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The Argonautica household includes two large dogs and we finally figured out that pet medications and treatments is a huge area where we have been wasting money . Not that spending money on our pets is waste, but that we were overpaying by buying our heartworm and flea and tick treatments through our veterinarian. It never occurred to us that it was an area that we might be able to do something to save money.

One day, back when we had cable, a commercial with Betty White came on for 1800PETMEDS.com (or something like that) and Betty told me the site would save me money compared to my regular vet costs. Well, I saw it and figured what the heck, might as well try it out. I got online and looked up the prices and found their prices roughly similar to what my vet charged, certainly not a big savings. Well, by that point I was pissed that sweet ole had Betty White had looked me in the eye and lied to me, so I determined to find a better price for pet meds on my own.

After looking at a number of sites, I finally found an Australian site that shipped to the US for free and still beat the prices of big shot Betty White. I guess what Pet Products on the Web saves in television advertising is passed along to the consumer. Here are some hard comparison numbers for six months of Heartgard and Frontline Plus (where we are, that covers two big dogs for fleas, ticks and heartworm for the summer months):

http://www.1800petmeds.com/:

• 6 mos. Heartgard Plus, $39.99
• 6 mos. Frontline Plus, $82.99 (on sale this week)
• free shipping, plus $5 “volume discount”
• Grand total: $117.98

http://www.petproductsontheweb.com/:

• 6 mos. Heartgard Plus, $42.50
• 6 mos. Frontline Plus, $49.50
• free shipping
• Grand total: $91.00

As I recall, the vet charges us somewhere in the neighborhood of $130-$140 or so, and that was the same ballpark that petmeds.com was in a few months ago, but don’t quote me on that. My intent here wasn’t to promote one company over another anyway, but to point out that searching online for your pet meds can save you a bundle. As always, it pays to shop around. In our case, it got us 1/3 off on this summer’s pet meds purchases.

There’s a line in the movie Colors that comes to mind: as a neighborhood teenager gets busted and is hauled off to prison, a watching kid exclaims “they’re canceling Christmas!”

The Argonautica household recently canceled cable and, judging by the reaction, you would have thought the Grinch swept in and swiped all the presents out from under the tree. It was time, though. In fact, it was way past due, as the Comcast bill was somewhere around $140/month for just cable and some premium channels. We had already switched to DSL, but the package included internet access and Comcast would not lower the price after I canceled the internet portion because it was a package deal.

That made the decision pretty easy; sure I could have used the negotiation tips I’ve mentioned before to knock some major dollars off, but Comcast was still $15 higher than I could get with DirectTV, so I had Comcast pull the plug and I returned their equipment.

The first night was hard on everyone, but I scrounged up a pair of bunny ears and we reintroduced ourselves to broadcast television. Turns out I’m not much of a fan. Two months later I still get the shakes whenever someone mentions HBO original programming, but I am coping. It didn’t affect Mrs. A much, but Little A is still jonesing for the Disney channels. She has discovered Saturday morning cartoons, though, which is a joy every kid should experience.

The initial plan was to switch to DirectTV, but I’m rethinking the plan because I find I don’t want to spend the extra bucks, and, for the most part, I don’t really miss it. We already have Netflix, which I recommend if you cut the cable cord, and there are always internet options if we get too antsy. For example, see my earlier post about LikeTelevision. I also tried Joost, but that was an utter failure as far as I was concerned.

I was hoping the decision would encourage everyone to read more, but it doesn’t look like that idea has really taken hold yet. Fortunately, nobody seems to be pushing too hard to get cable, so I’m going to save that money and work on paying down the debt until the troops begin to foment rebellion.

Here’s another classic personal finance and success book that still has relevance today. The prose might be different than we’re used to today, but the advice remains the same. These excerpts are from just the last chapter of How to Get on in the World, or, a Ladder to Practical Success where Major A. R. Calhoun relates a tale of an old timer haranguing folks at an auction with sensible financial advice.

Small expenses add up:

You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or a little punch, now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little entertainment now and then, can be no great matter; but remember- Many a little makes a nickel. Beware of little expenses–A small leak will sink a great ship, as poor Richard says.

Calhoun advises against “good deals” on goods that will never be used. He also differentiates between necessities and “conveniences” such as fine clothes and warns against the slippery slope of spending more than you earn. He advises avoiding buying from the beginning rather than curbing your spending because:

When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece; but poor Dick says, It is easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all that follow it.

Don’t buy that BMW if you can’t afford it:

And it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the ox…And, after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it makes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy; it hastens misfortune.

Don’t go into debt for stupid stuff!:

But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities! We are offered, by the terms of this sale, six months credit; and that, perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But, ah! think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty.

But some people will only learn their lessons in the school of hard knocks:

“‘And now, to conclude–Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, as poor Richard says, and scarce in that; for, it is true, We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct. However, remember this–They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped; and further, that, If you will not hear Reason, she will surely rap your knuckles, as poor Richard says.’

“Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it and approved the doctrine; and immediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon, for the auctioneer opened, and they began to buy extravagantly.

Calhoun is a treasure trove of timeless advice on ethical approaches to personal and financial success.

To purchase How to Get on in the World, or, a Ladder to Practical Success, click on the gold cover for a print version, the green cover for a formatted PDF ebook, or find free unformatted ASCII or html versions here.

It’s up at Home Equity Loan Lowdown. I probably should have included this with the others in my previous post, but I forgot it was coming out. Some of the posts I recommend:

Edith Yeung tells readers How to Say Goodbye to Someday Isle. It’s not immediately obvious from the title, but it turns out to be a motivational post about getting off you duff and doing that risky thing you’ve been wanting to do. Or just that thing you’ve been putting off because you don’t want to do it. Get it now? “Someday I’ll do X” = “Someday Isle.”

The Dough Roller explains How to Find the Hidden Cost of Mutual Funds. A quick explanation of the different fees and expenses they use to getcha with mutual funds.

If you’re not familiar with Prosper.com, it’s a peer-to-peer lending site, so you can participate as a borrower or a lender. So far things have been pretty positive for me. Since October 2006 I’ve lent out around $600-$700 just fooling around with the process and as of today, I have only one $50 loan that looks like it’s headed for default. That one was my own fault because early on I was lending to borrowers even if they had recent delinquencies, which I learned was one of the biggest risk factors.

Rather than relying on my summary, you can check out my stats on Eric’s Credit Community, a site where you can view stats on all the Prosper lenders. It shows a general summary of what I’ve been doing on Prosper, my loans, and my bidding history.

A few months ago I enabled weekly automatic transfers to my Prosper account, which worked well, but I stopped that for now to follow the loans that I have already made and to cut back on the time drain. You can place standing orders based on criteria you set, but I don’t particularly care for them, so I go ahead and find my loans manually and that can be as time-intensive as you allow it. Eric’s Credit Community added a “What If” tab that also shows you how you would be doing if you had won all the loans you bid on. Looking at the tab, I wonder if I am setting my interest rate too high, because all the bids I missed are current.

Looking at my loans, I’m hoping to clear 15-20% even counting that one default. Hope is a good thing. I could probably absorb another default and still be doing pretty good, but after that, and the small fees Prosper charges for managing the loans, my return will begin to look less attractive. Somewhere midstream I tightened up my loan picks and began to diversify more, so I’m expecting the more recent loans to do better in the long run than the first couple I made just checking out the process.

The biggest downside I’ve seen, other than potential defaults, is that your money can be tied up on each loan for up to three years. Not a big deal if you’re ready to remain in it long term, but keep that in mind when deciding how much to place into Prosper.

Be sure to check out the high rollers on ECC, such as carrey79 and pensioner, who have more than $1.5 million invested between them. Only time will tell, but I wonder about pensioner’s loans because the ECC ROI calculator predicts that his ROI will be around 3.3%.