The Daily Burns

Like most Americans, Jenn and I push our income to the edge (and occasionally over). In May, we are seeking, for at least this month, to try and make cutbacks. I’m sure some will stay for the long haul, and some are just for the month. Either way, here’s what May has in store:

• Downgrade NetFlix subscription
• Cancel HDTV, Cable, and DVR
• Downgrade internet service
• Revise current or get new auto insurance
• No going out to eat
• Downgrade cell phone to a smaller minute plan

If you have any other creative, expense cutting ideas, feel free to drop a comment.

On Thursday two of my websites were compromised and my hosting company shut down all my websites. Having encountered multiple hacks over the last several months, I decided a clean slate was needed. I thus got a new hosting company and started 4  of my websites from scratch. The other 16 +/- sites… well, I decided to just shut them down. It was a hard decision, but one I’ve been thinking about for some time. This weekend put the nail in the coffin for them.

While I was at it, and due to necessity, I gave The Daily Burns a face-lift.

That’s the short version.

I sit on my butt almost all day, every day.

Yesterday I decided to go for a jog. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went for another jog this morning. This time I took along my iPhone and used the free RunKeeper app. The jog was wonderful as the sun was… well, sort-of out and I got to see Mt. Baker and the Canadian Rockies. The air was fresh and crisp.

While I enjoyed the jog, I couldn’t help but ponder as I plodded, how in the world am I going to fit this into my schedule. Yesterday I was able to grab my jog at 4:00 in the afternoon and today’s was at 8:00 this morning. Neither of those times will work with work. So, I could get up early and go for a run… but knowing my deep love of sleep, I don’t foresee me getting up at 6:00 so I can get a run in. The other option might be in the evening, but it is pretty much dinner and family time when I get home from work and I don’t foresee going for a jog at 8:00 p.m. That leaves lunch time jog, which I guess could work. But, it just seems odd to go for a run in the middle of the work day.

What is the solution? I don’t know, but I’m open to suggestions.

Just got off the phone with Bank of America and I need to vent…

A couple months ago I opened a business account. The rep told me that the account has an $11 a month service fee. However, if I had a Gold personal account, the fee would be waived. The problem with the Gold account is that it requires me to carry a 10K balance or else there is a $15 fee. So, obviously I wasn’t going to take that route. Until the representative told me that if I had two gold accounts then I wouldn’t have to maintain the minimum balance and I wouldn’t have the service fee. Along with that, I’d get my business account for free as well. So, despite the annoyance of having to open a second checking account AND changing my personal account to a Gold account, I went ahead and did it so I could save the $11 a month.

Enter in the November bank statement…

Of course, there is a $15 service fee on my personal account. I call BoA and ask them why it is there. The rep tells me that it is because I haven’t met the minimum balance. I go on to explain that I was told that having the two accounts, plus my business account meant that I didn’t have to keep the minimum balance and would have no service fees. The rep said that this was not the case and that there were no codes she could enter to make that happen. I asked her if I was misled or just stupid because, here’s my logic, I either:

1. Was led by a BoA representative to believe that changing my account to Gold, opening a second Gold account, and opening a business account would remove all fees or
2. I’m stupid because I randomly decided to take the time and energy to open a second account that I’m not going use, upgrade my current account, and open a business account all so that I can pay $15 a month instead of $11.

Now, I’m not trying to be pretentious, but I don’t think I’m that stupid. I went to great pains to make sure that the information I was given was true. I confirmed time and time again that I wouldn’t have to carry a $10K balance under this system. I know how my balance usually runs and, as much as I’d like a $10k a month balance, that just isn’t a reality. So, why would I open these accounts in order to pay more? I wouldn’t! That’s the point.

So, after a frustrating call to CS they have refunded my $15, closed my second account, and downgraded my personal checking to a normal account… and my business account now costs $11 a month.  So, Bank of America, thanks for being lame.  And while I’m venting… the fact that you don’t let me make a transfer from my business account to my personal account online is lame and your online billpay system is atrocious.

That’s all. Vent over.

As you may know, thedailyburns has been hacked into a number of times lately. Today, in fact, thedailyburns was just one of many sites I own that was hacked into. After 2 hours I’ve managed to get the daily burns back up, in relative order, and (I hope) secure.

Now off to fix the other 5 sites that were hacked… fun, huh?