learn about the common pitfalls of being a noob, and pass this article along to a young friend you care about! My Dollar Plan
Tax Tips for Children and Newborns – Did you welcome a special bundle of joy in 2009? If so, you can look forward to many diapers changes, and a few awesome tax benefits! Cash Money Life
6 Kitchen Skills You Can Pick up This Weekend – Seasoning a skillet is a must-learn skill, in my opinion. Get the dirt on how to do it right (plus five other foodie musts) in this read. Life Hacker
Other Essential Reading
2010 Credit Score (FICO Secrets Revealed)– Recently disclosed “secrets” of your credit score, disclosed by FICO aren’t too surprising. But if you’re curious as to the actual number of points you’ll get dinged for maxing out a card, for example, you’ll want to read this ASAP. Credit Karma
10 Investment Principles that Never Go Out of Style – Financial fads and trends come and go, but the real money truths are eternal. Check them all out here in this insightful and to-the-point piece. FiLife
4 Wine Pairing Rules to Break – White wine goes with fish, yada, yada. This piece gives you a little wiggle room in the rigid practices we’re all accustomed to. (I’ll drink to that!) SlashFood
Conversation Killers: How to Stop Interrupting Others – (I am so guilty of this one…) Read about the need to interrupt, and how to make yourself stop! Divine Caroline
Coming Back from the Holidays: How to Get Back to Work – If the extra weight gain and the change in sleep scheduling isn’t enough, you’re probably facing a stack of extra mail and numerous “welcome back” voicemails. Get some useful tips for getting back into the swing of things – post holiday. Freelance Switch
***Read about our own Will Chen in a recent interview with Behind the Spread!
Permalink | 2 comments | Linsey Knerl's blog | Channel: Personal Finance
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