Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Is iPhone 4S worth the money?



iPhone 4S with a 2 year contract costing $199 dollars – is it worth?

For people with cell phone - but do you need internet on it?
Everyone has a cell phone - now a mandatory utility. Even a smart phone is somewhat getting universal. With an iPhone, you need to get an extra data plan. Limited data plans can be bought at $15 per month or $360 for two years, which comes to be less than 50 cents a day for the internet. So do you think having mobile internet is worth 50 cents or day?

Money saving apps
There is tons of money saving apps such as;
·        Amazon Price Checker You can compare price and read review of product by scanning UPC code, snapping picture of the product or by just searching. Usually, Amazon has huge discount on the product and sometime their reviews help you avoid bad products.
·        Living Social, Groupon, ScoutMob All discount website have instant deals that can find discounts based on your location. So, why pay extra $10 for sushi (that you would definitely get).
·        Other Apps. There are tons of other apps that check low prices for products in local store, shop for lowest gas price etc.

Digital camera replacement
IPhone 4S 8 megapixel camera is good as many entry-level point and shoot cameras. As a bonus, you always have a decent camera.     

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Debt Roundup – September 2011


Last time I blogged about money was more than nine months ago. In my estimate then, I would have had debt reduction by $2,000 and be in sub 10,000 debt level. Not close enough. Then, I thought my debt would have decreased slowly but instead I find it increased by about $4,000 to 16,021. So what did I do to increase it? These are my major expenses. I was quite a social traveler this year – and I don’t regret this expense at all. Next, I spent on home improvement items such as new furnishing, bedding, etc – I am ok with this expense – time for me to grow up. Next I spent around $600+ on food per month. I feel this is somewhat high for a single man to spend  per month on food. So, next step is to reduce my food budget. I also feel my debt increase is somewhat due to lack of blogging. Blogging provides a constant reminder to be financially discplined. So here again, without making any projections etc –towards the freedom from debt.