Month: July 2010

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Time to get a new car, or a used one?

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Last Updated on July 24, 2010 by stlplace

(Update 07-24-2010) Got it, this is my new car (SUV, or tall wagon to be exact), 2006 Subaru Forester. BTW, I think this Subaru Credit Card reward program is quite interesting.


(Picture credit: edmunds.com)

(Original) As much as I love my 2001 family sedan, recent repair bills made me think hard on my options. Year to date I’ve paid $1,500 to fix the engine noise and windshield motor problems, not a small sum, considering the car itself is worth about $3,000.

Car problems show up as it ages, this is normal phenomena. I remember spending pretty money maintain my 1991 Corolla back from 1998 to 2002 (can not afford a new car). I bought my current car brand new a little over 9 years ago, now it’s aging fast, esp. since I started to commute again this Feb, after working from home for 15 months.

Besides the cost issue, another reason is we will need two cars, because now I need a commute car (better to be reliable), and my wife will need to take our baby girl sometimes, she will need the car to do her own thing too. Couple days ago I said “rent a car” is an option, but after 2 days of renting, I do see some of the inconvenience of renting as well.

I thought about getting a used car, but after recent my own car issue, and my own inability to diagnose and fix the car problems, I am thinking new car should also be an option. I know, financially buying a new car is not always smart, but a new car comes with warranty, and a piece of mind.

Buying a used car

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Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Cash Back Credit Card II: rebate category madness

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Last Updated on July 28, 2010 by stlplace

(Update 07-28-2010) I found Citi® Platinum Select® AAdvantage® World MasterCard® to be interesting. AA actually offers 3 cards: Master Card, American Express or Visa. They has a 30,000 miles promotion as of now. Another card, which is more useful in our daily lives, is the Upromise® World MasterCard® credit card with Dining & Grocery Rewards, offered by BoA. But I think I will go for the Subaru card, for the 3% cash back (Subaru dollars, good at Subaru dealers for purchase or service).

(Original)Costco American Express Card
3% gasoline
3% Restaurant
2% Travel
1% everything else (including Costco purchase)

Discover card
5% gasoline, hotels, movie and theme parks (July 1st to Sept 30). Discover rotates the 5% cash back category every quarter.
1% for everything else (after meeting those $2,000, $3,000 spending requirements, as I said in earlier post)

Citi Dividend Card
Citi Dividend changed its policy from July 1. It no longer offers 2% (3%?) cash back on groceries etc. Instead it’s taking a page from Discover Cash Bonus Card, doing the rotating category thing. For instance, for this quarter (July 1 to Sept 30) it offers 5% for restaurant (needs enrollment).

It offers 1% for everything else.

Citi Professional
3% cash back on gas station, restaurant, office supplies and car rental;
1% on everything else

Summary

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Categories
China IPO

Ag Bank of China IPO: bull case, bear case

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Last Updated on July 23, 2010 by stlplace

Business week: Summary Box: China’s AgBank IPO nabs $19.2 billion.

Wiki; Official web site of Ag Bank China’s (ABC, 中国农业银行股份有限公司).


(source: ForeignHR)

Bear case
Ag bank of China primarily serves the less-developed regions and people in China: the rural areas, the villages, the farmers and peasants, the agriculture related business. Since the founding of People’s Republic (and Ag bank shortly after), farm produce price has been kept artificially low by the central government (in a way subsidize other industries), and since 1978 the reform of economy, the situation has improved, but the economy gap between rural and urban has increased in last 30 years.

Bull case

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Categories
401k and Personal Finance

SPG Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX credit card special offer

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Last Updated on July 3, 2010 by stlplace

First I want to thank everyone who used my referral enrolling in Ohio College Advantage 529 plan, esp. those of you who kept quiet after using my referral code. My daughter (although she can not understand what is college these days, being 3 months and 3 weeks old) and my wife also want to express their thanks.

Saw this Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX credit card special offer from dealsea.

SPG has a new promotion – free 30,000 Starpoints after you spend $1000 in 3 months. No annual fee for the first year (then $45). Offer expires 7/6/10.

Here is a review for the card. And another review which talks about points redemption. Quote:

Starwood Preferred Guest program was the first program that had no blackout dates, which meant that if they had a room, they will give it to you. You need 2,000 points for a weekday stay at a category 1 hotel and 3,000 points for a weekend stay. You could also use a combination of points and paying cash. For example, you can use 1,250 points and $25 for a category 1 hotel stay. Starwood also allows you to get a fifth night stay free at category 3,4,5 and 6 hotels. The minimum points required is 28,000 points for a category 3 hotel. Room upgrade requires a minimum of 1,000 points. You can also get 50% off regular rates by using just 1,000 points for any category hotel. Points can be used to redeem for an entire vacation – with hotel stays and flights as well.

Starwood hotels include brands like Four Points, Sheraton,Westin and W Hotels. It seems to me Starwood program is better than HHonors program (Hilton family hotels), and SPG points worth more than HH points. For instance, 3,000 points can get one free night stay at Four Points Daning in Shanghai. So I took the bait: applied the card just now, and got approved 😀

Categories
advice and tips

How to install infant car seat on Nissan Altima

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Last Updated on July 1, 2010 by omaha

I wrote the following a while ago (before baby was born), thought it maybe helpful for the dad-to-be’s, although not very comprehensive.

Nissan USA has published a PDF document on compatibility of car seats with some instructions on Latch (lower archor points and tethers for children. Personally I only found two latch points at my 2001 Altima (the manual comes with the car does not say where is the latch/lower arch points), and I used it. I felt this is tighter and secure than the seat belt comes with the car.

I also found quite a few video when I searched “graco infant car seat installation” at Youtube.