I’ve always been a big fan of Google, both as a search engine and as a company. They seem to be the best at just about everything they do. Their Froogle product search (now called Google Product Search) dominated when it was introduced, but Microsoft’s Live Search Cashback program may stiffen the competition. Both tools allow you to do comparison shopping online, but the Microsoft tool seems better equipped at finding the lowest total cost and also pays cashback for purchases made through the site.

The program will give you 2%-5% cash back on the purchase. Also, the search includes shipping charges so it does a better job than Google in finding the overall lowest price.

Due to heavy interest in the program, the live search cashback website has had trouble staying up.  Try this alternate link to live search cashback.

The release of Wii Fit this week got me thinking about products and services that can meet our needs at a fraction of the cost of other alternatives. For those of you who haven’t heard of Wii Fit, it’s a peripheral for the Nintendo Wii that you stand on as you do exercises led by the accompanying game. By monitoring your weight and balance, it allows you to control your character in a wide range of activities, including Yoga, Hula-Hooping, Ski-Jumping and many more. The game gets you moving and looks to be so much fun that you don’t even realize that you’re exercising.

Certainly Wii Fit is not a replacement for a full exercise regiment, but for people who don’t exercise at all or who have a hard time getting motivated, it may be a great alternative. From a financial perspective, I thought I’d consider the cost of a Wii Fit to my gym membership. At first, I was thinking about it from the $89.99 MSRP for the Wii Fit versus my $50 per month gym membership. Such a comparison is somewhat misleading. Obviously someone who uses the gym many times a week for many different activities gets a lot more out of it than someone like me. I go to the gym a few times a month to use the pool, track, and play basketball. All of those activities are things that I can do for free in nicer weather.

So a better comparison might be the cost per hour of exercise.

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Reducing the estimated 38 billion plastic water bottles discarded each year will obviously have a huge environmental impact. Those environmental benefits may be leading this effort to switch from bottled water to tap water, but the finances of making the change should also not be overlooked.

Cindy Crawford has joined the effort by teaming up with PUR Water Filtration Systems (PUR) to promote a limited edition Thirsty for Change water bottle. The aluminum water bottle is manufactured and sold by SIGG, the Swiss Engineered Water Bottle company. The idea is to reuse the bottle and fill it with filtered tap water instead of buying bottled water. The Thirsty for Change website claims that PUR filtered water is 1/10 the cost of bottled water, which will save an average of $600 per year. Filtered tap water is being promoted because PUR is the co-sponsor of the initiative but depending on where you live, you may be able to drink unfiltered tap water to save even more.

Any reusable bottle will allow you to make this change, but if you order the limited edition Thirsty for Change water bottle, all proceeds from the sale will benefit Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, which helps reduce water-related disease in many developing countries around the world.

Personally, I use a Nalgene bottle that cost about $10 less than the SIGG bottle.

Chrysler recently announced the Let’s Refuel America program which locks in gas prices at $2.99 per gallon. Here’s a clip from the press release followed by an analysis of whether the deal is worth it.

From the press release: “In response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern, Chrysler LLC today announces its own economic stimulus package: an exclusive gas price protection policy that eliminates the risk of further spikes in fuel prices. With the U.S. purchase of eligible Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, customers can enroll in the “Let’s Refuel America” program and receive a gas card that immediately lowers their gas price to $2.99 a gallon, and keeps it there for three years. The offer is available at 3,511 U.S. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008, and is available on vehicles ranging from popular new compacts, crossovers and minivans to full-size diesel-powered pickup trucks.”

The analysis:

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Postage rates will increase on Monday, May 12th. I previously covered why Forever Stamps are a Losing Investment. For the next few days, it does make sense to buy enough forever stamps to cover a few months worth of your postage needs. You can buy forever stamps at $0.41 each through Saturday, May 10th and they will be valid for first class mail that would normally cost 42 cents after that date.

Portion sizes have gotten so out of control that you often get enough for a small family when you order an individual entree. Sure, you can take leftovers home to eat the next day, but I’d rather not have to pay so much to get more food than I really want. In the past, I’ve said that I would gladly pay more than half price to get half as much food when I eat out.

That’s why I was so excited to hear about T.G.I. Friday’s Right Portion, Right Price menu. Restaurants have traditionally only offered smaller portions and prices at lunch time, if at all. The Friday’s program is all day, every day. I hope that other restaurants follow this innovative idea. I don’t eat out much, but when I do I would definitely consider going to T.G.I Fridays to get just the amount that I want at a more reasonable price.

The advertisement announcing this program isn’t available on YouTube at the moment.  I’ll add it to this post when and if it gets added there.

Clipping coupons, shopping sales, and buying in bulk are all ways to save on groceries. Those savings only really matter if the food you buy is actually eaten. Whether it expires, spoils, or simply isn’t something you’ll be able to incorporate into a recipe, wasted food is wasted money - cash in the trash.

Here’s how to get the most out of your food:

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There’s a Cadillac ad for the 2008 Escalade featuring Brian Bloom that gives terrible financial advice. The actor says that life is “high school with money” and that following what the cool kids are doing, including what they are driving, is still going on. The ad concludes with him saying that anyone who never cared about impressing the cool kids should “graduate.”

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All too often we look at things from their monthly cost instead of the larger, more important picture, of total cost. There were times when these were the same thing. Stores once offered payment plans on purchases that effectively amounted to the 0% interest offers of today, without the associated catches. Offers to accept $5 a month until you had paid the full cost of some mail order item graced page after page of newspapers and catalogs in the early 1900s. Once interest, or the potential for retroactive interest (as is often the case in today’s 0% offers), comes into play, the difference between monthly payment and total cost can be quite large.

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My post discussing whether the penny should be eliminated reminded me of the other redheaded stepchild of US currency: The $2 Bill. You may not realize that $2 bills are still in circulation, but I have a friend on a mission to change that perception.

Every time his supply of $2 bills is depleted he goes to the bank and withdraws $100 worth. I didn’t realize that you could do this, but as I said $2 bills are still legal tender so it should be no surprise that banks still have them. My friend doesn’t waste his bills, he just uses them in place of other cash. Using them as a tip is ideal because then he doesn’t have to explain his rationale each time he uses them. He effectively places them blindly into circulation.

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