This extended warranty makes no sense whatsoever.

Extended warranties can be quite a racket. Pictured above is one of the worst examples I have ever seen. The warranty price is a whopping 40% of the item's price! That is insane to me! Paying 40% more to protect an item like a tablet which will be outdated in 2 years is crazy. There are however, situations where purchasing an extended warranty does make sense. Here are a few:
Wedding rings. This should be a no-brainer. I'm a living example of why this is one of the easiest purchases to buy the extended warranty on. We bought both wedding rings and the engagement ring from Zales. I think the lifetime warranty extension on our rings was a few hundred bucks. I paid it. And not like most other extended warranties (with a frown), rather, I happily paid this one. I mean, it was a lifetime extension. On our wedding rings. Sure enough, not 2 years into the marriage, one of Katie's diamonds fell out (and we didn't notice) and the diamond was gone. It was a very nice thing to just be able to tell her, don't worry hun, we'll take care of it. And we did. It was easy, it was free and it was painless. Just like that, the warranty had paid for itself. Now we've got an entire lifetime left to still use it if necessary.

Before buying an extended warranty, check with your credit card company. Many CC companies offer complimentary warranties when you use their card to purchase a product.

Cars. This might get some disagreement, but I'm again writing from experience. I bought the extended warranty on my 2007 Nissan Altima for around $1200. Of course, they worked it out so I would only pay a few extra bucks on my monthly payment. Sure enough, during the course of the warranty, I used it for over $3,000 in unexpected repairs. I also still have about 4 years left on the powertrain extension.

Always find out what the deductible is on any extended warranty you buy. Sometimes they are $0.00, but if there is a deductible, you need to know about it and you need to factor that into your decision in purchasing the extended warranty.

Higher End Electronics. Consider these carefully, and look for extensions under 20% of the actual product price. Anything over that, think about it really hard. If you honestly will not be able to pay for repairs of replace an item over the course of the warranty, it might be a good idea to get the warranty. Here's an example of a better tablet warranty compared to the one at the top of the post:

Much better warranty.

Check the competition.  Different retailers will offer different warranty protection and pricing.  Costco actually automatically extends the manufacturer's warranty on TV's and computers to 2 years from the purchase date at no extra cost.  If you're already planning on buying the warranty, that could save quite a bit.  Square Trade also offers extended warranties that you can buy online outside of the store.

Apple Products. If you must buy these poorly made products, get the extended warranty because I personally have not had an Apple product that lasted for more than one year with normal use. Their warranties cost a lot, but it's also nice to have the ability to walk into an Apple store as a warranty holder. They treat you a lot better.

Another thing you want to keep in mind is the standard warranty that comes with most products. If the product includes a 1-year standard warranty, that is usually sufficient. Especially for electronics which might not even be kept (think upgrades) for a year.

Extended warranties that generally don't make sense:
• low to mid-end tablets, like the one above
• TV's under $800
• low-end electronics
• technology that quickly advances

In general, if a warranty costs more than 20% of the product itself, it is probably not worth it. You're probably going to be able to repair the item for less than 20% of its cost. Also, just take care of your stuff!

What are some items that you have bought the extended warranty on?
Did you use it?

Gardening to save money is a great concept for people like us! Produce is one of those things that doesn't get a whole lotta coupon love. What's a coupon user and budget shopper to do? It's easy to blow half or more of your grocery budget on produce! While it is wonderful to eat tons of fresh fruits and veggies, it can get expensive! One solution to this problem is to grow your own produce.

We have had a garden the last couple of years and have one started this year to try and cut into our produce cost. Check it out!

That's our garden! Complete with 4 different tomato plants, 2 bell pepper plants (red and yellow), 1 yellow squash and 1 French zucchini and a dozen green bean seeds (on the right side)

It's not a whole lot, but once it starts producing, it sure will seem like a lot! Plus, here's how I see our garden:

Considering that seeds for these plants would cost around $5 total, or buy small plants for $2-$3 each, we'll see a return on investment after picking just a couple of veggies off of each plant!

Here's something to thing about - Would you plant nickels and dimes if they grew to be dollar bills? Well that is basically what you are doing when you are planting food!

I used to say, "But gardening is not for me, I can't grow anything except an afro and a goatee". I learned a few things and am on my way to being a decent produce grower! Here are some tips for starting a garden if you are new at it:

• Start small! Don't think you are going to grow enough produce to stock your local grocery store! Also, start with plants, not seeds. Get something like 2 tomato plants and a squash.
• Research which plants grow best in your area, then pick from that list what you like the best.
• Keep a close eye on your plants at first. When they are the size you bought them, they will still be small and fragile. Keep them safe from extreme weather conditions by creating a border around the plants for wind or covering them with plastic for rain. YOU want to control how much water they get.
• Water when the leaves start sagging. On a hot streak, this might be once a day. During a mild week, this might be every few days. Just keep an eye on them, don't neglect your precious garden! :D
• You can even grow plants right in pots. This will make it easier to protect your plants from weather since you could just move the pots around (or even inside) to avoid harm. Just make sure your pots are big enough for the plant to grow.
• Know when your fruits or veggies are ripe. While it is tempting to pick at the first sight of anything edible, make sure they are ripe. Do a little research about what specifically, you are growing to see when to plant and when to pick.
• Have fun! You might fail once or twice, but learn from it and keep trying. Trust me, it is one of the more satisfying things to make a meal using ingredients that you grew in your own yard!

Here are our projections for our small garden this season:
Tomatoes - 4lb. per plant = 16 lb. total which at $2 per pound is $32
Bell Peppers - 8 peppers per plant = 16 peppers which at $1 each is $16
Squash - 5 lb. per plant = 10 lb. total which at $1 per pound is $10

So we are projecting that our small garden will grow $58 worth of sale priced produce! That's definitely worth it to me! Isn't it time you started growing your own produce!?
Do you have any gardening tips of your own?

Did you know there are a couple of easy ways to lower the cost of paying bills?

Here's one that I was guilty of for many years. For just about all of my bills, I'd write the check, stamp the envelope and pay away! I would totally ignore the pamphlet that came every month about online bill pay services. Occasionally I would think about the wasted stamp and the cost of the check, but I'd just dismiss it. It's just a stamp, right? Think about this: at $0.45 per stamp, you're paying an extra $5.40 per monthly bill each year! Now let's consider the cost of the checks used to pay those bills. The average cost of a paper check is between $0.10-$0.20 each! That's another $1.20-$2.40 per bill per year!

So now we're at an additional cost of between $6.60-$7.80 per bill per year. According to ZdNet, the average household paid 11 bills online in 2008. We can only assume that number is closer to 14 or 15 now. With the cost per bill mentioned earlier, paying 15 bills online instead of paper would result in a savings of $99-$117! Just for switching to online payments! That's $100 for a simple change! I'll take it! It's harder to find a company nowadays that doesn't take online payments than it is to find one that does! Just about everyone is taking bill payment online!

So next time you get that pamphlet with your phone bill about online payments, consider the extra $100 or so that you could be missing out on! It's bad enough to have to pay bills, but you might as well try and cut the cost of paying bills as much as you can!

Karma points bonus: you can feel better about using less paper by going to online billpay as well!

Added financial bonus: some companies will give you a small bonus for signing up for online payments! I've seen a 10% bill credit for one month, a $5 credit and more!

Here are some tips for being cheap on a date without your date knowing:
If you want to be super aggressive and don't mind if your cover is blown a bit, try to find a restaurant coupon (certificate) at Restaurant.com for a place that you can take your date. The thing about this is that you'll have to bring a sheet of paper with you, because that serves as your certificate. Paying with an 8.5/11 is not the slickest thing you can do. Your best bet here is to find your server when your date is in the restroom and take care of the bill then. If your date doesn't go to the bathroom, try to be slick and excuse yourself to pay the bill away from the table. You can use this same strategy with Groupon deals as well.  You can also use Groupon to score a deal on flowers.

If you're looking for a more incognito way to save some money, try finding a discounted gift card here or here. Paying with gift cards is generally not even noticed by a date. What they don't know is that if you get the gift card from one of the sites here or here, you will have saved 10%, 20% or more, right off the bat! Currently, the sites have gift cards for Morton's Steakhouse for 10% off and Ruth's Chris for 15% off! Talk about an easy (and sly) way to save!

Try suggesting happy hour. Everybody likes a happy hour, so why not go then and score some great specials! Still want to sit down and have a regular meal? Plan on getting there 15 minutes before happy hour ends and have a drink in the bar before sitting down.

If all else fails, or you are not wanting to be that aggressive, at least use a credit card that will provide you with some rewards. There are some cards such as the Citi Forward card and the American Express Blue Sky card offer bonus rewards for dining out. If you've got a card that offers good rewards, you may as well use it.

I must also say that where ever you go and whatever you do, DO NOT SKIMP ON THE TIP. The bad karma will come back to you, I promise.

How do you save money on dates?