What's in your wallet?

Several months ago, I explored high-interest savings accounts in a post titled, Is your bank robbing you?"

Perhaps today's post could be alternatively titled, "Is your credit card company robbing you?" As we all know, many credit card companies charge exorbitant interest rates. But if you don't carry a balance from month-to-month, those interest rates won't hurt you.

Credit card companies also charge merchants fees every time you use your credit card to buy something. The credit card company, therefore, has a financial interest in getting you to use their card instead of the one offered by their competitor.

Rather than thinking in terms of what we must pay to have a certain credit card, we should be thinking in terms of what the credit card will pay us to use it. Many credit cards offer cash-back, airlines miles, or other rewards just for using that credit card to make your purchases. Therefore, if you're not getting one of these benefits when you use your credit card, you are probably getting robbed.

There are many other options available too. Excellent resources for comparing available credit card are available at CreditCards.com and Nerd Wallet.

NOTE: If you already have a credit card that is not giving you cash-back or rewards, you may be able to call the 1-800 customer service number and simply have the card switched over to one that does give cash-back or other rewards.

Revised 11/30/14

Congrats Rock & Michelle!

The following article was published in today's Capitol Morning Report:

CAPITOL COUPLE
By Rock Zierman. Contact: rock@cipa.org

The Capitol Park was the setting for the wedding Sunday of Rock Zierman, Director of Public Affairs for the California Independent Petroleum Association, to Michelle Carey, Legislative Aide to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

The couple became engaged last October in a plot Rock hatched with the assistance of Dennis Mangers, President of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association and Shpritz Anthony, Director of Operations of the Sacramento Theater Company (STC).

Mangers and Anthony helped Rock secure the use of the Main Stage at the H Street Theatre Project, home of the Wells Fargo Pavilion. On October 29, the couple walked into the theater lobby and sat down, waiting for the doors to open for the play "To Kill a Mockingbird." An "usher" walked up and informed them that the house was now open for seating (she was actually a STC staff member in on the plot). Since they were the first to walk in, Michelle didn't think it was odd that they were the only ones in the house. The couple sat down then Rock excused himself under the pretext of having to use the restroom. What Michelle didn't know was that their theater tickets were fakes and theater doors had been closed to everybody else.

A few minutes after Rock left their seats, the house lights faded out and Michelle was suddenly in a dark theater by herself. The stage lights came up slightly and a stage hand walked out and took the sheet off the mysterious object at the center of the stage revealing what was underneath: Rock's piano. Rock then walked on stage with his buddy, Matt Tennis of the Associated Builders and Contractors who was carrying a guitar. It was only then that Michelle figured out this was not your regular production.

Matt and Rock launched into "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts, one of Michelle's favorite songs. At the end of it, Rock descended the stage stairs, got on one knee, and proposed to his now tearful future bride. Michelle turned around to see family sitting in the back row of the theater, who broke into applause.

The theatrics didn't stop there. Sunday at the wedding reception after the couple's first dance, Rock found himself surrounded by his sisters and cousins stammering towards him like the zombies in Michael Jackson's music video for his song "Thriller." The opening chords to the song started playing through the loud speakers and Rock and his zombie ensemble turned towards the guests and did a step-by-step rendition of the music video. While the Zierman side of the audience fully expected such a production, the Carey side was quite surprised. For more information, visit the couple's webpage at http://www.rockandmichelle.com/.

***

Addendum: We asked Zierman where he and Carey were going for the honeymoon. Here's his reply -- We're going to New Orleans in three weeks (Michelle is a fabulous cook, but has never been there...and I'm a fabulous eater!) then we're going to Cabo San Lucas after session ends.

The Missing Movie

One of our favorite family traditions is known as "pizza/movie" night. On Friday nights we typically grab some pizza from Little Caesars or Papa John's, then scarf it down while we watch a DVD on the couch.

Although we usually rent our movies from Blockbuster (using vouchers from Coke rewards or Discover), recently we've been able to request quite a few good DVDs and videos from the impressive selection available through the Sacramento Public Library.

Last night, however, we picked a DVD right off our bookshelf: The Fellowship of the Ring. This just happens to be the movie we saw on the night I proposed to Christina over five years ago.

While I'm not nearly as big of a Tolkien fan as my sister, I do enjoy the Lord of the Rings movies. But it dawned on me when I was watching the movie last night, that something isn't quite right. As great as these movies are, there really ought to be an equally well-made movie for the prequel, which happens to be the best Tolkien book of them all -- The Hobbit.

Turns out I'm not the first person to have this thought. There's a whole web site out there dedicated to this worthy cause.

New Giveaway: Designer Couch

Here's a once-in-a-lifetime offer! Our beloved couch, custom designed by my sister Charity and lovingly crafted by both my older sisters and my dear friend, Colette, ("crafted" meaning that an old couch was re-covered and beautified with some new cushions) is available to the first taker, absolutely free of charge. This aged artifact features not only seating convenience, but also a hidden queen-sized sleeper!



Disclaimer: Material is coming loose around the arms and will need some talent with a needle and thread or staple gun to restore it to its regular appearance.

Better act fast. This offer is not going to last long. Be the first to leave a comment and this couch is yours. (Delivery not included.)

New Giveaway: Japanese Movie Tickets

I have two tickets to see "Japanese Movies at the Crest Theatre" this Saturday, May 19, at 3:30 PM. The featured film is Sansho the Bailiff. We've never seen the movie, so we can't vouch for it.

The tickets (valued at $10/each) are free to the first person to leave a comment claiming them. (Sorry, but you'll have to arrange your own babysitting!)

New Baby Pic...

Eliana's Wheels

Let me introduce you to future NASCAR champion Eliana Joy. This 2 1/2 year old has the coolest wheels in town.


Only problem is that her keys were recently confiscated by the authorities...

Yes, sadly Eliana's license was recently suspended for disobeying mommy and daddy by repeatedly emptying her clothing (and Mikey and Danny's) from the drawers in her room. So it's back to prison (a.k.a. "the crib") for this lawless roadster. But at least she can look back on these photos to remember the good ol' days. (And the great shirt, too!)

Global Depopulation?

Folks who still worry about overpopulation of the planet are so 20th Century. They're a little like those sophisticated academic elites who used to worry about things like global cooling and a new ice age.

In support of this view, let me share with you an excerpt from a recent Christianity Today Q&A with Philip Longman titled "Fertility, Faith, & the Future of the West:"

World population is still increasing by some 77 million annually. That's equivalent to adding a whole new country the size of Egypt every year. Yet here is a curious fact few people know: the number of children under 5 in the world is actually smaller than in 1990.

How can this be? Mostly it is because of the massive global decline in birthrates. Now, in literally every region outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the average woman no longer bears enough children to replace the population. For now, world population continues to grow, though at a slower and slower rate, primarily because of the enormous increase in the numbers of elderly people. But many countries, such as Russia and Japan, are already shrinking in absolute size, and on current trends, global depopulation will occur within the lifetime of today's young adults.

Backup Your Computer Online

Say a thief breaks into your house and rips off all of your computer gear. Or your house burns down, you escape, but your computer doesn't. Would you lose any files you'd like to see again?

Rodney recently recommended Mozy.com to me. It's an online backup site where you can securely store up to 2 GB worth of your files for free. If you refer some friends (like I'm trying to do right now) you can earn additional free back-up space. If 2 GB sounds too small to you, you could fork out $4.95/month for Mozy Unlimited.

I'm giving the free version of Mozy a try right now, and so far I'm extremely impressed with how easy it is to use. Check it out - I think you'll be impressed too.

Winzy

For those of you who find the regular Google search engine too boring, you might check out Winzy.

Christina is really into Winzy right now. If you use our link to try it out, you'll give her some bonus points.

Personally, I think I'll stick with the plain old-fashioned Google search engine.

Photos from Today's Walk

A big thank you to all of you who supported the Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center by sponsoring us in today's Capitol Walk.

The Walk was a huge success, raising over $37K in pledges for the Center - a new annual record!



Our family was joined by Cindy, Marcy, and Graydon (see photo at upper right), and we all had a great time. However, one first-time walker decided to grab some shut-eye during the second lap.

Six-Figure Paycheck for Mom

Here's something to think about as Mother's Day approaches: If I was to try to pay Christina for all the work she does as a full-time mom, I would need to fork out somewhere in the neighborhood of $144,687 per year!

Check out Mom's Salary Wizard on the Salary.com web site.