Gordon Stein, Author at Cashflow Cookbook

Lifestyle July 12, 2018

Is There a Better Way to Buy Clothes?

In the epoch prior to Netflix there were 2 ways to get a men’s suit. Once was off the rack, a fantasy-based method that assumes that your dimensions are aligned with a mythical standard. With mid-sized shoulders, mid size arms and mid sized paunch all was good. For the rest of us, these are more commonly known as “ill fitting suits”. The second approach is to go made-to-measure, hand fitted over several appointments with pricing mentioned only if requested and then in hushed tones accompanied by sage nodding. Is there a better way to buy clothes?

Actually, let me back up. Prior to Netflix there was more call for suits in general. We festooned ourselves in them, complete with big shoes, fancy belts and power ties. Work fashion has morphed to jeans and polos or even cargo shorts and rock T shirts with concert listing dates on the back. So who cares about suits? Who knows, you might have a wedding, a fancy dinner out or a kid’s graduation to attend. Or maybe you just want a shirt or dress pants that fit properly. And if you are looking for savings on casual clothes look here.

I may have found a clothing gnome

Some guys love the trip to the mall to fuss over the fabrics and the styling details and enjoy getting up close and personal with a measuring tape. I don’t know any of those guys, but I’m just saying. The rest of us hope for a clothing gnome who magically restocks our closet with suits, shirts and pants that fit, look good and take no shopping time.

In a perfect world you would get measured once, pick fabrics from a web site, order new suits, shirts and pants from your iPhone while watching the Patriots. Click on your saved credit card and, Presto, your clothes show up at your door. No parking, mall trips or hassles. No embarrassing encounters with measuring tapes. Well OK, but just once.

The last mouse click sent a digital Gord to China

There is such a place and it is called Indochino. Brilliant. I put them to the test when replacing my ancient tuxedo – pleated pants, circa 1980’s NFL shoulder padding and inexplicably, a mustard stain on the lapel – don’t ask, it had to go. I booked my appointment via their online calendar. Boom. They greet me at the door by name and set to work. Lots of prodding with tape measures and everything carefully noted in the computer system. I wouldn’t have thought that there were that many things you could measure. Tape extended, move here, mouse click, keyboard. Repeat. About 30 minutes worth. Years of careful rum drinking and Breaking Bad binge watching were boiled down to a set of numbers. Then some try ons of sample jackets and pants. More measuring and clicking. Finally done. Time still left on my parking meter app. The last mouse click sent a digital Gord to China to get cut and sewn into exactly the tuxedo I spec’d. $699 plus taxes. I could get 3 for the price of a made to measure tux from a high end retailer.

A better way to buy clothes

About a week and a half later, a big box waited at my door. Inside was something that looked a bit like a tuxedo that had done a red eye flight from China. After a bit of closet time it came back to life. I would too, under those conditions. I slipped it on the jacket and wow, did it fit. Nothing bunching or stressing. Brilliant. On to the pants. Hmm a bit tight in the seat and waistband. Bad measuring? Excess rum? Who knows. I called my Indochino friends and they suggested I take it to a local seamstress. Then they ask me to take a picture of the receipt, send it to them and they will credit my account. And, they adjusted digital Gord so the next suit is perfect. OK, now this is service! Check them out at Indochino.com.

So have I bought more clothes from them? Not yet, but I know that Digital Gord is ready whenever I am. I will be back.

So how does this help my female friends? Ladies contribute! Is there a better way to buy clothes for women? Let me know!

Photo credit: Ruthson-Zimmerman on Unsplash

Uncategorized July 6, 2018

How to Get Free University Funding

Many families struggle with the high cost of sending their offspring to College or University. Including books, tuition, housing and, of course, beer and concert tickets, the tab can run to $25,000 or more a year. How great would it be to get free university funding?

Lots of options for free university funding:

Take full advantage of the RESP program in Canada or the 529 plan in the US. Currently in Canada, the government provides up to $7,500 per child in matching grants. Strangely, only about 1/2 of students are on campus funded by an RESP and event then, they are only taking advantage of about 1/3 of the value of the program. When your government offers free university funding…grab it!
Look at government student grant and loan programs. These can be effective for lower income families since they usually include a means test. However, in some locales, a means test is not used when the student enters her 5th year of a higher education program, meaning that students in longer programs or in second degrees may be eligible for free university funding.
Be sure to set things up right with your student. I recommend paying some or all of the fixed education costs like books, tuition, rent and food and letting the student save for incidentals. In that way there are no budget overruns and their is no calling home in October with frantic calls for more funds. More details on this in Cashflow Cookbook.

Finally, it is worthwhile looking at scholarships for students. Navigating the process is tricky, so we are lucky to have some help on this from the President of mycampusgps.ca, Janet MacDonald, here to help with this. Janet, over to you!

Scholarships – there may be one waiting for you

There are many reasons why students don’t apply for scholarships. Some believe tired old myths like “You must be a top student to win scholarships.” Or “It’s too competitive, I’ll never win.” Or maybe it’s the parents who believe the myth that you must demonstrate financial need for most scholarships.

While there is a kernel of truth in some of these myths (e.g. top students do win scholarships, but not all scholarships are won by top students), many more students qualify for scholarships than they think. In fact, only about 1/3 of scholarships require high grades and financial need. Many scholarships have about a 70% minimum grade requirement, and some don’t have any grade requirement at all.

Actually, you do have time to write a scholarship application

Another barrier to scholarships is the time it takes to complete the applications. But let’s look at the potential return on investment of a scholarship, even a relatively small one at $1,000. If your student puts in 3 hours of work on a $1,000 scholarship, they saved the equivalent of working about 90 hours in a part-time minimum wage job. If we look at it another way, they just made over $300/hour. There are 720 hours in a month. If your student has something better to do with just 3 of those hours than to potentially win $1,000, please let me know what it is so I can share it with others! (Love this, very Cashflow Cookbook-like thinking – Ed)

But, qualifications and time barriers aside, sometimes the obstacle is the student simply not knowing how to fill out the applications. Some scholarships require references, and students sometimes don’t know who to ask. Many applications require an essay, which some students find intimidating. They often struggle to decide what experiences they should include on the essay, and how to communicate their accomplishments without sounding arrogant.

Finally, a course to help you win scholarships

How to Write Winning Scholarship Applications is a step-by-step online course that takes high school students (and their parents), through the scholarship writing process. It provides professional instruction on how best to complete scholarship applications — right in your own home, or any place you have an internet connection.

When students sign up they have access to video training modules and downloads of templates and other course materials they can use to support their learning.

With the information in the program, students are able to write their best scholarship application, and then re-use the material again and again to apply for more scholarships, thereby increasing their chances of winning.

This program is aimed mainly at Grade 12 students in Canada. Parents can also follow along to discover some of the best ways to support their child through this busy and important time of their lives.

Thanks to Janet for her ideas on scholarships.

Do you have some interesting ways to get free university funding? Let us know in the comments.

Photo credit Antenna on Unsplash.com

Lifestyle June 26, 2018

Hearing Loss Solution for Free

My iPhone didn’t have quite enough volume. Meanwhile, Hollywood was going a bit loud on the special effects and music, making it hard to pick out the dialogue. And with a nod to Jerry Seinfeld, what is with all of these soft talkers?

About 20 years ago, I had a hearing test that showed some high frequency hearing loss. But I mean, come on, the beeps were so soft I could barely hear them. What could that test show? Another test, several years later, included a section on repeating spoken words. I did well until the technician covered her mouth with a sheet of paper and re-ran the test. I had no idea how much I relied on lip reading to understand speech.

Like most people with hearing loss I waited a good 7 years to get help. Actually that is the average, I likely waited more like 12 years. Why do people wait so long? Two reasons: vanity and the high cost of hearing loss solutions. But with a bit of digging, I found a hearing loss solution for free. If you suffer from the issue, blast out the family with the TV, or ask people to repeat themselves constantly, read on.

Start with a hearing test from a doctor

I began with a referral from my GP. Good to start with a doctor in case there are any other underlying causes of the hearing loss. After a comprehensive test with lots of very quiet (or absent) beeps, I got the results. Normal age-related hearing loss that arrived about 10 years early. Likely too many construction jobs in my youth before hearing protection was in vogue.

I left with an audiogram that showed good hearing at low frequencies, good for male voices, drum beats and doorbells. The high frequencies were the issue and they impacted the sounds of birds singing, water splashing and leaves rustling. Vowels are spoken in low frequencies, but consonants are high, which is why I can hear someone say “cat” very clearly. Unless it was “bat”. Or could it have been “that”?

The search for a hearing loss solution

I began at a well-known chain and was pleased to see that the aids were on a buy one, get 50% off on the other discount. The tiny machines were slick as can be. Barely visible and once in place, my hearing was nearly bionic. Incredible. So was the price at $6,500. Including the discount. The technician helpfully noted that the price included 3 years worth of batteries. Hmm. The battery savings could be a big deal. But these units were awesome and even connected right into my iPhone. I could take calls directly in my brain. Amazing. Could this be my hearing loss solution? Not so fast.

On to the next provider. Lots of gear plugged into my ears and more whispering beeps. Same results – significant high frequency loss. And significant high cost at about $6.500 for the pair. They recommended a different brand, but didn’t have a live set to try out.

I like to use Consumerreports.org to research major purchases (more on that here) and they showed that Costco was highly rated as a provider, so I made the pilgrimage. Yet more ear testing with a very similar result. The tech popped in a set of their house-brand Kirkland Signature 8’s. Yes, there is something a bit weird about buying hearing aids that share a brand name with courderoy pants, frozen broccoli, tool chests and Tilapia loins, but hey, they sounded great. Incredibly they were also Made for iPhone and even included a Lindsay Wagner type app (google it) that lets you check battery life, change the microphone focus and even use your phone as a remote mic. Very slick. Until I found the catch. No free batteries. What? How much for the batteries? $11.50 for 6 months of batteries, or $23 for the year! That first retailer that “included free batteries” wasn’t looking that great.

So what is the hearing loss solution for free?

Turns out that the Costco Kirkland Signature 8 Hearing Aids are only $1,900 for the pair. No tax. As in 1/3 the cost of the other quotes. Here in Ontario, there is a government grant of $1,000 for aids and I had enough benefit coverage to pick up the other $900. So the only real cost was the gas to get to Costco. I had a couple of fitting issues but they gave me an appointment one day later and got everything fixed. And yes, they are all licensed audiologists, just like the other retailers.

They have worked great for the first couple of weeks. I can understand speech in TV shows and the waves in Lake Ontario have a “swish” sound now as well as a “whoosh”. Leaves rustling are loud enough to scare me. No more lip reading and I can understand people on the first try. Great to reconnect to the world. And no one knows they are there. Except my Cashflow Cookbook readers!

I saved enough to get a spare pair or two or just about make a whole TFSA contribution. Will they keep working this well? I will do another blog post in a couple of months with an update.

If you have hearing loss, don’t wait, get your ears checked. And there is a reason that Costco Hearing Centres are opening faster than Costco outlets overall.

Update – the results of my 6 month test are available here.

Do you have hearing loss? What have you found with hearing loss solutions?

Photo credit Ken Chan from Unsplash

Household June 21, 2018

5 Steps to Avoid Buyer’s Remorse

There’s no fun in buyer’s remorse. Maybe it was a minor blunder like the no-return shirt that doesn’t fit. Might have been a big one like buying too much house. Or a whole stack of purchases of questionable utility that did some “new math” to your credit card balance. Sometimes it is about a product you needed, but you just ended up with a lemon. I recall a Volvo that I bought new a few years back. Let’s just say that I could find the repair department without consulting Siri. On my fourth or fifth trip in as many weeks to replace yet another mysterious greasy part, the technician attempted to calm me by pointing out that all of the work was under warranty. I lost it completely as I explained that I had a full-time job apart from my new role as Volvo repair department shuttler. So how do we avoid buyer’s remorse?

Don’t shop just to shop

The science of shopping has developed immensely. Every aspect of retail is fine-tuned to make you spend. The lights, colours, music, product placement and pricing are all there to fill your cart. Store sensors are monitoring where you move, what you buy and what you look at. Online your results are tweaked based on what else you have been searching on. Read some articles on the science of shopping. Heading to the mall with no real agenda is like swimming with sharks. Whilst wearing a Lady Gaga meat dress.

Set a cooling-off period

Marketers do everything possible to create passion for their products and drive urgency into your buying process. I know, I used to be one. If the item isn’t a non-essential luxury, give yourself a little cooling-off period to regroup. Consult with some friends to get their thoughts. Set a calendar reminder to see if the item is still important in a couple of weeks.

Do some research to avoid buyer’s remorse

Once you figure out that you really want, but also need, the thing, do your research. On home renovations, get three quotes and references. Not unusual to see a difference of 2 or 3-fold on pricing and likely the same on quality. A friend just got a quote for $34,000 to replace the boards on her 200 square foot deck. Hmm, about $1,000 in materials another $2,000 for labour and…a new car for the contractor. Shop around! For products, Amazon reviews are helpful even if you don’t buy from Amazon. Their process limits the reviews to actual purchasers and the large numbers help with accuracy. One of the all-time research bargains is ConsumerReports.org. Sign up for an online membership for $25/year. Completely unbiased reviews of everything from snow tires to sun screen, tractors and strollers. Saves you from being on a first-name basis at the repair department.

Find the best way to buy it

Or do you need to buy it? Could you rent or borrow one? Hard to have buyer’s remorse if you don’t actually buy it. What about a used one from eBay, kijiji, letgo, Tradyo or Craigslist? You can even set up alerts to get exactly the one you want. If it’s best to buy new (snow tires, beds, pillows or hockey mouth guards) do some online shopping. For car tires, as an example, you can go to 3 or 4 sites, enter your car details and have 3 quotes in 15 minutes. Try Kanetix for car, home and life insurance.

Skip the extended warranty

Think of it this way. The extended warranties are priced so that the company covers their costs for future repairs and adds a good 50% gross margin and that’s what you pay. The math says that over the long haul you are the loser. The profitability of extended warranties is always much higher than the product itself. The product may be good but the extended warranties themselves can lead to buyer’s remorse. That’s why the sales guys bite in and hang on like a mosquito until you buy one. Car warranties usually exclude all of the “wear items” like tires, shocks, maintenance type repairs and brakes. Have a look at where you spent all of your repair dollars on your last car. Hmm. Skip the extended warranties, build up a cash cushion and self-insure on your cars and electronics.

And here is a bonus point:

Maintain your new purchase

Things with moving parts have a maintenance schedule for a reason. When one part wears or breaks, it tends to screw up all of the parts around it. Making them fail and you poorer. Skipping regular maintenance is a great way to save. Like only taking birth control pills every other day. (Kidding, don’t sue me all you new moms and dads.) Do the maintenance on schedule.

What buying tips do you have? What purchases do you wish you could re-do?