海角大神

What鈥檚 inside? Here are the questions answered in today鈥檚 reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
听 Handling a large gift
听 Free toothbrushes
听 Internet banking and future loans
听 Pieces of inspiration
听 Medical billing problems
听 Getting value from panini press
听 Toilet paper: quality or price?
听 How much should I save?
听 Memorable but inexpensive Father鈥檚 Day
听 Starting over with credit cards

A few weeks ago, I spent most of a Saturday to quite a few yard sales in our local area. I took my oldest child with me.

On those visits, I didn鈥檛 buy anything and I really wasn鈥檛 planning to. So why did I go? I was looking for huge bargains on stuff I knew about (鈥淢y son went to college and left behind this old junk鈥︹��). I also wanted to show my son a clear example of personal restraint, as I pointed out things at each sale that we could have purchased but chose not to.

Q1: Handling a large gift
听I graduated from college last June, and have been looking for a job (in the architecture field, which has been challenging). For graduation, my dad gave my wife and I a very generous gift of $20,000. We haven鈥檛 been completely sure what to do with it, and right now it鈥檚 sitting in a savings account. We are basically looking at three options. First, we could just keep it in savings with as high interest as possible, and just let it grow. Two, we could use it to pay off a large portion of our student loans, which total about $27,000. Or three, use it to start a small business. Any advice in deciding which route to take?
听- Charles

There isn鈥檛 a right answer for what to do with the money. It depends entirely on what goals you guys have.

If I were you, I鈥檇 spend some time talking about where you want your lives to be in, say, ten years. What do you want from your life? Do you want to buy a house? If so, when? Next year? Nine years from now? Do you want to have children? When? Do you have a really good and well-researched idea for a small business?

The farther off your goals are, the more I鈥檇 lean toward paying off the student loans. The closer they are, the more I鈥檇 lean toward the savings account. I鈥檇 only open the business if you have a well-researched business plan and a strong desire to run that business.

Q2: Free toothbrushes
听Whenever I go to the dentist every six months, they give out a free toothbrush. However, my toothbrushes start to get pretty ragged at about the three month mark. Is it cheap to ask for two toothbrushes when visiting the dentist?
听- Amy

I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything wrong with asking for another toothbrush at the dentist鈥檚 office.

If the dentist has a very strict policy of one toothbrush per customer, then they鈥檒l simply say no, which puts you right back where you started, anyway.

I personally don鈥檛 wear a toothbrush that hard, so I wouldn鈥檛 have the need to ask for multiple brushes.

Q3: Internet banking and future loans
听My question has to do with internet banking and obtaining loans in the future. Due to a divorce and subsequent bankruptcy, I now have a checking and savings account with internet-only banks, as I was unable to open accounts with most of the brick-and-mortar banks in my city. I have two checking accounts with Perkstreet, one for actual checking and one for short-term savings. My emergency fund is saved with Ally. Perkstreet only offers checking accounts at this time, which is totally fine by me. My question is: bankruptcy notwithstanding, will it be more difficult to refinance my auto loan or ever get a home loan with another bank because I do not have a standing relationship with anyone? While I know anything beyond checking and savings is far in the future, I鈥檇 like to put the right steps in motion.
听- Lois

I鈥檓 unclear why you were unable to open an account with the banks in your city. Whatever the reason was that they denied you an account there, I would resolve it.

If you know what that reason is and have resolved it, the next step I would take is making sure that your credit report is good. Start with the FTC鈥檚 website at and verify that everything on your report is correct and that you don鈥檛 have many late payments on there (or, even worse, failure to pay).

If you鈥檝e taken those steps, you should be in pretty good shape for a loan. People often get loans from banks where they don鈥檛 have active accounts.

Q4: Pieces of inspiration
听How do you find the ten pieces of inspiration each week? I love them!
听- Julie

I have a huge collection of quotes that I鈥檝e picked up over the years. I dig through them pretty regularly for various things (usually presentations, since my presentations usually just feature a picture with a quote vaguely related to what I鈥檓 talking about).

I find pictures because I often look at them in bunches with my children. I try stick to ones that I can share without violating copyright.

As for the videos, I watch most of the Ted talks (and share many of those) and I also often use YouTube for music.

Q5: Medical billing problems
听My husband is having a hip replacement soon. We鈥檝e researched the hip implant however hospital costs are not available. We鈥檝e contacted the hospital billing department who referred us to the surgery department who referred us to purchasing who referred us back to billing. The billing person couldn鈥檛 give any information on account of HIPPA and when we challenged that (because no patient name) we were referred to purchasing. Do you see the dilema?

Any time I鈥檝e been in the hospital the bills are in the mailbox before I got home so SOMEBODY knows what the hospital charges; we鈥檇 just like to know what to expect. Do you have any suggestions?

- Tessa

In this situation, I鈥檇 go up the administrative food chain a bit. Who is in charge of these departments? I would try to contact those people directly.

It鈥檚 often difficult for the first-level customer service people to answer the questions you鈥檙e asking here. Often, they don鈥檛 have access to the data you want.

I would keep escalating until I could get answers.

Q6: Getting value from panini press
听My children got me a panini press for Mother鈥檚 Day. While I love the thought and I鈥檝e used it a couple of times to make sandwiches for me and for family members, I don鈥檛 really know what to do with it. Why wouldn鈥檛 I just cook a sandwich in a skillet with a bit of weight on top of it? I don鈥檛 want to just put the item away and not use it and eventually yard sale it because I know my oldest son spent some of his carefully-earned allowance money on it.
听- June

If you look at it as just a sandwich machine, it is indeed pretty limited. You can replicate what it does by simply cooking a sandwich in a skillet with a small weight on top (we use another skillet).

However, you should look at a panini press as essentially being a small cooker. You can cook chicken breasts on it or hamburgers on it or portabella mushroom caps on it quite easily. Slice some potatoes or sweet potatoes, dip them in a bit of vegetable oil, and cook them on the panini press.

If your press has a griddle-like surface, you can also cook things like eggs and waffles and pancakes on it.

A panini press has more uses than just sandwiches and it鈥檚 worthwhile to experiment. However, don鈥檛 use this as a reason to run out and buy one, as you can still replicate many of these uses with the kitchen equipment you already have.

Q7: Toilet paper: quality or price?
听I鈥檝e been a long time reader (3+ years) and have a question about toilet paper. I have a reputation in my family for being frugal. I鈥檝e always bought the cheap single ply toilet paper. My family teases me about this choice and have bought me charmin鈥檚 ultra soft double ply as a gift for birthdays and holidays as a joke. I am not arguing the quality difference, you get what you pay for. One feels like a soft towel, the other is closer to sandpaper. I just find it hard to throw money down the toilet on your bum. The other argument I have a against buying the nicer stuff is based on my personal habit of always double or triple folding the toilet paper regardless of its thickness. I鈥檓 not sure how many people do this, but if I double or triple the thick stuff, as I鈥檝e found myself doing at my families, I feel like I鈥檇 go through a roll really quickly. Is there any way to quantify the amount a person might save if he buys the cheap stuff vs the more expensive. I know it depends on a number of personal variables鈥�.but if it was only saving me $10 a year I might be convinced to upgrade.
听- John

If you triple-fold the sheets, it鈥檚 pretty easy to quantify how much you save on toilet paper.

If you buy a jumbo-pack of Charmin , you鈥檙e going to be spending about $0.75 per roll. Each roll has 176 sheets on it, which means if you鈥檙e using three sheets at a time, you鈥檙e going to get 58 uses out of a roll. Each use, then, is going to cost you 1.3 cents.

On the other hand, Scott rolls can be found for , meaning you鈥檙e going to have a cost of 0.35 cents per triple-sheet use. Your generic of choice may be even cheaper.

Now, is that extra penny per use worth it for the comfort? It鈥檚 really up to you.

Q8: How much should I save?
听I鈥檓 a 35 year old professional with a good job now, however I spent quite a few of my adult years quite poor (beans and rice and no fresh food poor). Since graduating with my JD, I鈥檝e managed to save approximately one year of my salary in my retirement accounts, and 15% of one year鈥檚 salary (pre-tax) in an emergency fund. I own a home that I don鈥檛 live in because I had to move for work. I have tenants who cover basic monthly costs (mortgage, taxes, etc.) however I鈥檝e had to put a significant amount of money into the property because we were hit by a tornado last year and my insurance company simply didn鈥檛 cover everything (plus I had some repairs dating back to when I couldn鈥檛 afford anything). I鈥檓 currently negotiating with my insurance company over the last major repair (approximately $25k). At this point I鈥檓 operating under the assumption that they鈥檒l eventually cover most/all of it. I can鈥檛 sell the house at this point without a major loss, because my neighborhood was so hard hit by the foreclosure crisis. So I鈥檓 resigned to being a landlord for now. Who knows maybe someday I鈥檒l move back there. Right now I鈥檓 in a rental about 90 miles away (not commutable due to traffic and a relationship). I have a paid off car, so that shouldn鈥檛 be an issue in the short term. My only non-mortgage debt is approximately $25k in student loans, plus an additional similar amount to my dad for school and house expenses. My dad doesn鈥檛 need/want to be paid back quickly, so we鈥檝e agreed that I鈥檓 to consistently give them $50/month. (Note: My parents are retired and now working in new PT careers. They haven鈥檛 touched their retirement funds yet and don鈥檛 expect to for quite some time.)

Anyways, in about four years I鈥檝e been able to save approximately one year of my salary in retirement accounts (and another 15% in an emergency fund), by living in a way that simply isn鈥檛 comfortable. I was willing to do that temporarily because I was so far behind, and because I never want to be as poor as I used to be again. Right now I鈥檓 saving approximately 28% of my salary (pre-tax). I now need to figure out the 鈥渕iddle ground鈥� route. I need more money for my daily/monthly expenses, but I鈥檓 so afraid to save less for retirement, and am having trouble determining whether I鈥檓 now 鈥渃aught up.鈥�

Any thoughts or resources would be helpful.
听- Rachel

It is really all about comfort level. As long as you鈥檙e spending less than you earn and saving the difference, you鈥檙e in good shape.

If I were you, I鈥檇 target saving 10% of my income each year for retirement and another 15% for other expenses (like eventual car replacement, maintaining the emergency fund, and so on). I鈥檇 spend the rest on bills and just living life.

Some people strongly desire debt freedom and are willing to live very lean to get there as quickly as possible, but that鈥檚 not a solution for everyone.

Q9: Memorable but inexpensive Father鈥檚 Day
听Over the last year or two, I鈥檝e come to really realize how awesome my dad is. He鈥檚 just been a rock in my life, my sister鈥檚 life, and my mom鈥檚 life for as far back as I can remember. Whenever something crazy would happen to one of us, Dad would just listen and he鈥檇 take care of things. I was so dumb for getting so angry with him when I was younger because he鈥檇 stop me from doing something even dumber.

Anyway, I鈥檓 trying to think of something to give him on Father鈥檚 Day to really show my appreciation, but I don鈥檛 have much money. I am delivering pizzas while trying to get a good job and there just isn鈥檛 a lot of cash. I need your help!
听- Andy

Time. Spend time with him.

Plan a day where the two of you do whatever he enjoys doing. Does he like to fish? Does he like to play board games? Does he like to do yard work? Golf?

Whatever it is he likes, just do it with him for the whole day, even if you find it to be the most boring thing on earth. Don鈥檛 grumble about it a bit 鈥� this is his day, so do what he wants and put your best effort into enjoying it with him. Pack up a picnic lunch and eat it with him. If you鈥檙e not good at some aspect of what it is he enjoys doing, ask him to teach you.

Trust me, it鈥檚 just about the best Father鈥檚 Day gift you could give him.

Q10: Starting over with credit cards
听So I鈥檝e been meaning to get a credit card that benefits me. I have only one credit card that I鈥檝e had for 10 years. Through bad experience (getting into debt over my head), I鈥檝e closed off all of my cards 6 years ago and kept just one, Capital One. My credit score dropped but I have worked on it and it鈥檚 up to 740 or so. I don鈥檛 have any debt except a house mortgage. I pay off my balance monthly so as to not accrue any interest. It also has an annual fee of $49. I鈥檇 like to get a credit card that earns points or pays me back for using it. I want to close my CapOne card because of the annual fee but know that if I do so, my credit score might drop. I don鈥檛 want to keep it around and charge a small amount on it to keep it going either. What do you suggest?
听- Geoff

If I were in your shoes, I would open a card with whatever business I used the most. Do you use a particular gas station a lot? I鈥檇 get a card from them. Do you shop mostly at a particular store? Get a card from that store.

Almost always, those store-branded cards have really good bonus programs when you shop at that store. You can use them elsewhere, but the bonuses will be pretty small (or none at all).

Once you have the card for a year or two, cancel the old one. If you cancel the old one now, your credit history will take a pretty painful shot. If you have another line of credit that isn鈥檛 brand new, the drop from canceling the old card will be smaller 鈥� and it gets even smaller the longer you have the new line of credit.