Capital Couples Finance

Week 5 Links: Tech Support Hell Edition

I never imagined that I’d spend so much of my Saturday on the phone with tech support people.  My internet connection was all weirded out and nobody could figure out why.  I went from: local Time Warner to national Time Warner to Symantec to Local Time Warner.  Then in the middle of my call my phone battery died!  I had to call local TW back (and wait on hold again) to have the person I was talking to call me back.  He called back and escalated my call to national Time Warner who got approval to escalate it to “LEVEL 3,” but when they tried to transfer me up, they actually shot me back down to local TW (level 1) where I had to wait on hold again, then they tried to transfer me back up, but only managed to transfer me to another local TW level 1 person.  Then they finally got me up to level 2, and TOLD ME LEVEL 3 WAS TOO BUSY AND THAT I NEEDED TO CALL BACK DURING OFF-PEAK HOURS!!!! I had been very patient and calm–you might say, remarkably so considering that I’d been on the phone for 4 and 1/2 hours–until this point.  To make a long story short, I spoke to a manager and he wouldn’t help me at all, so I called back at 6:00 THIS MORNING!!!

…my problem was resolved in 40 minutes.  Thank God I have a three-day weekend.

• My Two Dollars needs some advice on how to get approved for a mortgage when most of your income is freelance.  I never would have imagined that this would be a problem, but it just shows that your credit score isn’t the only thing that matters.
• We focus a lot on money, but as I’ve said before, relationships are what matters and the old saying that “money can’t buy everything” is more true than you’ll ever know.  Savings Advice gives us a list of what money can’t buy.  What else can you think of?
• Making smart decisions is key to financial and relationship success.  The Wisdom Journal tells us how to avoid getting caught in these common traps that can limit your ability to make wise choices.
• Wow, my wife and I are CHEAP!  Trent over at The Simple Dollar writes about how he spends $770 a month on food for a family of four.  My wife and I spend $300 a month and we don’t garden.  This includes dog food and cat litter  (We feed our cats too, but since we don’t get it with our groceries, it’s not in the grocery budget).  He provides stats that the average family of four in the US spends between $770 and $950 a month!  I don’t get it.  We try to be frugal and don’t buy too many extras, but we eat meat almost every night.  Maybe it’s because we live in the Midwest.  How much are you guys spending on food a month?
• Here’s a post I won’t forget–particularly with a baby on the way.  Everyone tells you that you need to invest in a 529 or Education Savings Account for your kids college, right?  How about getting other people to help? American Consumer News tells you how.
• There are so many mutual funds out there these days that it can be incredibly difficult to know which are the best.  Here are a few tips from Cash Money Life on how to pick them.
• Here’s a great post from Frugal Dad on free to cheap dates.  Sometimes it’s easy to think that how much we spend = how much we care, but what’s more important is giving of yourself and putting some thought into it.
• The Wisdom Journal reviews Debt is Slavery by Michael Mihalik.  This is one of the fundamental facts about debt that we need to know.  It is bondage.
• I’ll never be accused of being an environmentalist, but you’ll find that many green technologies and habits will save you money and make your life more convenient.  Money Ning explains how one of these, stopping paper bills from being sent to you, helps you and the environment.
• Budgets Are Sexy wants wants to know: How much money does it take to be rich?  Surprise!  It’s not as much as you think!

By the way…my wife and I are going to our first doctor’s appointment together.  We’ll have a sonogram and get our due date, so look for updates coming soon!

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