Perk Street Redeems Itself and Clears Dave

After almost a year after Perk Street cancelled all perks points (see perk-street-closes-and-cancels-perks), and closed for business, I received a check from them for the full amount of my perks with no discount rate. I was very impressed. Had I cashed them out while they were still in business, I would have had to cash them out at a 10% discount rate. For a long time I was disappointed in Dave Ramsey for recommending Perk Street to me in the first place, especially since I had in turn recommended it myself (see interest-bearing-internet-banking-and-a-cash-back-debit-card). I was a little more disappointed in Dave, assuming that he had at least been paid for his repeated endorsements on his radio show (or at least his podcast).  But I knew it wasn't Dave's fault, or even Perk Street employee's fault that the business had to close down. I even understood that they had other obligations to their employees and possibly others. But in the end, I am reassured that Perk Street employees did what they could to keep their word with their customers (even though they had long since closed their doors) and that Dave chooses to partner with people and companies that have a strong moral compass and business ethic.

Thanks Dave and thanks Perk Street team! 

Perk Street Closes and Cancels Perks

Today Perk Street customers, including me, were informed that Perk Street would be closing and that any unredeemed perks were being cancelled effective immediately. I had over $1300 in unredeemed perks in my account. Yesterday I could have redeemed them for $1300 in gift cards with various establishments or redeemed them for a $1170 account credit. Now they are gone. I am frustrated to say the least. I suppose that this was in the fine print of the perks policy, but it still doesn't sit well with me. If anyone got a Perk Street because of my recommendation, I am sorry. Dave Ramsey was a long time endorser of Perk Street until recently. I can imagine that they stopped paying for the Dave Ramsey commercials when they started making budget cuts because they were in the process of shutting down. I have heard that this was part of today's discussion on the Dave Ramsey Show, but haven't been able to watch or listen to it yet, although they have made a few posts to Facebook and Twitter regarding this mess.

Shortly after I wrote my first article recommending Perk Street they lowered their perks earning rate from 2% to 1% and changed their "cash back" redemption policy from cash to gift certificates or 90% of cash back effectively earning 0.9%. However, they did implement Power Perks giving people the opportunity to earn more with specific vendors on specific items and eliminated the $5000 min balance rule. But, in the end none of that really matters.

UPDATE: Perk Street Redeems Itself and Clears Dave

Interest Bearing Internet Banking and a Cash-Back Debit Card

High-tech, no fee banking. I use ING Direct for the core of my banking. It is completely internet-based. It offers interest bearing savings (although not much these days) and interest bearing electronic checking (which is even less). I have direct deposit both of our paychecks, and the account is linked to up to three other external accounts, allowing me to transfer money between all of my banks. It is a paperless account, but the ING Electric Orange Checking account is able to link up to electronic billing from most providers, send electronic transfers to anyone with a bank account, and is able to send paper checks as well for free. If you want a referral to ING Direct and a $25 referral bonus please send me an email.

WARNING! Update: Perk Street Closes and Cancels Perks
UPDATE: Perk Street Redeems Itself and Clears Dave

This year we also started using PerkStreet Financial. We had been using the credit card to get cash back. The cash back program we were on was really nice. 1% on everything, 5% on gas and the cash back was debited to the account automatically every month. So we had been putting everything on it, including school tuition and paying it off at the end of every month. Plus we got a 30 day pass on paying for stuff. But then we started listening to Dave Ramsey (who said using credit cards at all was a bad idea, tune in to hear more) and Chase really jacked up the cash back award program. So we stopped using the credit card. First we had to get 30 days of expenses back to be current, but when we did we switched to Perk Street. They offer a cash back debit card (1% cash back, 2% if you maintain a $5000 minimum balance, if you use it for signature-based transactions)

There were a few local banks that offered ~3% APR interest on checking if you had ~10 transactions a month and maintained ~$15,000 balance, but after running the numbers, we were better off with the 2% per month on transactions.

Now, studies show that you spend more if you use plastic, but I think that I am fairly frugal and now that we are on a budget every month, we do a better job of deciding where our money will go.

INGDirect.com

PerkStreet.com

WARNING! Update: Perk Street Closes and Cancels Perks
UPDATE: Perk Street Redeems Itself and Clears Dave

Planning a Budget for High-Tech Stuff and Staying out of Debt

Budgeting may not be very high-tech, but how else are you supposed to get stuff without going into debt. I will just say that it is best to have a well thought-out plan.

I love spreadsheets and for years, projected bills and tracked spending, but I never really planned my spending. So until recent years we lived month-to month. Then, several years ago my friend let me borrow his Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover CDs and after several months, I finally decided to see what he had to say. It boils down to this: get out of debt and stay out. His techniques, including the debt snowball, are more psychological than financial/mathematical, but it makes sense, because people act on emotions more so than calculations (in my opinion). Dave covers the many reasons for eliminating debt and has a systematic approach for doing it. I won’t go into any more detail here, but you can check out Dave’s 7 baby steps on his website.

Dave Ramsey also offers a free daily podcast which is a 40 minute condensed version of his 3-hour daytime talk-radio show. I download it every morning and listen to it in the car to and from work. Most of the show is Dave taking calls from ordinary people with questions on money advice, stories of both what not to do, and success stories of people who have done it right.