Mission Statement: CuttingEdgePersonalFinance Finds its Purpose

I've done a lot of thinking about the path that I want this blog to take. Initially when I started, I thought it would involve posts that fall within a few different categories. Some posts would be devoted to teaching concepts important to personal finance, others would critically examine some popular personal finance advice, and the last category would be reviews of various products and services that can help improve your personal finances. If you've read any other posts on this blog before, you probably quickly came to realize that most of my posts fall in the last of those categories. Those posts excite me the most for various reasons. It seems like there are many other great personal finances blogs out there that have posts that fall into all three categories, but it's the last section where I believe my expertise and interest lies. Plus, I'm supposed to be at the cutting edge, not the uh, other, less up and coming parts of the blade. As a result, this blog is now going to be entirely devoted to reviewing tech products and services that can help you with your personal finances.

I'm excited for this new direction, or more appropriately, a direction I've been trying to take for a while but haven't formalized until this post. I believe the intersection between technology and personal finance has a lot of room for growth, and that we'll see a lot of innovative products in the coming years.

Excited for this new chapter of CuttingEdge, and as always, please share your thoughts in the comments section!

Review: Stickk, Helping You Accomplish Your Personal Finance Resolutions

Happy New Year everybody¹! Now that all the champagne bottles have been emptied and recycled and glitter washed out of our hair and clothes², we're tasked with trying (and generally failing) to make good on our New Year's resolutions. Considering you're on a personal finance blog right now, you may have some savings goals for 2014. Unfortunately, the biggest barriers we face in accomplishing these goals are ourselves. An extra latte here and there can't possibly make a difference, until of course it does.

Fortunately for us, there's a great online system called Stickk that can give us the extra push we need to meet our savings goals. Stickk was created by a professor of economics at Yale, Dean Karlan, who is known for his work in development economics. One of his most popular papers is on an innovative way to help people quit smoking. His research team offered smokers the chance to open savings accounts in which they had to deposit funds for six months. If at the end of the six months they tested positive for nicotine or cotinine (compounds found in cigarettes), their money was given to charity. But wait, here's the surprising part. If they succeeded in quitting smoking, their grand prize was merely getting their deposits back. Not only did people sign up for this program, it was more effective in getting people to quit smoking³ than just receiving information on the dangers of smoking.

Stickk uses this idea of letting us raise the stakes for failure by creating our own goals, picking how much money is on the line and where it goes, and even designating a referee to report on our progress. Typical personal finance related goals deal with saving money at regular intervals for a big purchase or curbing ones spending.

Pros:

• Provides an extra push you may need to meet your personal finance goals.
• Can link with some financial institutions to offer custom goals and rewards. If your bank or credit union has an agreement with Stickk then they can help you set up goals and possibly referee for you; they do have your financial information after all.
• Goals progress can be reported weekly or one time. If your goal is recurring, like saving $100 a week for 20 weeks, you can report out every week.

Cons:

• If you have a referee, you will have to share your personal finances with them. Enough said. Talking about your personal finances with friends and family can be uncomfortable. Be sure to pick somebody who you think 
• If you fail at your goal, you'll be worse off than if you hadn't signed up for Stickk. I put this in the cons list, but when you think about it this potential downside is why you'd sign up for Stickk in the first place.

Overall, I think Stickk can be a great tool if you're the type of person who needs an extra nudge to get their personal finances in order and isn't uncomfortable getting a referee to help you achieve your goals. Of course, there are lots of people out there for whom Stickk isn't useful. Either they've already got their personal finances in line and need more help or require more than just a nudge.

And, because I wouldn't recommend a service without trying it myself, I signed up for a Stickk account in February of this year where my goal was to write at least twelve CuttingEdgePersonalFinance posts for next year. Hopefully it'll give me the nudge to stickk to my goals!

---

1. Apparently I'm failing my New Year's resolution of regularly updating this blog because I started writing this in January. This is depressing. :/
2. If you're going to do New Year's do it right.
3. At least in the short term if you're being a stickkler.

Tip: Taking Advantage of Gift Card Bonuses During the Holidays

To incentivize buying gift cards in larger quantities and amounts, many retailers will offer bonuses to the buyer. For example, I recently bought $200 in gift cards for personal use and gifts that I got $35 in bonuses from. This post is about some best practices I take advantage of that you can use to get the most out of these deals.

1) Buy Gift Cards You'd Use Yourself

I'm not saying you should always buy gift cards that you'd use yourself, but I think it's a strategy that can give you options throughout the gifting season. I generally try not to buy gift cards as presents because I think they're a little impersonal. If I see that a retailer that both me and the potential gift receiver both like which offers an attractive bonus, I'll spring for it. In the event I can't find a better gift for them by the holidays I'll give them the gift card. Either way, I've given a gift to somebody I like and gotten a little bonus for myself.

2) Read the Fine Print

Of the two retailers I got bonuses from this year ($5 for $50 gift cards at DSW and $20 store credit for $100 at Banana Republic), both can be used for only a limited period of time. When you're shopping around for gift cards, be sure to read the fine print for the bonuses. If you're unsure of anything, ask somebody at the store. It's not uncommon for the bonuses to be available only for a limited period of time, on select products or for large purchases. If the restrictions are more trouble than they're worth, I'll usually pass on the offer.

3) Keep Track of Your Cards

This may sound obvious, but if you take advantage of multiple offers you may forget which ones are available when, which can cost you quite a bit in your bonuses down the line. To make sure that I'm away of when each bonus expires, I add them to my to-do list app (Wunderlist, which I would highly recommend) with a short description of when they're valid. Since I check my to-do list fairly frequently, I rarely miss out on using my bonuses. I also don't buy more cards that I can't carry on my person at all times. Going all the way to the store and forgetting your bonus gift cards is one of the worst feelings ever¹.

4) If the Gift Card is for Personal Use, Make Sure You'll Use It Naturally

I spent a decent amount of time trying to word the above, but struggled. When I say "naturally", I mean you'll use the gift card bonus to purchase something you would have purchased at some point anyways. Otherwise you're going to end up buying gift cards for yourself and others that will either go unused, or will be used to buy things you didn't want in the first place. I think a reasonable test to do is ask yourself if you think you or the gift recipient would use the store credit within a calendar year. If not, maybe get a small amount on the gift card or forego it altogether. According to this article, 6% of gift cards were unused (not sure if they mean physical cards, or balances). Don't be part of the 6%!

Have you found any great bonus deals this year? Share them in the comments! Extra CuttingEdgePersonalFinance karma² goes to those who share ones that avoid the pitfalls above (e.g. no redemption limit, usable on a wide variety of products and no minimum purchase required).

---

1. Way worse than say, having your heart broken or taking a beloved pet to the vet (sarcasm intended). Remember, it may be gifting season but it's gratitude season above all! A missed bonus is, in the grand scheme of things, inconsequential.
2. Karma has no dollar value.

Review: Getting Rewards through Web Searches (Bing Rewards)

If you're anything like me, you search for things on the web a lot. It's almost always the first place I go for information. When I found out that I could earn rewards by changing my web searching behavior slightly, I signed up immediately.

Bing Rewards, the search engine that rewards you for your web searches has a pretty simple format. After signing up through Facebook or a Microsoft Account, you start earning rewards for all regular web searches that you do on Bing when you're logged in. You can earn up to 15 credits per day with one credit per 2 unique searches, which prevents users from searching the same thing over and over just to get points. You can also earn extra points through Bing's themed searches, for example, a recent one is about A Christmas Carol. If you use Bing enough, you can move up in status which gives extra benefits like additional credits and discounts on rewards.

So what's Bing got to offer in the rewards department? The current complete list can be found here, but some notable ones are sweepstakes entries, gift cards (e.g. GameStop, Sephora, Starbucks, Amazon etc.) and various donation credits. The rate at which you can earn credits is pretty fast. Assuming you earn the minimum 15 credits through web searches every day, you can have enough for a $5 Tango Card (credit redeemable for various gift cards, 520 credits) in 35 days. Keep in mind, 15 credits a day is a minimum, as Bing usually has additional credit earning opportunities through themed searches. This can come out to around $5 in gift card credit a month! If you haven't already signed up, here's the obligatory pro con list, with a tips section that has information on how to get the most from the program.

Pros:

• Rate at Which you Earn Rewards: $5 a month in gift card credit is pretty great for doing what most people already do, a bunch of web searches every day online.
• Reward Options: Again, the full list can be found here. I generally get Tango cards, which I'll explain in more detail in the tips section below but I've found there's usually something for everybody. Some of the rewards can be redeemed online, which is great if you don't like waiting for the mail like me.

Cons:

• Sharing Search Information: By signing up for the service, you allow Bing to give information on your searches to Facebook to provide you with more targeted ads. Personally I don't mind receiving better tailored ads on my Facebook page, however, I would be pretty upset if their database were to get hacked and my web search information to be in somebody else's hands or made public.
• Can Only Open Accounts with Facebook or Microsoft Accounts: I list this as a con, but the rewards system would not work well without this. Without Facebook or Microsoft integration, Bing would not be able to offer such great rewards because they make money off of using your search data to create more targeted ads.

I'd keep in mind that in my opinion, the cons aren't actually cons. Without being able to share your search information with other sites to better target ads, Bing wouldn't be able to offer as generous rewards.

Tips:

• Tango Cards are Flexible and Offer a a Great Redemption Rate: Tango cards can currently be redeemed for fewer credits than other gift cards, but offer some flexibility in how you redeem them. The full list can be found here but includes Amazon.com, Gap, Home Depot, Groupon and more!
• Make Bing your Homepage/Default Search: By making Bing my homepage and default search option, I never have to remember to go to Bing.com and then do my searches, I can just type into the search bar and earn credits quickly and easily.
• Stay Logged Into Your Accounts: As long as you're logged into your Facebook or Microsoft accounts you'll be able to earn credits. I would recommend staying logged in if you're on your personal computer so you don't accidentally miss out on getting credits for searches.
• Be Patient: Although there are some rewards that can be redeemed almost immediately, many of them will take some time to earn. Hang in there and remember that good things come to those who wait!

If getting rewards for web searches seems like your cup of tea¹, be sure to sign up here. My experience has been very positive so far. I've gotten around $50 worth of credits from regular web searches, themed searches, referring friends and because I'm such an active user, providing independent feedback and filling out a survey. Have you used Bing Rewards? Got any helpful advice or criticism? Please share in the comments!

---

1. This is a rhetorical question. Who doesn't like getting rewards for web searches?

Education: Personal Finance Lessons vs. Heuristics

I've made a recent decision about the direction of this blog that I want to take. I'm not going to limit myself to product reviews and personal finance tips. I'll instead write about anything that I find interesting related to the personal finance space. To make this policy work for me and you, I'm going to try my hardest to properly label posts and introduce them in such a way that you can easily figure out what they're about and continue reading or skip them if they're not your cup of tea.

Richard Thaler, a professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Chicago, wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times earlier this month about the surprising lack of effectiveness in improving people's finances through financial literacy programs. However, he does reference a study that found that teaching people heuristics, or simple rules of thumb, can make a significant positive difference with their financial situation. This really forces me and other personal finance bloggers to reflect on how they choose to present information. Generally I try to provide my reader with as much information as possible when I give advice or review products, as I think heuristics are overly simplified. For example, on my Smartypig review, I give my reader information about ease of use, interest rates on the savings accounts and even the referral system. I could have just said, "Use this service, it's better than the bank account you currently have" without actually knowing anything about your personal situation, which is an approach that some other blogs take.

Personally, I think a program that starts with heuristics and then transitions into targeted financial literacy could be more effective than either one alone for those experiencing financial distress. The simple rules people learn help them improve their financial situations to the point where more advanced financial literacy skills (e.g. interest rate calculations, understanding risk in investments and using the tax code to their advantage) are relevant and useful. You can imagine if you're in a lot of debt, somebody telling you to "pay off all your debt and then start saving" is a lot more useful than doing compound interest calculations.

This all sounds peachy until I thought about what the set of heuristics should be. "Pay down all your debt as quickly as possible" is simple advice, certainly applicable for many people but not necessarily correct for everybody even if the goal is savings maximization controlling for a given level of consumption. Additionally, a heuristic like that leaves a lot of room for interpretation, what I interpret "as quickly as possible" for me may be a radically different pace than what the advice giver has in mind.

So, where does this leave us? I think certainly one thing people can do is seek out the type of information that they think will be the most useful to them. One of the major pitfalls of these financial literacy courses is that they don't seem to particularly tailor the program to those taking it. If you like getting simple, actionable guidelines, seek those out from reputable websites and financially savvy friends. If you require more in depth information, use more technical resources and consider getting a good financial advisor.

Frankly, I think the current situation we're in leaves a lot of room for innovation. I imagine a world in which people have savvy financial advisors who can access much of their financial information online and offer real time advice. The price of this service depends on its effectiveness of helping people reach their goals. As far as I know, this doesn't exist yet. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one to create it?

Free Entertainment: Reading the Classics

"And now for my next number, I'd like to return to the classics." -Often Used Rap Sample of Unknown Origin¹

I was recently given an Amazon Kindle for my birthday, which was great because it was exactly what I wanted. I figured I'd use some of the store credit that I've gotten up to this point to buy a few books and start reading. While searching around, I found out that there is an expansive group of books that are downloadable free to your Kindle device because they are currently in the public domain. That's not all though, here's the best part: Even if you don't own a Kindle don't worry, you can read all the classics I mention and many more for free on your computer as well using Amazon's cloud reader, which is free to download. This is all excellent news, because that means I can use my Amazon gift balance for more important things like dress socks.

It's fairly complicated to figure out when a literary work will enter the public domain, but a general rule of thumb to use is 50–70 years after the author's death. You'd probably be surprised how many works are actually available for free. Here's a list of a few I've read:

• The Great Gatsby (Amazon seems to be charging for it now. Sadface.)
• The Jungle Book
• The Art of War
• The Three Musketeers
• The Jungle² (not for the faint of heart)
• Heart of Darkness³
• Treasure Island

and a few more I've put on my list but haven't gotten to yet:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Don Quixote
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• and many many many many more...

Another excellent place to find ebooks that you can read on your computer or download to an e-reader is Project Gutenberg which has over 42,000 ebooks. If you do check them out and find them useful, I highly encourage you to donate to sustain the project here. As an added plus, Project Gutenberg is a 501(c)(3) organization so your donation is tax deductible. Another free source of ebooks is the Nook store by Barnes and Noble which can be read on any Nook, most tablets/phones and computers.

One last thing, I would advise staying away from sites that offer free books but then request credit card information, sign you up for some subscription or ask you to provide lots of personal information, there are much safer (and cheaper) ways of getting ebooks. Happy reading!

---

1. Unless you, dear reader, know the origin, in which case let me know in the comments because I spent 20 minutes searching for it on the internet instead of writing this post.
2. What's with old books and always starting with "The", same thing goes for classic rock bands. Like seriously.
3. Thank god that mondo-"The" list is over.

Review: Quizzle (Free Credit Score and Report Service)

Is it just me, or have people got far more interested in their credit scores as of late? Perhaps I was oblivious before, but I feel like we're being bombarded with information (and misinformation) on how important credit scores are nowadays. And maybe that just means they're getting their due. To affecting our interest rates on loans, abilities to open new lines of credit, getting a job and dating prospects, credit scores can have a pretty major impact on your finances...and uh...love life as well apparently. So, a natural question to ask would be: How do I get my credit score and report, preferably for free?

Before you stop reading this post and go to that website that heavily advertised free credit reports but actually charged $14.95 monthly fees, bear with me for a few more minutes. Optimally, we would want a service that does the following:

1. Provides a free credit score and report for free, which means no hidden fees down the road.
2. Updates us at regular intervals with our report and score that are given to us without having to lift a finger.
3. Does not prevent us from getting a free score or report immediately from a credit reporting company.

You probably guessed it by now, Quizzle can do all those things. Let's break them down:

1. Provides a free credit score and report for free.

After signing up, Quizzle will do a soft pull of your credit report. This means that the request for information will not have an effect on your credit score. In this report, you'll get a summary of your open credit accounts (e.g. credit cards, loans), credit inquiries you've made recently¹ and any public records. Although the layout of the report may not be in a way that you're used to, Quizzle assures you that all the information provided is everything that's include in your credit report.

The best part, this is all free! Unlike other sites that provide you a credit report without a fee initially and then enroll you in a program where they charge you to monitor your credit, Quizzle won't charge you ever to use their most basic package. In fact, they don't even ask for any credit card information from you.

2. Updates us at regular intervals with our report and score.
Every 6 months, Quizzle will do another soft pull on your credit report and update your information and e-mail you an update. Excellent for people who want to stay on top of their score and report but can't remember to check themselves.

3. Does not prevent us from getting a free score or report immediately from a credit reporting company.
You may have heard that each credit reporting agency is required to provide a free credit report every 12 months. Not only are these reports important for informational reasons, they are also frequently requested for by people renting apartments.

One of my initial concerns with Quizzle was that signing up for their service would mean I wouldn't be able to request Experian reports independently. However, a very customer service representative at Quizzle informed me that being signed up for the Quizzle service does not exclude me from receiving credit reports through Experian. Excellent!

Bonus: Tools to Improve your Credit Score.
In addition to Quizzle's free plan where you get a free report and score every sixth months, you can also sign up for their more premium packages, that contain tools such as a credit analysis, timeline, comparison, monitoring and $1 million of identity theft protection. These plans vary in cost, from $7-25 a month. I haven't signed up for any of these yet as I don't think I need them at this point in my life, but they could definitely be useful down the road, for example, helping me improve my credit before I buy my first house. Have you used any of Quizzle's premium plans? Leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

Overall
Quizzle's free plan is a great improvement on other methods of monitoring your credit report and score. It provides all the information for free without impacting your credit score and automatically updates your information every six months. Additionally, you don't have to worry about requesting your free score through Experian itself if you're signed up for Quizzle because you can do that through them as well whenever you want.

I've decided that my green thumbs are kind of tacky, but know if I were will still handing them out willy nilly, Quizzle would certainly get one!

---

1. I think it displays credit inquiries you've made in the past two years but I'm not completely sure as it isn't specified on the site.