Old Navy Credit Card Tips

How to apply for an Old Navy Credit Card

Old Navy Card and Old Navy Visa
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

You can apply for an Old Navy credit card at the store or on-line.  On the Old Navy credit card application, you will need to provide your name, address, e-mail address, net annual income, and length residing at current address.  Also required is your date of birth and social security number on the application.  You'll find out in a few minutes if you are approved.  You can be approved for an Old Navy Card- a store credit account that can be used for purchases only at Old Navy and related stores, or for an Old Navy Visa- a credit card which can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

What credit score do I need to get approved for an Old Navy credit card?

You'll likely need a credit score of 600 or higher to be approved for this credit card, although data shows that some applicants are approved with scores in the 500-600 range.

Old Navy credit card interest rate and credit limit

The credit limit on an Old Navy credit card varies from person to person based on income and credit score.  A credit limit in the range of $300 to $3,000 is the most likely.  The current interest rate on Old Navy credit card is 24.9%, so you won't want to carry a balance on this one.

Old Navy- Bargains Await!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Old Navy Card Discounts and Benefits

If you are approved for an Old Navy Card or Old Navy Visa, you can get 10% off all of your purchases that day.  This discount can be combined with one other discount as well.  

The current offer also includes a 10% savings pass good for 10% off for the first 60 days after you get your card.  After you have an Old Navy card, you will get offers and discounts in the mail.

Other Old Navy card exclusive discounts include:

• Rewards program- get a $5 reward for every $100 spent at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Repbulic Piperlime and Athleta
• With Old Navy Visa, earn a $30 bonus when you use your Old Navy Visa outside the stores listed above
• 10% off on Tuesday (both in store and on-line)
• Birthday discount- $15 off
• Bonus point days- earn extra rewards by making purchases on specific days
• Seasonal discounts and promotions will be sent to you throughout the year

Can you use an Old Navy Card at other stores?

The Old Navy Card is a store credit card and can only be used at Old Navy stores and other brands in the Old Navy family.  The Old Navy Visa credit card is a Visa credit card and can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

The Old Navy Card/Old Navy Visa program is similar to the Gap Credit Card program.

Get an Old Navy Credit Card at Old Navy stores
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Old Navy credit card- Should you get one?

Pro:  You'll save 10% on your purchase if you get an Old Navy card, plus you'll get 10% off for 60 days as well as other special discounts and offers.  If you get an Old Navy Visa card, you can get rewards for using your card every day.

Con: At 24.9% interest, you'll want to make sure you pay this card off every month.  The rewards and discounts will quickly get wiped out by interest payments if you carry a balance.

If you shop regularly at Old Navy and will pay off the balance on an Old Navy card every month, then getting and Old Navy card could be a good deal for you.


Recommended Reading
Kohl’s Credit Card: Get Kohl’s Cash and Kohl's Discounts

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Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy

Why is Cake so Expensive When Cake Mix is so Cheap?

Buying a Cake is Expensive!

I was really wanting some cake the other day and decided to check out some cakes at the grocery store.  They had some really nice looking decorated cakes, but they were expensive!

Following are prices I found in the bakery for simple frosted cakes:

• 7 inch round cake for $11.99
• 1/8 sheet cake for $12.99
• 1/4 sheet cake (9 in x 13 in) for $17.99
• "cupcake" cake with 30 cupcakes for $27.00
• 1/2 sheet cake (12 in x 16 in) for $30.99

Decorated cakes for sale at a bakery- expensive!
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Near the checkout, they had single pieces of frosted cake for sale in individual clear plastic boxes for $2.50.  Yes, $2.50 for one piece of cake!

Since I was at the grocery store, I decided to see how much it would cost to make a cake using cake mix, eggs, and oil and top it with frosting.

How Much does it Cost to Make a Cake?

Here are the raw ingredients in the typical sizes sold at the grocery store:
Eggs $1.45/dozen
Vegetable oil $2.59 for 24 oz
Cake mix $1.28 for 15.25 oz (makes 9 in x 13 in cake)
Frosting $1.77 for 16 oz
Dec-a-cake icing $2.29 for 4.25 oz tube

Pillsbury cake mix- on sale cheap
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Things you probably already have at home to bake a cake:
Cake pan $5.99 for 9 in x 13 in

Nonstick spray $2.49 for 5 oz can

Cost of cake ingredients: $1.78
Cake mix $1.28
1 cup water -less than one cent if you use tap water
1/3 cup oil $2.59/18= $0.14
3 eggs $1.45/4=$0.36

Cost of energy for baking a cake: $0.13
Let's consider the cost of energy to bake a cake in the oven at 350 degrees for 34 to 38 minutes.

It takes 2 kilowatt-hours (kW-h) of electricity to run an oven at 350 degrees for one hour.  At 10 cents per kW-h, this is 20 cents of electricity cost per hour to run an oven.  Since the cake only takes 38 minutes the cost of energy to bake a cake is 38/60 x 20 cents= $0.13.

Cost of frosting and cake decorations: $4.06
Frosting and cake decoration cost can vary depending on how much you want to decorate your cake.  Let's include 16oz of frosting and one tube of decoration icing.

Betty Crocker cake frosting- whipped
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Dec-a-cake cake frosting tubes
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The actual cost of making a 1/4 sheet decorated cake at home is: $5.97
This compares with a typical bakery or grocery store price of $17.99.  Your saving is $12.02 by making cake at home rather than buying a cake at a store.

The cost of $5.97 to make a 1/4 sheet decorated cake at home includes all cake ingredients plus frosting and the energy to bake the cake.  If you don't have a cake pan, you will need to buy one, but it is reusable for many years.  You could save money by not buying the Dec-a-cake frosting and using food coloring to make your own colored frosting for decoration.

Why are Cakes so Expensive at the Store?

So my choice between buying a cake at the store and making a cake at home was an easy one!  But why does it cost so much to buy a cake at the store when it is so cheap to make a cake at home?

Ingredient cost?  Bakeries can get ingredients at lower cost than I can since they buy in large quantities, so it can't be ingredient cost.

Labor cost?  I have watched the people working in the bakery- they can frost a sheet cake in a couple minutes, so it can't be labor cost.

I think the reason cakes cost so much comes down to logistics.  It is inexpensive to transport and store the raw ingredients for a cake, but once you bake and decorate a cake it gets expensive.  A decorated cake takes up a lot of space and you have to handle it carefully to avoid damaging it and making it worthless.  The cakes at the bakery I visited were refrigerated, adding to the cost.  Cakes have a limited shelf life of a few days once they are baked- there is risk that cakes will not be sold in time and will get thrown away, also adding to the cost.

Another reason cakes are so expensive- demand.   People are willing to pay for the convenience of picking up a completed cake.  This can be very handy.  You can pick up a birthday cake on the way home from work.  It takes at least an hour to bake a cake from start to finish if you allow the cake to cool before frosting it.  I have even used the shortcut of placing a baked cake in the freezer to cool it off faster.  If you frost a hot cake, the frosting melts and the cake can get torn up, making a mess.

You can order customized cakes, which is also worth the money to some people.  You can get custom designs and edible overlays that you probably couldn't make yourself at home very well.  If you have a kid that is really into Smurfs, you might want to buy them a really slick looking Smurfs cake rather than making a homemade cake and trying to draw a smurf with blue frosting yourself. I don't really care what a cake looks like, as long as it has plenty of frosting.  The rest of my family likes plain cake with no frosting- so that is even easier.  Homemade cakes are the way to go for me.

Smurfs cake- it would be hard to make a cake like this at home!
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Another reason people would spend lots of money buying cakes from a bakery is if they are serving a lot of people at an event like a graduation party or a wedding.  It is easy enough to make one 9 in x 13 in cake in your kitchen- this should serve 16 people with 2 in x 3 in pieces.  But if you want cake for 100 people, you could spend a lot of time and tie up your oven for a long time baking cakes.  Plus you will need to store the cakes somewhere if you bake them yourself in advance of your event.  If you order cakes from a bakery, they can be delivered all at once at the desired time and location which is really convenient.

Penny Pinching Tips

• Make your own cake at home for under $6 and save $12 on a 1/4 sheet cake
• Shop around to find the best deal from bakeries if you are buying large quantities of cake for an event

Recommended Reading
How much does it cost to make coffee?

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Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy

Does Closing or Cancelling Credit Cards Help Your Credit Score or Hurt Your Credit Score?

Should You Cancel Old Credit Cards?

Should you keep all those old credit cards?
Image Source: Public Domain Image by LaTunya Howard

A lot of people have credit cards around that they no longer use.  These may be credit cards that you have paid off long ago, or credit cards that you received but never used.  It seems to make sense to cancel old credit cards that you don't need.  But closing credit accounts can reduce your credit score.  It may sound counter-intuitive, but keeping your old credit card accounts open may be your best move to keep your credit rating high.

How Credit Cards Contribute to your Credit Score

Two major categories of the FICO score that are impacted by credit card accounts:

• Length of Credit History which makes up 15% of your FICO score
• Amounts Owed, which makes up 30% of your FICO credit score 

The purpose of the FICO score is to allow lenders to evaluate the risk of loaning you money.  If you have a long history of credit accounts, this will build your FICO score through the Length of Credit History scoring.  Financial institutions like to see a long history of credit utilization- the longer the better.  Some of the metrics used to compute the FICO score involve parameters such as the average age of your credit accounts.  For this reason, consider keeping older credit card accounts open.  Accounts that you have had for a long time contribute more to your credit rating than newer accounts.

The Amounts Owed metric is also impacted if you close a credit account.  Your FICO score will be higher if you have a higher ratio of available credit to amount owed.  If you cancel a credit card, you will lower your available credit suddenly.  Banks like to see available credit since it is less likely that you will max out if you have plenty of credit available.  It also gives reassurance that other lenders have given you substantial credit accounts.

Back of Credit Card
Image Source: openclipart.org by jmlevick

Can Closing Credit Card Accounts Help Me Get a Loan?

If you have multiple credit cards like most people, closing one account shouldn't make a big impact on your credit score- but if you are nearing a large loan such as applying for a mortgage, it may be wise to hold off on canceling any credit cards.  Since 45% of your FICO score could be impacted by closing credit card accounts, you should close accounts gradually rather than closing several during the same month.

In some cases, if you have too much credit available for your income level, it may help secure loans if you do close unneeded credit card accounts.

How Many Credit Cards is Too Many Credit Cards?

The purpose of your credit score is to allow lenders to evaluate the risk of loaning money to you.  Generally having lots of available credit is a good thing.  This will allow you flexibility in managing your debts and you are not likely to max out an account or have trouble paying.  However, based on your income, your available credit can reach a level where your FICO score will decrease based on risk increasing.

What if something happens and you max out every credit card you have available?  Perhaps you spontaneously decide to take a European vacation, or an expensive medical issue occurs.  Would you be able to make minimum payments on all of your cards with your current income?  If not, you are getting to an amount of available credit that would be perceived as a risk by lenders and may begin to reduce your credit score.

How many credit cards is too many?
Image Source: Lotus Head CC-SA-30

For example, if you have 10 credit cards with $10,000 limits and you max all of them out, could you make $200 per month minimum payments on 10 credit cards?  This would add up to $2000 per month.  If this would be outside of your financial means, consider reducing some of your newer credit card accounts to lower your available credit to a more reasonable level.

Should You Keep Old Credit Card Accounts Open?

For most people, your credit score will benefit by keeping old credit card accounts open, even if you have no intention of using them.  Keeping old credit card accounts open builds your credit history and maintains your available credit- both factors that boost your FICO credit score.

Should I Close Unused Credit Cards with Annual Fees?

If you have multiple credit cards and have one or two with an annual fee that you are not using, it probably makes sense to close the credit cards with an annual fee.  Sometimes there are ways to avoid the annual fee on credit cards and keep your credit card.  It is best to close credit card accounts gradually, rather than several within the same month to preserve your credit score.

Recommended reading:

Sears Super Shopping: How I got 90% off at Sears 

GAP credit card: the benefits GAPCARD at Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic 

Kohl's Credit Card and Kohl's Cash

Penny Pincher Journal
Copyright © 2013 Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy

Cable TV Alternatives- Cut cable and save up to $1200 per year

Cut Cable and Use Cable TV Alternatives to Lower your Bill

Most households pay about $100 per month for cable TV or satellite TV service.  That adds up to over $1200 per year.  We don't watch much TV anymore, so I tried to work out a different channel package with the service provider.  You can get cable TV packages for as little as $40 per month with limited channels.  Satellite TV service starts at about $70 per month after the special discounts disappear.  I was not able to find a package that saved much on the monthly bill and was worth having- so I cut the cord.  No more cable TV or satellite TV at the Pincher residence.

I did have some reservations about this decision.  What about watching Big 10 games on the Big 10 network?  What about watching Bloomberg TV for morning news instead of the fluffy "news" on network TV?  These are clearly luxuries, and I am sure I will survive just fine.  I will be turning to the internet for more of my news and entertainment.

Cable TV Alternatives

Free HD TV over the air
But even more concerning- what about local news and weather?  We always turn the TV on when a storm is coming to see if there is a severe weather threat.  What will we do now- there is literally nothing on TV with cable TV or satellite TV- right?  Wrong!  You can get several channels in high definition for free over the air.  All you need is a simple indoor HD TV antenna that you can purchase for about $50.  No more monthly bills and you can get free high definition TV.

I first tried a really inexpensive indoor HD TV antenna and did not get any channels- I live 30 miles or more away from the nearest TV stations.  I returned this antenna and found a much better one: RCA ANT1650F Flat Digital Amplified Indoor TV Antenna




This is a great indoor HD TV antenna.  This RCA model includes an amplifier to boost reception.  The antenna pattern is claimed to be omnidirectional, however I do find that I need to adjust the antenna slightly to get some stations in my area. The antenna is a black square shape that can be placed behind your TV, or can be hung on a wall like a picture, or it includes a stand and you can set it up on the floor.  This antenna comes with all of the cables you need to hook it up and get free HD TV.

Get free HD TV with an indoor HD TV antenna
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Indoor HD TV antenna includes and amplifier to boost reception and get more TV channels
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Admittedly the selection of channels is limited compared with cable TV or satellite TV.  I can get CBS, FOX, and about 5 Public Television channels.  If I set my antenna in the window, I can also pick up ABC and NBC stations.  I am actually pretty pleased with these choices- considering they are completely free and I will never need to pay a cable TV bill or satellite TV bill again.  This will certainly provide local news, weather, and sports.  I'll be able to watch quite a bit of NFL football on CBS and FOX.

UPDATE:  In a desperate attempt to get NBC to watch preseason NFL football, I found a single antenna orientation that works for NBC, CBS, and ABC in my area.  I placed the antenna face down near the TV- see picture below.  I had previously assumed that the antenna would work best standing vertically, but it is working great laying face down.

Laying the indoor HD antenna flat works great in my area
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

How to Get Free HDTV with an Indoor HDTV Antenna


Streaming Video Services: Netflix/Hulu Plus/Amazon Prime
Another way we can still use our TV without cable TV or satellite TV services is to use Netflix and Hulu Plus.  Our Panasonic TV has built-in Netflix.  Netflix costs $7.99 per month and there is no limit to how much you can watch.  Netflix has movies that are a few years old, plus quite a few TV shows.  I like that you can watch an entire series on your schedule.

Our TV does not have a built-in app for Hulu Plus- we use our Wii or X-box console to play Hulu Plus movies and shows on our TV.  You can also use a video game console to get Netflix on your TV if Netflix is not built-in to your TV.  If you don't have a videogame console, you can get a Roku streaming media player for about $100.  A Roku player has a wi-fi receiver and high definition video output to connect to your TV set.  You can use services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime on a Roku Player.  Roku players also have a remote control which is handy.

How Much Can You Save with Cable TV Alternatives?

So what is our savings by cutting cable and satellite TV service?  Our monthly bill was $111.  Our HD TV over the air is free.  Our Netflix subscription is $7.99 per month.  We have a free trial of Hulu Plus- this will be $7.99 per month if we decide to keep it. So here's the net savings by cutting cable and going with free over-the-air TV and Netflix:

Save over $1200 per year by cutting cable or satellite TV service and using cable TV alternatives!
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

As you can see we are saving $103.01 per month which adds up to $1,236.12 in savings over a year by using alternatives to cable TV.  I can say that I have not really missed having all of those extra channels that much.  Using free HD TV with our indoor HD TV antenna and watching Netflix has filled the void.  For me, it is was certainly a good move to cut cable TV and use cable TV alternatives.

Penny Pincher Journal

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