Hello, I’m NCN and I’m supposed to know better.

I’m always suggesting that readers contact businesses with which they do business and ask for discounts.  Once a quarter, I’ll call my cell phone provider, just to check if there are any discounts or promotions.

Well, guess who JUST noticed that he’s been paying $20 a month, for five months, for unlimited text messaging - for a phone from which he never sends text messages?!?

Yes, I am NCN, Lord Of The Idiots.

I don’t know how it happened.  I guess, when I logged into my account and was picking and choosing the features I wanted, I inadvertently checked a box that I meant to leave unchecked.  Or, I unchecked a box that should have been checked.  I don’t really know.

I called my cell phone provider, and they agreed to give me a $40 credit towards next month’s bill.  They really didn’t have to do even that, considering it was my own silly mistake.

So, for all of you out there who read personal finance blogs and wonder - Are these folks for real?  Do they make mistakes, forget things, spend to much, and goof up?  Well, in my case at least, the answer is YES, YES, YES, YES, and YES!

Bow before my stupidity and bask in the glow of my ineptitude.  Rock on.

Side Note - I did manage to reduce my satellite bill by $6 a month.  It’s not much, but I feel a little better.

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As a reminder, the Declaration of Independence - (highlights are mine)

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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I’m not much of a mechanic.  I can do an oil change and I can keep tabs on tire pressure, but that’s about it.  Last night, while driving home, I noticed that my front-right headlamp had gone out.  Thankfully, the high-beams and the front-left lamp still worked.  This morning, I went to the local auto parts store and purchased two replacement bulbs.  I decided to go ahead and replace both low-beam lamps, the left and the right.

Changing the bulbs took about five minutes, once I figured out that all I had to do was depress a little white clip, pull out a wire, rotate the old bulb, pull it out, replace it with the new bulb, rotate the new bulb into place, and reattach the wire.

I used AutoZone’s product finder to find the replacement bulb.  They were having a sale on their XtraVision brand head lamps - two for $20 - so that’s what I purchased.  They offered some ‘blue’ versions of the same bulbs, but I’m not sure that I want blue headlamps.

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A few nights ago, I couldn’t fall asleep.  So, I got out of bed and did a little ‘channel surfing’.

Between reruns of Sports Center and The Andy Griffith Show, I spent a few hours watching a couple of ‘television shopping networks’.

Now, I’m hooked.  Not on the products - but on the way that the products are presented and promoted.

Here’s what I have learned -

Every product was presented as a ’special value’ or ‘amazing deal’.

As each host introduced a new product, a little box, with product details, would appear on the left-hand side of the screen.  And, inevitably, the text would state - ’special value’ or ‘first time offer’ or something similar.

Each product was promoted by a product specific ‘host’ and a product-specific ‘guest’.

It was amazing.  As a new product was introduced, a special ‘guest’ would appear to talk about and promote the product.  The host and the guest would interact and exclaim how ’special’ or ‘nice’ or ‘breathtaking’ or ‘unique’ each product was.

Callers would call in - and want to talk to the host, like they were old friends.

Callers called in and spoke to either the host or the guest, or both.  And, inevitably, the caller would say something nice - really nice - about the PERSON to whom they were talking.  Yes, the caller would mention the product - and how they ‘loved it’ - but, the key to the whole ‘call in’ segment appeared to be the callers’ desires to talk to the various hosts.  It was amazing.

Products were always available ‘at a special price’ or ‘via flex pay’.

No matter what the product was - a set of pillow cases, a pair of earrings, a power tool - the host would mention that it was on ’sale’.  And, sure enough, on the graphic, the ‘original price’ would have a ’strike through’ and the ‘value price’ would be highlighted.  On top of that, most items were available on ‘flex pay’ - where they charge your credit card for 1/2 or 1/3 of the payment, two or three months in a row.  Again, callers ‘loved!” this feature - and many remarked how ‘easy this made it for me to purchase’.

The setting for each product was custom-designed to evoke a specific mood and reaction.

I noticed, for instance, that when they sold a particular toilet cleaning product, the entire ’stage’ became a well-lit, beautifully decorated bathroom.  When they were selling clothing, each item was shown on a different size model.  In fact, ‘plus size’ models were featured.  The entire production evoked a sense of ‘connection’ between the customer and the product.

Each host had her / his own way of promoting the product, but all of them knew how to steer the conversation back to the ‘wonderful product’.

Again, no matter what the ‘guest’ or ‘caller’ might say, the host had an uncanny ability to promote the product.  Over and over and over again, the product was ‘my favorite’ or ‘the third one I’ve owned’ or ‘my mom’s perfect gift’.  Not only did they sell the product, they sold their ‘love’ for the product.

Every item was ‘almost sold out’ or ‘available in limited supply’.

No matter the item, the color, the size, or the quantity - Near the end of each segment, it would be ‘nearly sold out’.  And, as the host talked to the ‘producer’ - she’d be informed that those who ‘called right now’ could be assured that the product would be available, but they needed to call ‘right now’.

Some thoughts -

I have never purchased anything from a ‘home shopping network’.

I find it fascinating (perplexing, and a bit sad) that the callers seemed to consider the hosts to be their ‘friends’.

I wish that I could promote ‘debt reduction’ with the same fervor that these folks promote ‘products’.

I find it odd that after years of selling products via television, these networks still ‘run out’ of items to sell.

Surely, they really are running out?  Right?  They wouldn’t, you know, lie to us?  Would they?

Put the card away, be thankful for the stuff you already own, and call your real friends -

Tell THEM how wonderful THEY are.

You’ll save money, you won’t have to make payments, and you’ll be talking to someone who really wants to hear from YOU!

And, late at night, when you can’t sleep, come back here and read through the No Credit Needed archives!

But, hurry!

Supplies are limited!

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As you move away from financial irresponsibility and towards financial stability, you will find yourself becoming aware of certain new realities. First and foremost, you will note that the vast majority of Americans live without much regard for their own financial futures. Supported by a massive government that believes in handouts and bailouts, many folks have forgotten the idea of personal responsibility. Living well beyond their actual means, most have succumb to the pressure to have more, get more, and use more.

Ironically, instead of supporting those individuals who wish to save, our government promotes consumption. Instead of urging people to save for down payments (and thus prove financial maturity), our government promotes even-lower mortgage rates, swelling the supply of money and lowering the value of the dollar. Instead of honoring its budget, our government grows ever larger, competing with private enterprise, entrenching itself in every area of our lives.

We live in strange times, where people have ceded their liberty for (so-called) security. We have abandoned the ideas of frugality, simplicity, and prudence and replaced them with greed, consumption, and excess. I feel that we are moving towards a day of reckoning - A day when the spinning-plates of an ill-advised war, a convoluted tax structure, and a pseudo-stimulated economy shall come crashing down.

I wish that I knew all of the answers - but I’m just beginning to understand the questions. But, I do know this - Things feel uneasy. I talk to folks all the time - good, honest, hard working folks - and they are worried. Many (most?) are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Husbands and wives are working to provide for their families, but they feel overwhelmed. Burdened with the desire to provide bigger and better things for themselves and their children, but unaware of the methods for bringing about true prosperity, many are one misstep, one illness, one lost paycheck away from financial ruin. And so, they depend on credit and the promises of government, instead of their own ingenuity and abilities.

We must gather ourselves - and move in a different direction. We should demand fiscal responsibility - from our politicians, from the people with whom we invest our money, from the companies with which we do business - and from ourselves.

All true change begins at home. We must learn to live within our means. We must seek for opportunities to increase our income. We must teach out children about financial matters and we must talk with our spouses about money. And, above all, we must take personal responsibility for the financial decisions we make. Reversing our course may be difficult - but we must being to turn the wheel.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Instead of blaming the rich, we should learn from them. Instead of criticizing profitable businesses, we should thank them for the jobs they provide. Instead of supporting failing policies and practices, we should encourage ingenuity and enterprise. Instead of borrowing from our enemies, we should trade with our friends. Instead of glorifying the excess of celebrity, we should applaud the wisdom of the millionaire-next-door. Instead of promoting laziness, we should reward hard work. Instead of doing what we’ve been doing - we should do something else.

• 18 Comments