Show r EQ The Salt Lake Tribune SAVINGS GAME 1 the day and weeks that elapse between the time I make a purchase until I pay the bill Besides my e Visa card already gives me back a minimum 1 percent cash rebate on all purchases with no also? Its tempting put almost everything on electronic payment but we do somehow lose control when its too easy when we dont write the check and record it A: The phone bill with the added bonus of a 2 percent rebate is charged to the BellSouth Visa card I disagree that you lose control when you pay by electronic transfer Usually you still get a notice in the mail with the amount that will be deducted from your bank account Or if the amount is the same every month you can record it ahead of time in your checkbook no-fe- limit HUMBERTO CRUZ Readers Offer Challenging Questions BUSINESS Sunday Anticipating your next question my favorite card is BellSouth Visa which unfortunately no longer offers this generous rebate program to new cardholders What I wonder given the trend in the industry is how long it will be available for existing cardholders Q: You say you pay for cable TV and electricity by electronic transfer Why not your phone bill March 15 1998 even if you are not writing a check Obviously you need to monitor your account to make sure there is enough money there and available to take care of any electronic payment coming up If you dont have enough you would be writing an electronic bad check and almost certainly be subject to penalties Qs I was interested in what you said about raising your homeown-ers-insuran- deductible from $2500 to $5000 to lower your premium by $150 a year Is it really a savings if you had to replace a roof and it cost $4000 to $5000? A: Obviously not but fortunately I have the $5000 and am will- ing to take the risk Otherwise I face a certain $150-a-yeloss in premiums To me the whole point of insurance is to protect yourself against the losses you cant or wouldnt want to handle on your own Or in the case of life insurance to protect those who depend on you financially from the loss of your earning capacity Train Cars Backed Up 300 Miles at Border ar Humberto Cruz lives in Coral Springs Fla Write him co Tiib-un- e Media Services 435 N Michigan Ave Suite 1400 Chicago IL 60611 Send messages to: HCrm5040aoIcom THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS Thousands of across the nations biggest rail freight network The problem has resulted in railroad cars stretching about ideas and challenging questions Q: I disagree with what you said about throwing out credit-car- d receipts assuming you dont have any use for them You dont assume or presume things because you never know what may happen I keep all my receipts and attach them to my credit-car- d after reconciling them Recently the condenser in the refrigerator I bought for my parents six years ago died out The refrigerator people said they would give us work if we could produce the receipt Luckily I found it in the boxes of documents I have You might say you should keep the receipts on all major purchases Thats true but its also important to keep receipts for small purchases cameras toys etc because those items may be covered by extended warranties from credit-carcompanies or the manufacturer You also said you write a check to your credit-carcompany Why not do an automatic deduction from your checking account just like your utility bills? You save time expenses for checks envelopes and stamps What do you think? A: I say right on I've called the customer-servic- e reps at my credit-card company half a dozen times to suggest they set up automatic deduction and will keep calling them until they do I know the Discover card does it and have considered switching just because of that But I prefer the rebate program my Visa card offers and Visa is accepted in more places than Discover As to the credit-carreceipts I throw out those I know I will never need again for groceries already consumed tickets for a movie already seen a restaurant meal digested long ago In other words things that no longer exist which make up the bulk of my credit-carreceipts Still I keep the credit-carfree-warran- d d d d d statement which shows how much was spent for what and can serve as a back-u- p receipt Georgina and I also have a file cabinet at home where we keep the receipts warranty papers serial numbers instruction booklets and any other documents relating to just about everything we have from the refrigerator TV and CD player to our little nightstand lamp Having this file came in handy when we had to fix a sick water heater We pulled the troubleshooting guide from the file and had the heater going in no time n Q: My husband and I were losing a lot of cash by going to the automated teller machine often We would take out $20 use $15 for gas and the other $5 we would blow somewhere else So we start ed an envelope system for cash We have an envelope for gas en g tertainment church household and miscellaneous Ev ery week the money in our bud get is divided into our envelopes So when we need it we just get it out If I order a pizza we get that out of the entertainment envelope Milk money and little things for around the house out of the household envelope What has really helped is that if the entertainment envelope gets low then we know we cant afford to go out Same with Now we don't feel like money is slipping away A: You have come up with a system that works for you which is always to be preferred to what suggests And it any expert has put you in control of your money Instead of the other way around baby-sittin- baby-sittin- g Q: I was surprised to read you mail a check to the credit-carcompany immediately Like you I never carry a balance but since my monthly payment is large I delay posting it for two weeks and still always meet the deadline Thus it draws that much more interest Your action in this respect is uncharacteristic A: I must be mellowing Actually I used to do the 6ame thing until one time I cut it so close I almost missed the deadline Today with late fees and other penalities escalating I don't think it's worth the risk I am satisfied to earn interest on the float" d OUR MONEY MARKET RATES ARE GUARANTEED TO STAY high till the (Thats six months in cattle time) The Guaranteed Great Rate Money Market Account Great because for at least six months youll get a surprisingly high rate guaranteed plus easy access to your cash Then if the rate rises above your great opening rate youll get the new even higher rate Its a great rate with no ifs ands or bull 300 miles across Texas according to the Texas Railroad Commission This is a crisis situation Union Pacific Railroad said in a letter to the Surface Transportation Board Readers as they always do come up with the most interesting statements rail- waiting to cross into Mexico are backing up in south Texas further slowing Union Pacifics attempts to clear a backlog road cars If your balance changes you will receive the rate for that tier including higher rates for higher tiers (Press "1") or visit your nearest financial center rum r Annual percentage vielda (AP as of 21198 Rates are variable and may change weekh after account is opened However the APY that applies to each balance tier on the dav you open vour account ie guaranteed not to decrease for at least six month after the account is opened If vou change your account balance tier at am time interest will be paid according to the new tier Minimum balance to open is S10000 If balance changes after opening APY as of 21198 ' 2 02 for balance of less than S5000: 250 for balances of 85000-9994 50 for balances of 525000-199465 for balances of S50000 99999 485 for balances of 8100000499999 and 500 for balances of S500 000 and over Fees mav reduce earnings Unlimited withdrawals (payments directly to vou) if made in person or by ATM otherwise limited to six transfers or withdrawals per month onlv three of which may be by check debit or similar order |