$GOOG (Google) on Developing a National Cyber Strategy
$GOOG (Google) on Developing a National Cyber Strategy
Another Brilliant Search Move From Microsoft: Bing To Include Tweets
$DELL developing Android mobile internet device : http://bit.ly/N9mfU $AAPL $CHL$GOOG :MSV on $DELL : http://bit.ly/19SgwE #mkt $$ #mobile
$DELL developing Android mobile internet device : http://bit.ly/N9mfU $AAPL $CHL$GOOG :MSV on $DELL : http://bit.ly/19SgwE #mkt $$ #mobile
Dell Reportedly Developing Pocket-Sized Net Device
Breakout stats for $GOOG http://bit.ly/19nj6t
Breakout stats for $GOOG http://bit.ly/19nj6t
What?s Behind China?s Assault On Google
The feud between authorities in China and Google Inc. (GOOG) escalated Wednesday night when Chinese users were blocked from Google’s global Web site for a period of at least two hours. For weeks China has been chastising Google for disseminating “huge amounts of porn and lewd information.” The company has made a strong ...
Google Broadening Beta Test For Google Voice
Google Unveils AdSense For iPhone, Android Apps
Reuters: More #Android Rollouts http://bit.ly/rchJ6 $AAPL $MSFT $GOOG
Reuters: More #Android Rollouts http://bit.ly/rchJ6 $AAPL $MSFT $GOOG
Google: Will Android Take On Windows On The Desktop?
How Microsoft (MSFT) Makes It Back To $35
Popular Google Product Suffers Major Disruption
GOOG: Credit Suisse Ups Ests; But Sees Dings From Bing
$GOOG - The dark horse? Interesting commentary from Jim Davies re. Google Wave and disruptive models #Mitel09 #Google #Wave
$GOOG - The dark horse? Interesting commentary from Jim Davies re. Google Wave and disruptive models #Mitel09 #Google #Wave
Online Ads: June Results Look Disappointing, Analyst Says
Google: Pretty Pictures? Sure, We Can Do That
Baidu: Goldman Ups Target; Sees Potential Margin Growth
Bing Continues Taking Share (MSFT, GOOG, YHOO)
MySpace Axes 30% of Staff [News Corp (NWS)]
Google Gains U.S. Search Share In May; YHOO, MSFT Lag
The Pullback Flag Retracement In Google Stock
Google (GOOG) formed an interesting pullback retracement to the rising 20 day EMA, forming a possible Bull Flag in the process - let’s look at it in more detail. This sets up a low-risk buying opportunity for aggressive traders if price is able to hold above the 20 day EMA at $420 per ...
Apple (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), Google (GOOG) - the Holy Trio of NASDAQ
$SNE in denial of $AAPL iPhone $NOK $MOT $RIMM $PALM $QCOM $RFMD $SYNA $ANAD $SWKS $IDCC $GOOG http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42835/98/
$SNE in denial of $AAPL iPhone $NOK $MOT $RIMM $PALM $QCOM $RFMD $SYNA $ANAD $SWKS $IDCC $GOOG http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42835/98/
Global touchphone shipments - $AAPL $PALM $GOOG http://bit.ly/3dmp9
Global touchphone shipments - $AAPL $PALM $GOOG http://bit.ly/3dmp9
Iron Condors Part V, The Importance of Managing Risk
While Iron Condors can be setup to have a high probability of success, managing risk is still extremely important for options traders.
Which stocks are correlated with Google?
Google Inc. Stocks with positive correlation with GOOG over the past 200 trading days DJUSNS-X 1.00 IIX–X 0.96 QTEC 0.95 PNQI 0.95 HHH 0.95 Stocks with positive correlation with GOOG over the past 100 trading days DJUSNS-X 1.00 LLNW 0.96 RIG 0.96 WRC 0.95 AXE 0.95 Stocks with positive correlation with GOOG over the past 30 trading days DJUSNS-X 1.00 FRB 0.98 NIE 0.97 RAP 0.97 HXL 0.97 Stocks with positive correlation with GOOG over the past 10 trading days DJUSNS-X 1.00 MHYRX 0.99 MHYIX 0.99 MMLP 0.99 NQGM 0.99 Stocks with negative correlation with [...]
News Corp.: Head Cuts Loom At Myspace, Analyst Says
Bing: A Threat to Google or Just Another Zune?
Google: Analyst Downgrades On Softening Ad Trends
Analysts Duel Over Google Values (GOOG)
Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ARG, T, GOOG, HOV, MELI, SSL, STO, TSM, TRI, WSM)
Online Ad Revenue Now Shrinking
$GOOG search engine is too clogged up with blogs and cr*p, wastes too much time, glad to see a new one I can use... $MSFT. Pretty, too.
$GOOG search engine is too clogged up with blogs and cr*p, wastes too much time, glad to see a new one I can use... $MSFT. Pretty, too.
Yahoo: Boost Y! Japan Stake Over 50%, Bernstein Says
Microsoft (MSFT) May Have Passed Yahoo! (YHOO) For No.2 Search Slot
Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) On 9-Day Winning Streaks
Google (GOOG) Price Approaching Price Target
Dow Jones Industrial Average Changes: GM (GM), Citigroup (C), Replaced by Cisco (CSCO), Travelers (TRV)
Wild Weekly Wrap-Up
Microsoft: Bing Goes Live (Two Days Early)
The Next Google (GOOG) ?
Google Wave: who, what, where, why, when? http://tinyurl.com/lgjqcm $GOOG
Google Wave: who, what, where, why, when? http://tinyurl.com/lgjqcm $GOOG
Should YouTube Charge To Host User-Generated Video?
RT @cnbcfastmoney I Coulda? Been A Contender! http://cnbc.com/id/31002894 $AAPL $AIG $CSCO $GM $GOOG $GS $KFT $MON $ORCL $WFC #StockMarket
RT @cnbcfastmoney I Coulda? Been A Contender! http://cnbc.com/id/31002894 $AAPL $AIG $CSCO $GM $GOOG $GS $KFT $MON $ORCL $WFC #StockMarket
Verizon (VZ) Makes A Play To Be King Of All Wireless
$GOOG to rip off twitter http://tr.im/mMvA
$GOOG to rip off twitter http://tr.im/mMvA
http://tr.im/mMvL$GOOG does some cool stuff. Google Wave
http://tr.im/mMvL$GOOG does some cool stuff. Google Wave
D7: Microsoft CEO Ballmer Unveils Bing
Time Warner Sets AOL Spin; To Buy GOOG Stake First
How did a bunch of peace time Generals take over Wall st. at just the wrong time? http://tinyurl.com/dyflwl #economy $LSI $GOOG $ORCL $MSFT
How did a bunch of peace time Generals take over Wall st. at just the wrong time? http://tinyurl.com/dyflwl #economy $LSI $GOOG $ORCL $MSFT
@dvolatility Site is looking good! Interesting comment "Most valuable commodity is information" .. Kind of explains $GOOG and $YHOO..Hmmm
@dvolatility Site is looking good! Interesting comment "Most valuable commodity is information" .. Kind of explains $GOOG and $YHOO..Hmmm
Mad Money / Jim Cramer Daily Recap 5/20/09
Please do your own research, and verify all information before acting on it. This summary of Cramer’s picks is not intended to replace watching the shows, where his comments about the stocks often include advice about entry and exit points. On Wednesday Cramer said Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), Cisco (CSCO) and Apple (AAPL) are tech names [...]
Microsoft Takes Aim At Google?s Web Dominance With New Search Engine
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is expected to unveil its new Internet search engine to the public next week, an attempt by the software heavyweight to grab back some of the Internet search market from behemoth Google Inc. (GOOG). The site of the coming-out party for the new Web search engine apparently will be a ...
Google Inc. (GOOG), buy signal intact, stop at 375
Google Inc. (GOOG) and IBM (IBM)
Thoughtful Thursday Morning
Trade Rewind: Anatomy of Our Winning Ag Plays
Watch Out Wednesday - Retail Edition
Current Tech. Rally, 65% of it due to (3) stocks: $AAPL, $GOOG, & $RIMM. Interesting. $$
Current Tech. Rally, 65% of it due to (3) stocks: $AAPL, $GOOG, & $RIMM. Interesting. $$
The Demise of FICO
Yesterday I wrote about my credit lines being cut but it’s not important anymore because I’m predicting the demise of FICO. I’m on record as having a great disdain for credit reporting agencies and I’m glad to see change is coming. We are clearly in a new banking & lending environment and will be so [...]
Green Shoots or Dandelion Weeds?
Go to Google. Type in “green shoots.” In about a 10th of a second you will find 28,900,000 references. Scrolling through a few pages, you find a lot of references to the beginning of the end of the recession. Today we look at some data to see if we can indeed see the end. Most [...]
See No Evil...
Announcing TheClozing.com: Doing for Real Estate What TechMeme did for Tech?
Just this week a couple of tech geeks (I say that with the utmost love and respect) launched a site devoted to organizing mainstream media real estate news with related social media back-stories from blogs, in an effort to change how we find real estate news and information. Founded by Anthony Barba & Joseph [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Announcing TheClozing.com: Doing for Real Estate What TechMeme did for Tech?
Subscriber Swap Saturday: Choyster Cash
This is the twenty-second edition of Subscriber Swap Saturday. For the uninitiated, every Saturday I do an interview with another blogger. That blogger also interviews me and posts that interview on their website.We then tell our readers ? hey, I think this guy is interesting, you should subscribe to his blog for a week. Claire Williams is [...]
I?m Digging Myself a Deeper and Deeper Hole Each Month. - Ken
Ken wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Want Bell South and Verizon to Settle My Debts. - Jacinta
Jacinta wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
$$ short CAKE, JWN, ANF, DIS, and ofcourse GOOG $$
$$ short CAKE, JWN, ANF, DIS, and ofcourse GOOG $$
It?s Finally Happened, Credit Lines Cut and FICO is Irrelevant
Well it’s finally happened, one of the credit card companies cut my available credit by 50% and I suspect it’s only a matter of time before others follow suit. I have about $150,000 in credit lines across multiple credit cards and a few months ago Capital One closed down some unused accounts as well for [...]
The happier side of coupons
Please put the exact address on your website.
There have been many times I’ve been to a bar/lounge/restaurant’s website to get their location and they have vague directions on how to get there and what intersection or streets they are between but not their exact address! In this day and age most people use their GPS or Google maps to figure out how to [...]
I Have More Questions About Langhorne Debt Solutions. - LeAnna
LeAnna wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m Stuck in South Africa With U.S. Debts. - Anthony
Anthony wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
TEDTalks : Alarming new slides depict a worsening climate crisis - Al Gore (2009)
At TED2009, Al Gore presents updated slides from around the globe to make the case that worrying climate trends are even worse than scientists predicted, and to make clear his stance on "clean coal."
TEDTalks : Alarming new slides depict a worsening climate crisis - Al Gore (2009)
At TED2009, Al Gore presents updated slides from around the globe to make the case that worrying climate trends are even worse than scientists predicted, and to make clear his stance on "clean coal."
Six withdrawal limit for savings accounts
I wrote about a using a firewall account with ING Direct sometime back. Using a firewall account is a concept I use to insulate my ING savings and ING checking accounts from the outside world. Any income I receive comes to my ING firewall account and then I transfer it to the appropriate [...]
EIX: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
CSCO: Financial Analysis through April 2009
NVDA: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
Beware of Sellers? Tricks: A Basic Guide to Smart Shopping
The guest post is provided by Ann of Buxr.com, the social community for bargain hunters, where codes are shared and rated by site users so they’re always valid and up-to-date. If you are a reader of this blog, you probably prefer smart shopping and you like to save (well, who doesn’t after all?). You don’t [...]
Google: Bernstein Ups Target To $600 In Recovery Bet
Is Google Really Worth $600? (GOOG)
NFA Justifications and Reasoning for Killing Forex Hedging
Marjorie, who has been commenting on the No more hedging for forex traders post, dug up the NFA communique in which the reasons for the rule change are outlined from when the proposal was put forward to the CFTC after the comment period. You can find the full text here (including the part about price [...]
Links to Webcams Around the World
Good morning Folks !! Knowing places around the world from your home! This is a great idea, isn?t it?! Well, there are a lot of websites with webcams, but I found one that (I think) is very completed. Webcams.travel is a perfect place for people who want to travel to some place/city or simply for [...]
Video-o-rama: Stress tests ad nauseum
Fast Money Recap 5/6/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “Banks” (Seymour) “Coal Stocks” (Najarian) “Financials” (”wait for a pullback”) (Macke) “Healthcare” (Christopher Zook) “Life Insurers” (Seymour) “Oil Services” (Christopher Zook) Agrium (AGU) (Macke) AU Optronics (AUO) (Seymour) Baker Hughes (BHI) (Najarian) Braskem S.A. (BAK) (Seymour) Bucyrus (BUCY) (Najarian) Caterpillar (CAT) (Seymour) Cisco (CSCO) (Finerman) Cisco (CSCO) (Najarian) Deere [...]
How The European Central Bank Is Different
Your Career Is Not Your Most Important Asset
There are many people that believe that your career or job is the most important asset a person can have but I disagree. The current economic crisis has demonstrated that careers that have taken years to build can be wiped out in an instant. The current crisis has also illustrated that a career is a [...]
What is Forex Investing?
Almost any financial website these days (this one included -- through the Google ads on the site) have ads for Forex investing/trading. I see them all over. In addition, I fight them quite often as it seems sites that are...
Delaying My Hike
My Appalachian Trail hike will be delayed. I’m starting a two month medical study that will pay me $7000. That is too good of money for me to pass up. I still plan to hike once the study is over. Since there won’t be as much time before cold weather sets in I’ll [...]
U.S. Bank Stress Test Cheat Sheet
All we’ve heard about this week has been the stress tests, so I figured I would summarize the important aspects for everyone. Hear is what you need to know if you are following the large cap U.S. financial sector. Capital Ratio Requirements: Banks must have enough capital to maintain the following ratios: *Tier 1 Capital of 6.0% *Tangible [...]
Where Can I Get the Free List of Grants to Pay Off Student Loans? - Monica
Monica wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Attended Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA and Now I Can?t Pay the Bill. - Orion
Orion wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
New York Attorney General Announces Nationwide Investigation Into Debt Settlement Industry
Subpoenas Fourteen Debt Settlement Companies and One Law Firm in Connection with Probe Debt Settlement Companies Often Charge Huge Fees for Misleading Plans, Suggest Selling Blood Plasma to Raise Funds, and Leave Consumers in Worse Financial Shape NEW YORK, NY (May 7, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a nationwide investigation into the debt [...]
My Wife and I are Headed for Divorce. Am I Responsible for Her Debt? - Fred
Fred wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Want You to Meet Who You Helped Today - Heang Sakhoeun
It is important for you to meet who we helped today through this site. As I mention, all over the place, revenue from people clicking on ads and using the service of advertisers is used to help sponsor people in poverty through Kiva. Please visit or use the services of advertisers on the GetOutOfDebt.org [...]
I Used an IPO to Pay Off My Mortgage. Now I?m $450K in Debt. - Lynn
Lynn wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Will Be Retiring Soon and Pay Off Mortgage With IRA Money. What Taxes Will I Owe? - Robert
This question was submitted to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site. You can ask a question online here. Because of the volume of submitted questions, I am behind in personally answering every single one. I need your help. I am publishing the question below for you to answer. Please help this person by adding your response and [...]
I?m Being Sued by My Ex-Husband For a Debt in His Name. This Can?t Be Right! - Michelle
Michelle wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m Saving Money But Having Fun, Without Being Frugal. All So I Don?t Have to Work.
First off, let me be perfectly clear that I think that being too frugal, sucks. I remember some time ago I was chatting with my friend Michelle Singeltary, who writes for the Washington Post, and she was telling me about all sorts of frugal tips readers had shared with her. Right or wrong, I am not [...]
Barrington Project Brings Out Pitchforks in Mar Vista
[Image via Barrington Manor Apts] The Argonaut is reporting that residents of Mar Vista are upset that the Planning Department voted to push through the 92-unit condominium development at 3160-3178 S. Barrington Avenue,despite a settlement reached between the developer,...
Thursday Selling (and Yunjim Kim!)
Google: Brin Abstains On Censorship Vote Board Opposed
Google: Schmidt Hasn?t Considered Quitting AAPL Board
Track Market Sentiment to Understand Price Cause and Effect
I’m willing to bet that a lot of newer traders are having a hard time understanding the cause and effect relationships that seem to be taking place in the markets these days. I’ve seen questions asking things like “Why did the dollar fall when the economic data was positive?”. Today”s moves by the European Central [...]
Is Kiva respecting the privacy of its borrowers?
When any of us wants to borrow money from the bank, whether it is for a new car or a home, or even to start a business, we expect complete confidentiality from our bank. It?s a private matter between us and the bank staff. Yet, when Kiva borrowers need a loan, we expect them to agree [...]
CSCO: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
Live From Stanford: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
Mad Money / Jim Cramer Daily Recap 5/4/09
Please do your own research, and verify all information before acting on it. This summary of Cramer’s picks is not intended to replace watching the shows, where his comments about the stocks often include advice about entry and exit points. On Monday Cramers said that there was a lot of new money flooding into the market, [...]
Discover Card: Another Reason I Don?t Carry One?
I’ve never carried a Discover Card. To me, there has always been a social stigma attached to them that turns me off… Maybe that’s just me? See, I’ve only ever carried Visa and MasterCard. I don’t feel privileged enough to carry an American Express card. I dunno, those seem to be for people who think [...]
Google, Apple Under Antitrust Scanner
Against the backdrop of a possible launch of Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) new smartphone, federal regulators are now investigating if an overlap of directors on the boards of Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) breach antitrust laws. The Silicon Valley giants share two directors on their boards, Eric Schmidt, chief executive of ...
Will Someone Please Explain?.Post Office
I’m starting a new series entitled, “Will Someone Please Explain…” which begs for an answer to life’s most complicated questions. While I spent 10 years in college studying three different majors, there are still many things in life that I just don’t understand. One of those enigmas that is currently perplexing me is why [...]
Is Your 401k Being Held Hostage?
We’re continuing to see the “unintended consequences” of the financial crisis and the newest thing is companies holding 401k’s hostage. It’s stories like the one below that make me think the 401k era is over. When I return to work, I seriously doubt that I will enroll in a 401k plan even if there is [...]
Battle For Terra vs. Wolverine
I took the kids to see two movies this weekend, The Battle For Terra and Wolverine and I must say, The Battle For Terra was way more interesting than Wolverine. I won’t give away anything in the post so you’ll just have to see either movie for yourselves but I did make some observations that [...]
Reduce The Fear Of Layoff By Making A Layoff Plan
I admit I make a lot of mistakes as a husband, and one of the mistakes I made recently was a failure to plan. My wife has been extremely upbeat and supportive of me as my firm prepared to do another round of layoffs. Last thursday morning, which was the day of the layoffs, she [...]
Announcing the New Money Tips Network
In case you missed the announcement over on Wise Bread, there’s a new blog network and I’m proud to be a part of it. You’ll see the Money Tips badge on this site and others who participate. There are a lot of great blogs in the group and I’m sure you’ll find it as useful [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
April Income- $490.30
Here is a breakdown of my income for March. Online Income $379.81 Interest $57.34 Survey $3 Stock Dividends $42.87 Ebay $7.28 Total $490.30 My income was decent for the month considering it was all alternative income. My income should go up slightly or a lot this month as I have at least some medical study income coming and possibly a large amount of medical study income coming. [...]
April Expenses- $825.80
Here is a breakdown of my expenses for April. Household $412.16 Transportation $12.25 Food $59.02 Entertainment $166.72 Education/Debt $80.00 Phone $33.99 Medical/Dental $61.66 Total $825.80 This was a good month being slightly under a $10,000 a year budget. My food expense was a little high since this figure is only for lunches and snacks. I need to cut back on the fast food and junk food. Entertainment was high since I spent [...]
My name is not really Squawkfox
I’ve been called many names over the years. Some names have been given in fondness while others have been slung in spite. I’m sure you’ve been there too. But to be completely honest with you, my parents didn’t name me Squawk, Foxy, or The Squawker - they named me Kerry. I named my blog Squawkfox 488 days [...]
Introducing The Money Tips Network!
I’m very excited to introduce you to the Money Tips Network - an amazing group that includes 13 of the most trusted personal finance blogs in the world. I am humbled and honored to be part of this talented group of bloggers and I can’t wait to share their sites with you. Many members of this [...]
Cazoodle Apartment Search Engine Created At University of Illinois
A Good Reputation is More Valuable Than Money*
It was to be expected that AIG would suffer the biggest drop in the Reputation Institute’s 2009 index, falling to 152 out of 153 companies. What is surprising is that Bank of America was one of eleven companies that increased its reputation score by 7 points or more “due to major improvements in stakeholder trust, [...]
Credit Cardholder ?Bill of Rights? Looks Like Sensible Regulation
One of the biggest concerns from conservatives since President Obama’s election has been the possibility of new, overly burdensome government regulation on various aspects of the economy and financial markets. While this should be a real concern, it is unfair to assume new regulations will be over-the-top before any of them are actually drawn up, [...]
Introducing The Money Tips Network
I’m proud to announce that I’ve joined 12 other personal finance writers to form the Money Tips Network. I’m happy to be a member of this new network - made up of some of the most trusted writers in the personal finance blogging community. Here’s more information about the Money Tip Network and it’s members - Money [...]Follow me via Twitter
Something to Watch Out For
I don’t know how prevalent this practice is, but it’s worth being informed. This company, which goes under the aliases of Ad Con, Premier Impressions, and Premier Map Company, claims it’s working with local Chambers of Commerce when it calls you and tries to remove you from your money. I originally saw this story on Seth [...]
Adopt These Four Mindsets To Break Free From Debt
Part of how I got to the point where I’ve really internalized the idea that debt does not have to be a part of our lives (even while it still is) is changing my assumptions and attitudes about certain things. Over the course of my life, I’ve built up beliefs and convictions and general assumptions [...]
An update on my Google Adsense
I Have One Year Worth of Savings in My Emergency Fund. But Need Advice. - CJ
CJ wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
My Step-Father Cut My Mom Off and Now We Can?t Pay the Bills. - Alexandra
Alexandra wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Don?t Want to Pay a Bankruptcy Attorney to Go Bankrupt. - Julia
Julia wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Have Paid Debt I Want Removed From My Credit Report. - Sara
Sara wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Thought My Student Loan Was Discharged in My Bankruptcy. Now They Say It Can?t Be and Want Their Money. - Joseph
Joseph wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Have Sleep Apnea and Debt. What Should I Do? - Karen
Karen wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
Anonymous
Today, was my first meeting with business partners as I am new to the team. Instead of saying that I was looking forward to "stretching my legs" or "spreading my wings", I told them I was anxious to start "spreading my legs".
I Used Seven Credit Cards to Pay Off a House. - Ginger
Ginger wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m a Victim of Credit Fraud By My Husband. We Are Now Divorced. - Bobbi
Bobbi wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
How Can I Get the Car Repossession Lawyer to Accept My Settlement Offer? - Garlena
Garlena wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m Doing Debt Settlement and Getting Sued by Chase Bank. - Darlene
Darlene wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?ve Been on the Care One Debt Management Program For Two Years. I?m on Disability. - Laurel
Laurel wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
TEDTalks : A bold vision for teaching arts and sciences ? together - Mae Jemison (2002)
Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinker
TEDTalks : A bold vision for teaching arts and sciences ? together - Mae Jemison (2002)
Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinker
TEDTalks : A bold vision for teaching arts and sciences ? together - Mae Jemison (2002)
Mae Jemison is an astronaut, a doctor, an art collector, a dancer ... Telling stories from her own education and from her time in space, she calls on educators to teach both the arts and sciences, both intuition and logic, as one -- to create bold thinker
ADP: Financial Analysis through March 2009
The Money Tips Network Launches
I’d like to announce the creation of a new financial blog network called The Money Tips Network, which is comprised of 13 blogs I’ve grown to know and love in the personal finance blogosphere. I am happy to say that I’ve become part of this new network of money saving maniacs (mavens?) and [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Bank of the West $100 Checking Bonus
Open any new personal checking account, establish a monthly direct deposit of at least $250 to your new account and receive a $100 bonus. The first recurring direct deposit must be posted to your account within 60 calendar days of your account opening date. Bonus will be credited to your account within 60 days after [...]
Five Life-Changing Benefits of Frugal Living
They say that money can’t buy happiness. That’s true but it goes further than just the fact that material goods aren’t enough to satisfy us. What I’ve discovered from frugal living is that learning to save money can create happiness on a fundamental level. Since I’ve started actively trying to live a more frugal lifestyle, [...]
What does Obama?s overseas corporate tax hike mean for Silicon Valley and Americans?
The Silicon Valley is a fairly liberal place that has generally supported many of the Obama Administration’s moves, but yesterday many in the tech industry do not seem happy about Obama’s proposal to effectively raise taxes on foreign income by billions of dollars. Currently, U.S. based companies can defer corporate taxes on foreign income as long [...]
Failure to Track Your Trading Could Cost You Millions!
There’s a story on the Bloomberg site today with the title MF Global Told to Pay U.K. Trader About $30 Million. It details a case where an account manager misled a day trader into believing that he was making money when in fact he was losing money. The trader ended up blowing up a nearly [...]
How Big Should the Financial Services Industry Be ?
Diaper Coupons - Where To Look For Them
Coupons can go a long way towards mitigating some of the high cost of diapers. When diapers are too expensive, coupons can make them more affordable. And when diapers are more affordable because they are on sale somewhere, you can use your coupons to make them downright inexpensive. First, though, you have [...]
Are Target Retirement Funds Too Risky?
I came across this article on target retirement funds over at CNN Money’s website that got my wheels turning. The basic premise is that one size fits all investments like Target Retirement funds are sometimes too risky for the average investor. Seeing how we have everything except my 401k invested in Target Retirement funds my ears [...]
TEDTalks : The mathematics of war - Sean Gourley (2009)
By pulling raw data from the news and plotting it onto a graph, Sean Gourley and his team have come up with a stunning conclusion about the nature of modern war -- and perhaps a model for resolving conflicts.
ADP: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
CurbedWire: Scientologists Get Going, UFOs in the Miracle Mile
Click the image above to view the full photogallery. EAST HOLLYWOOD: For the longest time, reps from the church have said that repairs to their Fountain Avenue building, which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, have been going on,...
The Money Tips Network
I’m happy to announce the formation of the new Money Tips Network, a conglomeration of a number of the best blogs focusing on personal finance and money. Consumerism Commentary has joined forces with these great blogs, and this group’s mission is to provide readers (and listeners) with with honest and helpful money tips. Why did [...]The second episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast is now available!
Should Google CEO Schmidt Give Up Apple Board Seat?
Google (GOOG) And Apple (AAPL) Up Against Bogus Antitrust Probe
New NFA Rule Impacts More Than Just Forex Hedging
A couple of weeks ago I posted on the new NFA rule which effectively bans the practice of “hedging” in the retail forex market. There’s been considerable discussion on the subject of hedging and several notable brokers have given their customers the opportunity to allow them to shift their accounts to jurisdictions outside the US [...]
Google ($GOOG), Apple ($AAPL) Scrutinized by the FTC: http://bit.ly/OBycK
Google ($GOOG), Apple ($AAPL) Scrutinized by the FTC: http://bit.ly/OBycK
You Know the Answer
This is something of a rhetorical question, of course, but does the following excerpt from a 1989 research paper by Miguel A. Kiguel, "Budget Deficits, Stability, and the Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation" -- Large budget deficits financed by money creation...
Fed Delays Release Of Bank Stress Test Results
The Money Tips Network
Today is the official launch of the Money Tips Network (MTN), a new group that includes 13 of the most trusted personal finance blogs in the world. Our Mission Money Tips Network exists to provide you with honest and helpful...
April Investment Income- $63.83
My investment income had another nice increase last month to $63.83 from $58.12 the month before. This was due to the gains in the stock market. My personal stock portfolio is now showing a profit and my IRA is finally starting to gain back some of its losses. Disclaimer:This is not my actual [...]
Kroger Southeast Deals 5/3/09 ? 5/9/09
Both Kroger and Publix have cereal on sale this week. In the coming weeks, most stores should have having “stock up” sales on cereal. Take advantage of any sale/coupon combinations that you can for the next few weeks and stock up on cereals (IF your family eats them). Cereal does NOT go [...]
Publix Southeast Deals week of 5/3/09 ? 5/6/09
I’m getting my grocery lists put together for this week’s shopping trip. Here are the Publix Deals I’m going to take advantage of this week! Just a note: My Publix cuts the price to 50% on BOGO items, so it’s probable that you will only have to buy one item with one coupon to get [...]
HomeGain Adds Google Street View to Home Valuations
You Can?t Go Broke Taking Profits
A common saying on Wall Street, and for good reason. Although the stock market has been acting very well in recent weeks and today’s 200-point gain is a good start to this week, I am not going to be bashful about taking some chips off of the table for my clients and you shouldn’t be [...]
Win Free Money by Searching the Web with SwagBucks
Over the last 10 years, there have been all sorts of “browse and win”, “search and win”, and “simply be alive and win” sites and I’ve sampled most of them. A few actually paid out, but many were duds from day one. Generally, I’ve stopped looking for these deals since most aren’t worth [...]
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder?s Meeting
I love Warren Buffett and his long-time business partner, Charlie Munger. Here’s a GREAT quote from Munger: “As I move close to the edge of death, I find myself getting more cheerful about the economic future,” Mr. Munger said. Mr. Munger sees “a final breakthrough that solves the main technical problem of man,” he continued. By harnessing the [...]
We Don?t Believe In Debt
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, and he was talking about car payments. Specifically, how he had told his son that having a car payment is just part of life - just expect to always have one and then you’d be prepared for it no matter what. Without even thinking, I [...]
We Have Money to Payoff Our Debt. Is That a Smart Thing to Do? - James
James wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Had a Baby, Lost My Job, and Can?t Pay My Credit Cards. - Amanda
Amanda wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m Divorced and Confused By a Demand That I Pay on an Old Mortgage. - Stephanie
Stephanie wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Was Not a Compulsive Shopper. I Was a Day Trader. - John
John wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m a Low Income Single Mother With a Disabled Son and Collectors are Chasing Me. - Milla
Milla wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
Cool Map Thing: A Whole New Meaning to Uptown
[Illustration by Schulze and Webb] Bored with the perennially unsatisfying MTA Subway map? Frustrated by a slow-loading Google Map on your iPhone? Tired of staring at reprints of that 1976 New Yorker cover? Then check out "Here & There," a...
Crack of Doom: Beyond Housing
‘[The sky] was sullen, streaked and livid, and [Arthur Dent] reflected that it was the sort of sky that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse wouldn’t feel like a bunch of complete idiots riding out of’ Click the pic to go to the CBC photo gallery of the recent Halifax Wildfires. Above is a detail of [...]
Performance Through April 30, 2009
HEDGEfolios year-to-date stock performance for 2009 (through 04/30/09 close) was up 42.06%. Over the same time period, the S&P 500 index was down -03.34%. At the end of April, the HEDGEfolios universe consisted of 3,209 stocks. Commentary: While the S&P 500 advanced 9.39% in April, HEDGEfolios increased 19.6%. This is the best HEDGEfolios has ever done over a [...]
Save Money AND Lose Weight
I find that it’s much easier to save money from my grocery budget when I’m eating well. My wife and I have been able to decrease our weekly grocery bill from about $120/week to $80 a week by a combination of eating better and closely planning and monitoring our grocery spending. As I’ve written before I [...]
Will the Great Recession Trigger the End of Buy-and-Hold Investing?
More specifically, does the commonly given investing advice to “buy and hold” really work? Or have the rules changed? During the past several decades, the prevailing advice has been something like this: ?Diversify your investments, buy stock in good companies, and hold them until you retire. The value of stocks (and real estate) always go up over [...]
A Couple of Changes to the Blog
I just updated the theme that provides the framework of this blog to the latest version. (Thesis, version 1.5. It?s a premium theme, but it rocks.) A lot of the changes are ?under the hood?, but I was able to make the primary content column a smidge wider. This provides a couple of advantages: 1) I?ll [...]
INTC: Financial Analysis through March 2009 (Update)
Fun, Frugal Kid Toys
I don’t know about your kids, but mine are often happier playing with the box than the toy that was inside! It seems like simple toys are often the best, and, not surprisingly, it’s also often the most frugal. (This picture was taken last year, of my older two kids playing pirates with a cardboard box. [...]
No Evidence of Stop Hunting by Retail Forex Brokers
The subject of stop hunting continues to come up quite frequently, especially where forex trading is concerned. In response to a thread on the subject, Skalpist left the following comments on a BabyPips forum entry (the main question of the thread was whether Oanda runs customer stops). I certainly haven’t done the kind of testing mentioned here, but I [...]
Weekend Reads: the Don?t Forget Mother?s Day is One Week Away Edition
That’s right! Mother’s Day is just around the corner (May 10, 2009). So for all of you clueless ingrates who will likely forget about dear ol’ Mom again this year… dont’ say I didn’t warn you. Personally, I go through my Google Calendar every year and setup email alerts for what I like to call “important [...]Post from: Steadfast Finances
Weekly Round Up: Blog Review
Another week has flown by and I?m sad to see it’s Sunday afternoon. The sun was out all this week and I was feeing it as I was address canvassing for the Census. The weekend was nice and cooled down, allowing us to take advantage and have a dinner outside on the balcony. I wanted to include [...]
COP: Financial Analysis through March 2009 (Update)
Bogus Expert/Forecast Alert (Latest Column for the Huffington Post)
Below is my latest column for the Huffington Post: I had some time to kill this afternoon and sat down to watch the boob tube (like I said, I had time to kill). After flipping through several channels, I landed...
Jim Abbott and the Wall of Worry
Regular readers of "A Dash" are familiar with our loyalty to the University of Michigan and also our notion that sports can provide valuable insights for investments. Here is a good example. Jim Abbott Truth is stranger than fiction. Who...
How To Create Your Real Estate Lead Generation Report In The Next 10 Minutes
Last week, I wrote about email marketing and how you should automate your business by using the power of the internet. Today, I want to expand on that topic and give you some powerful strategies to create great content that will help you build lasting relationships with your prospects. In order to get the prospects to [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How To Create Your Real Estate Lead Generation Report In The Next 10 Minutes
I Called Bank of America About My Reduced Credit Limit. They Reduced it More. - Charles
Charles wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I Fell for the Balance Transfer Gimmicks Offered by the Credit Card Companies. - Brad
Brad wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
Is There Anything I Can Do to Get the Bill Collectors Off My Back for a Few Months? - Nadia
Nadia wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
My Wife and I Made Mistakes. I Can?t See a Way for the Family to Get Out of Debt. - Gary
Gary wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
Net Worth Update: April 2009 +13.75% or $1,822
Poll: Which version of Microsoft Excel do you use?
As you know, I regularly create Excel tutorials on this site. I’m trying to figure out what version of Excel most readers currently use so that I can write tutorials that benefit the most number of visitors. If you’re browsing Experiments in Finance because you came here by searching Google for an explanation on how [...]
Weekly Links: May 3, 2009
Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it’s where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories [...] No related posts.
The Mother?s Day Giveaway!
This is a giveaway for all of those who know moms or babies (or who are moms or babies), and it’s chockful of wonderful stuff, worth up to $171.50! And unlike my last giveaway, where each item was given away to a different winner, this time one lucky winner will get it all! I’ve chosen some [...]
Define Rich, part II: Rat Race and the American Dream
Words from the (investment) wise May 3, 2009
Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (April 27 ? May 3, 2009) “Goodbye safe havens, hello risky assets.” This was the refrain of investors’ theme song during the past week. Safe-haven assets were out of favor as better-than-feared corporate earnings and signs of a budding economic recovery emboldened investors’ appetite for reflation [...]
We Have Three Mortgages Against Our House, Started Our Own Business, and Finding it Hard to Pay the Bills. - Arthur
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Arthur wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
My Wife and I Are in the Military and Need to Get a Consolidation Loan. - Andy
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Andy wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I Moved Out of an Abusive Home But Now I?m in Over My Head in Bills. - Sarah
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Sarah wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I?m Drowning in Online and Local Payday Loans. I was Referred to Langhorne Debt Solutions. - Lacy
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Lacy wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I am Upside Down in My Mortgage. A Loan Remodification Company is Offering to Help. - Danny
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Danny wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
We Are Making a Large Income but Can?t Get Out of Debt. - Tio
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Tio wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I Made an Agreement to Pay and then Stopped to Show Them I Was Mad. - Gasper
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Gasper wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
My Second Mortgage Loan Was Charged Off. Do I Need to Worry About It? - Michelle
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Michelle wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I am an Authorized User on a Credit Card. Can I Consolidate These Debts? - Mary
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Mary wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
Bank Won?t Work With to Keep My $2.33M New Home. - Mark
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Mark wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...]
I Can?t Pay My Australian Mobile Phone Bill. - Wish
Wish wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m in a Debt Settlement Program and I?m Terrified. - Magen
Magen wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
My Unemployment Only Covers My Rent and Gas. Should I Drain my 401K? - Michelle
Michelle wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I am a Single Mother, in a Hole, and Can?t Pay My Bills. - Casie
Casie wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
I?m an Authorized User on a Credit Card and it is Bringing Down My Credit Score. - Dave
Dave wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...]
Mad Money / Jim Cramer Daily Recap 4/30/09
Please do your own research, and verify all information before acting on it. This summary of Cramer’s picks is not intended to replace watching the shows, where his comments about the stocks often include advice about entry and exit points. On Thursday Cramer praised First Solar (FSLR) and said it was one of the only companies [...]
I?m a Chrome Convert?
Yep, I’ll admit it. I’m using Google’s Chrome to browse the internet these days… When it comes to browsers, I tend to hang on to the old standards for far too long. I was *still* using Netscape Navigator for years after Internet Explorer 4.0 came out. IE 4, which came out in 1997, was when Microsoft really pulled [...]
Become a KGB Special Agent: Text Message 411 Service
Here’s another find for the Bored Money category, which are ways to earn some money on the side that aren’t really high-paying on a per-hour basis, but aren’t bad if you’re just bored.
KGB, short for Knowledge Generation Bureau, is a “text-message-based information service”. You text any question to KGBKGB (542542), and for 99 cents they’ll answer you via text message. I’m not exactly sure why people would use this instead of the free ChaCha service, but perhaps they have better quality standards. Time.com tried it out and shared some unedited questions and answers.
Anyhow, KGB hires people working at home (or slacking at work…) to answer these texts as 1099 independent contractors. You get paid 10 cents for each answer you research yourself, and 5 cents for each “validation” answer where you simply double-check an automated response pulled from their database. You must work a minimum average of 6 hours per week. Reportedly, they are looking for people to fill the late-night shifts.
To apply, you have to pass a Special Agents Challenge test first, which is kind of fun but the main challenge is how fast you can type and use Google (though I guess that’s really the point of the job). I couldn’t pass up a trivia quiz, but didn’t feel like completing the application since 6 hours a week is too much of a commitment for me. This would fit someone who either loves to surf the web anyway, wants some extra cash, and doesn’t mind making probably a bit below minimum wage in exchange for very flexible hours and zero commute.
Get Rich Slick Turns 3!
Wow, it’s hard to phathom that three years ago I started this blog. Remember 2006? The Dow was above 11k and headed higher towards the sky. People were talking about the never ending boom in housing but some of us saw what was coming… Looking back since 2006, I’ve worked for 3 different companies only to [...]
Op-Ed Friday: Doom?s 2010th Post
Well, we’ve now blogged one post for every year since Christ was a Midshipman. Igor and I regret that twist is missing the party, but hope she can check in later this morning once her internet glitch is fixed Welcome to Doom’s Friday open thread. To get the ball rolling, let’s see what WSJ [...]
Final Final
I had my final law school final this week. I also picked up my regalia for the graduation ceremony. These events would have been much more rewarding if I didn’t still have to finish my R&W. You are probably getting tired of me complaining about my R&W but I have to finish it next [...]
April 2009 Goal Review
This is my monthly review of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. My first goal is to increase my passive income. I made some progress on that this month. I opened a reward checking account that pays 5.03% which produced a nice increase in the amount of monthly interest [...]
Book Review: The Little Book That Makes You Rich
I've come to like these books in Wiley's The Little Book series. Whether you like the book or not, at least you are not investing a lot of time into it, because, it's a little book. This is another one in the series. The title is The Little Book That Makes You Rich. It's [...]
Join Tech CU?s Grow Your Green campaign to ?Save For Your School??You Could Win Matching Funds!
Times are tough for everyone, but our schools are facing an especially rough road ahead. Think about this: Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a $4.8 billion dollar funding cut from K-12 education next year, and that puts many of our Bay Area schools in the position of having to layoff teachers and cut classroom funding. That [...]
What is the Fear Trade?
Much like everyone else, Wall Street experiences the same basic emotions that all (or most) of us feel when news of an impending disaster (real or fearmongering) strikes. Why? Because there are real life human beings pushing the mouse buttons that execute the buy or sell orders during every minute of every trading day. Try as they might, [...]Post from: Steadfast Finances
Tracking my Finances in 2009: 30 April
Welcome to tracking of income and expenses for the month. Please note thatI get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month. This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less [...]
I Love My Pastor
It may not be pastor appreciation week, but I love my pastor Perry Noble. My wife and I had the opportunity to come alongside him as he launched NewSpring Church, and I happened upon an old e-mail from Perry while searching for another old e-mail this week. I want to share it below and then [...]
21yearoldvirgin
Today, I paid 11 dollars to see the new Wolverine movie. I arrived an hour early and waited patiently for the movie to start. 3 minutes before it began, a drunk guy stumbled in and took the last empty seat in the theater... next to me. He talked to me the whole movie. No related posts.
WPI: Financial Analysis through March 2009
PEP: Financial Analysis through March 2009 (Update)
Carnival of Wealth, Money and Life - May 2, 2009
Welcome to the May 2, 2009 edition of carnival of wealth, money and life. Andrew Peel presents Twitter what?s it all about? [1] posted at APeel Solutions Blog [2], saying, "I am a member of a social networking site called Betternetworker and for the last week there has been a raging debate as to why Mike Dillard the ?guru? of attraction marketing stopped following 10,000 people on Twitter." Anu Siva presents Employment Connections: Should You Make Them When Pregnant? [3] posted at walkinjob.com [4], saying, "It is important to form employment connections when job hunting. But if you are pregnant, you might want to think twice about it. This article examines the issue from key angles." Bobby Leong presents How Much Can You Make From Google Adsense? [5] posted at Internet Marketing Solutions [6]. Billeater presents Beyond the Basics- Dig Deeper and Save Money [7] posted at Billeater [8]. Ben presents Credit reports and Credit Scores - Choosing the Best one for You [9] posted at Money Smart Life [10]. Ben presents IRA Vs Roth IRA [11] posted at Money Smart Life [10]. debt kid presents No More Buy and Hold Strategy for Me [13] posted at DebtKid [14]. Summer Munyon presents First Time Homebuyers Qualify For An $8,000 Gift [15] posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog [16], saying, "The First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. People want to know what it is, where is the information on the program, who qualifies (meaning even if you have owned a home previously you might qualify), and what resources exist for people to find out more." Debt Freedom Fighter presents Features That Indicate a Good Credit Repair Program [17] posted at Discover Debt Freedom! [18]. Savings Toolbox presents [1] http://yourbusinesstograb.co.uk/?p=66 [2] http://www.apeel-solutionsblog.info/ [3] http://walkinjob.com/171/employment-connections.htm [4] http://walkinjob.com/ [5] http://www.bobmarketing.com/making-money-from-google-adsense/ [6] http://www.bobmarketing.com/ [7] http://billeater.com/tips/beyond-basics-dig-deeper-save-money [8] http://billeater.com/ [9] http://moneysmartlife.com/credit-reports-credit-scores-choosing-the-best-one-for-you/ [10] http://moneysmartlife.com/ [11] http://moneysmartlife.com/ira-vs-roth-ira/ [12] http://moneysmartlife.com/ [13] http://www.debtkid.com/no-more-buy-and-hold-strategy-for-me [14] http://www.debtkid.com/ [15] http://blog.manausa.com/2009/04/24/first-time-homebuyers-tax-credit-information/ [16] http://blog.manausa.com/ [17] http://www.discoverdebtfreedom.com/2009/04/21/features-that-indicate-a-good-credit-repair-program/ [18] http://www.discoverdebtfreedom.com/
USAA Bank $100 Checking Bonus for Military
Offer good for new accounts opened April 8, 2009 - May 31, 2009. In December 2009 a $100 bonus will be credited to your new Four Star Checking account if your account has active recurring direct deposit. A minimum $25 opening deposit is required. The Annual Percentage Yield as of April 1, 2009, on balances [...]
And the Winners Are?
I’m finally announcing the winners of the week of giveaways! Business Cards and Brochures from UPrinting The winner of the business cards is Marissa. The winner of the brochures is Jennifer. A Year Long Subscription to RealNetworks. The winner of the year long pass is Cenia. The ‘Skinny On’ books. The winner of The Skinny On Credit Cards is Nate@DebtFreeScholar. The winner of [...]
It?s Labor Day
Today is Labor Day in France (and most of the world in fact). It’s a special day here, the only day when the entire country stops working, and unlike the US where Labor Day marks buckling down and going back to school, it’s the unofficial start of summer here. Sundays, even though they are supposedly [...]
Another Look at Geothermal Energy
An Amazing April
It was a pretty intense April for this little trading education blog. Through March the most comments I’d seen on any of my posts was something like 17. Last month the discussion around the new NFA rule against “hedging” in the forex market produced more than 100 comments as part of an intense exchange beween [...]
Video-o-rama: Investors ?look past the valley?
Video-o-rama: Investors ?look past the valley? As the financial markets await the bank stress test results in the US, a potpourri of video clips was produced. Although the discussions were varied, a golden thread prevailed: the duration of the financial crisis and the economic recession, and whether stock markets have hit bottom. Needless to say, [...]
TANSTAAFL
For the past 16 months I have made HEDGEfolios free and accessible to everyone. That is now over. All memberships expiring on April 30, 2009 (tonight) will not be extended per my usual practice. Other than the MY FOLIO section, HEDGEfolios will continue to function normally for an indefinite period. © Mike for HedgeFolios.com, 2009. | Permalink | No comment [...]
Tomato Tree vs. Soil vs. Planter Part 2
It’s been two weeks since my last post in the tomato growing saga comparing the tomato tree vs. planter vs. soil. So far the planter is way ahead in the competition. I have at least 10 tomatoes growing on the planter and the plant is now about 38″ high and growing daily vertically and horizontally. [...]
5 Tips For Living A More Frugal Life
Tristan at Find Financial Freedom has posted some basic frugal living tips - the kind of things that are very simple to do, might only save a little at a time, but could save you quite a bit of money in the long term.a
Tell All Thursday - Another Dollar, Another Digit
This month marked a psychological victory of the small (but good) kind. My student loan now stands at $8996.18, which means it is under another milestone number. Barely under $9000, but under it is and I take any victories I can get! :) To accomplish this, we paid $400 towards the student loan this month [...]
TEDTalks : What can we learn from the 1918 flu? - Laurie Garrett (2007)
In 2007, as the world worried about a possible avian flu epidemic, Laurie Garrett, author of "The Coming Plague," gave this powerful talk to a small TED University audience. Her insights from past pandemics are suddenly more relevant than ever. No related posts.
WPI: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
CurbedWire AM Special: Building Collapse in Tribeca
[Photo via Anthony Casalena] Just after 6 a.m., a vacant five-story building at 69 Reade Street (between Broadway and Church Street) collapsed, shooting dust and debris all over the block. Fire officials say it appears no one was inside...
Share This Thursday: Stretching Your Food Budget
Times are tough for a lot of us, and it seems like food can be quite expensive. I wrote a post on my food blog, Almost Frugal Food, about stretching my food budget. Now it’s your turn! Either share a post that you have written on the subject, by leaving the link in the comments [...]
As Hulu Picks Up Steam, Disney (DIS) Climbs On Board (GOOG)(NWS)(GE)
A Reader?s Story About a Stop Getting Hit
A reader named Susan left this comment recently on the Some Not-So-Great Tips for Using Stop Orders post I wrote a while back. I think it does a great job of highlighting a situation - or at least a type of situation - which new traders find themselves in where stops are concerned. I have a [...]
Tracking the Business Cycle Through Google Trends
A Plethora Of Earnings Reports
Good morning. On this last trading day of April, premarket futures are positive as investors sort through a plethora of earnings reports. Other than the big blowup in Sequenom (SQNM), most of the reports were better than expected. Other than...
Charlie Rose: Lionel Barber, editor ?Financial Times?
Sell in May and go away: fact or fallacy?
Sell in May and go away: fact or fallacy? Where is the stock market heading? Has the rally that started in early March been exhausted? These are the key questions on all investors’ minds as financial markets remain caught between the frantic actions of central banks to get the cogs of the credit system and economy [...]
Thursday links: trader?s trap
Don’t fall into the “trader’s trap” with leveraged ETFs. (Afraid to Trade) Blog traffic indicates a fair amount of complacency building up out there. (Big Picture) What can we learn about investor sentiment by analyzing the news? (Real Time Economics, The Big Money, Bespoke) Five ways to build models with better risk-return characteristics. (MarketSci Blog) A closer look at [...]
Coming Soon To A GM Dealership Near You!
You know that great service you get at the Post Office and the DMV? Well get ready because it’s soon coming to a GM dealership near you! That’s right, a whole new experience in car buying will soon be available at a GM dealer near you. Here is a sneak [...]
Budget 4/29-5/13
Tremonti and Johnston do Goldman Sachs
As soon as I heard Part Three of CBC’s The Current on Monday I knew it deserved wide distribution. Doomers should first visit The Current’s show archive for April 27, 2009. What follows is an unauthorized Doom transcript for that third half hour, a lively interview with the prize-winning author of a new exposé on [...]
Trading in Dendreon Stock Shows Why Short Term Trading Is Such A Gamble
You may have heard about Dendreon (DNDN), a small money losing biotechnology company that is in the process of getting its cancer vaccine, Provenge, approved by the FDA. Full results from a crucial phase three study were released yesterday afternoon in Chicago, but about half an hour prior to their release, shares of Dendreon fell [...]
More on the "best views"
After I posted a link to the "The 20 Best Views in the World", reader Pat Sullivan commented that several on the list were not as good as ones he had witnessed. I asked him for details and he kindly...
A Little Post on Leverage
The media seems to categorize the use of leverage with some sort of evil deed but whether it’s a corporation or individual, leverage is part of our lives like turkey is for Thanksgiving. It’s not necessary, but having it benefits everyone. Like so many products that some dislike (credit cards come to mind as another [...]
7 Ways Saving Money is like Losing Weight
In the past 12 months, I?ve been able to save 20% of my income and lose 20 lbs. In the process I?ve learned that there are many similarities between losing weight and saving money. Here are 7 ways saving money is like losing weight: 1. Have a goal Here it?s the million dollar journey. The goal is right [...]
I Think I Need to Go Bankrupt. Will They Take My Husbands Car. - Leslie
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Leslie wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...] No related posts.
voltumna
Today, at 4 AM, I locked myself out of my apartment. After calling friends in vain, I decided to just sit on the doorstep and wait for someone to come in. I sat for 10 minutes before a homeless man insisted threateningly that I move. I was kicked off my own front doorstep by a homeless man. No related posts.
Anonymous
Today, I was feeling up my girlfriends chest. I was getting into it until she said "What are you doing?" I said I was rubbing her nipple. She replies, "Thats not my nipple, its a pimple." I felt up a pimple. No related posts.
TEDTalks : One woman, eight hilarious characters - Sarah Jones (2009)
In this hilariously lively performance, actress Sarah Jones channels an opinionated elderly Jewish woman, a fast-talking Dominican college student and more, giving TED2009 just a sample of her spectacular character range. No related posts.
TEDTalks : One woman, eight hilarious characters - Sarah Jones (2009)
In this hilariously lively performance, actress Sarah Jones channels an opinionated elderly Jewish woman, a fast-talking Dominican college student and more, giving TED2009 just a sample of her spectacular character range. No related posts.
kattydoo07
Today, I found out I have a restraining order against me from my ex boyfriend. Apparently, I drive by his house too much and it is considered stalking. He forgot that I live 2 houses down, and MUST drive by his house to get home. No related posts.
BP: Financial Analysis through March 2009
How to Grow Sprouts Frugally
I am not a health food nut. But I love sprouts. On a sandwich, the crunchiness and punch of fresh sprouts is better than any lettuce in my book. Yet sprouts are expensive. I can pay almost $5.00 for a 2 ounce container of sprouts in the grocery store, only to have them go bad within [...]
Big Trading Risk On Small Accounts - Bad Idea
If you’ve been reading my postings here for any length of time you’ll know that one of the things I am in favor of is new traders getting their feet wet in live, real-money trading as soon as they understand the mechanics of doing so. There are many benefits to be had in doing so [...]
Earth Day 2009 - 8 Ways to Save the Environment from Your Cubicle
Many of us spend the majority of our day at work so here are a few tips on how you can celebrate Earth Day every day while slaving away in your cubicle. Reduce Waste 1) Use a ceramic or travel coffee mug rather than a Styrofoam or paper cup. 2) If you’re eating something other than a [...]
How to Create Your Own Target-Date Mutual Fund
This is a guest post from Frank Curmudgeon, who writes about bad money advice at his aptly-named blog, Bad Money Advice. You may have heard of target-date funds. In 2006 they were okayed as default investment options for 401k accounts, so if you said nothing about where you wanted your 401k money to go, you might [...]
The Most Useless Feature In My New Cars
The most useless feature of the two new vehicles I’ve recently purchased is the low pressure tire notification. The light notification seems to come on every couple of months and 9 times out of 10, the notification light is for the spare tire too low on pressure. If auto manufacturers want to put something useful into [...]
The Phantom Cat Menace
With the economic meltdown continuing unabated, it seems pets are being released into the wild and are causing havoc in neighborhoods. I’ve lived in the same home for over a decade and I’ve never seen so many stray animals come into my backyard after I finish grilling on my grill. For the past few weeks I’ve [...]
My Christmas Shopping
CBC?s Tremonti Nails Goldman Sachs
… "Wow, that’s even more disturbing" … - about 9:50AM Today’s third 1/2 hour of The Current (about 9:32 to 9:55 AM across Canada’s time zones) is a must-hear. Streaming audio as it happens by region is available here. This is CBC’s promo for the segment on their site. And … Earlier this month, banking giant [...]
Stock Options Basics, Part 4 Special Situations
In this series I’m covering the absolute basics of options. Note that I am not recommending the use of options is any way. I am simply trying to make you aware of how options work to increase your knowledge it the area of investing. Now that we’ve made it through the basics I’d like to stretch [...]
Parkinson?s Law
One of the concepts I learned about when reading The 4-Hour Work Week is Parkinson’s Law. The brief definition of this law is that work will so as to fill the time available for its completion. This has definitely been the case with my R&W. I’ve spent a lot of time doing research [...]
Food Stamps?
I’ve noticed that I am getting lots of traffic from MSN for my food stamp post from last year. Could someone tell me why it is getting so much traffic now? Thanks. Share and Enjoy: © AndyHough for Tight Fisted Miser, 2009. FNBO Direct 1.90%APY Online Savings Account.
Book Review - The Noticer
The Noticer by Andy Andrews is the first book in a long time that I have read fromcover to cover in one day. In the style of a favorite uncle telling fables on the front porch, the stories are shallow, enjoyable, and don’t require a lot of hard thinking. I loved this book and it did [...]
Weekend Reads: The Dreaded Swine Flu Edition
I’m so sick of this swine flu news that I’m beginning to wonder if CNN and Fox News are overdoing it just to get more Google hits and collect more advertising bucks. Ugh. Pardon my frustration, but my first office was one floor above multiple Biosafety Level suites containing the world’s most deadly microbes. So this all [...]Post from: Steadfast Finances
What Do You Do When Your Builder Goes Bankrupt?
Last week one of those mega housing developers, T.H. Properties (THP) closed up shop in the Philadelphia suburbs. THP suspended operations quite abruptly for “re-structuring”. Many people have put deposits on homes and some have houses half-built. So, what are they to do? While I knew this company was big on visibility (in a [...]
Mommyhood is currency in the straight world.
At Queercents, we have discussed how muscle is currency for gay men, how thin is currency for women (although issues around body image are catching up with men), and how an advanced degree is social currency for anyone that schleps their way through grad school. But here?s a new one: there?s currency in being a [...]
We Are Not Iceland, We Are Not Iceland
Look For Swine Flu Related Opportunities
To me this swine flu outbreak looks a lot like avian bird flu; fairly contained and overhyped. Of course anything is possible, but as Wall Street frets about swine flu (Dow futures are down 150 this morning), investors should be on the lookout for investment opportunities. Worries over bird flu led to numerous bargains, especially [...]
When I Am Out Of Debt?
Changing focus so far this year to primarily save and secondarily pay down our remaining non-mortgage debt was an idea that made total sense to me intellectually and on paper, but in practice didn’t work as well as I had hoped. Which is why we chose to return our primary focus to debt elimination for [...]
Easiest Languages to Learn
If you?re new to learning a foreign language and want to pick something up that?s easier to learn, then you might want to consider some of these languages. (I recently realized that this site is sometimes translated into other languages, so I included English for our more global readers.) Easiest Languages to Learn: Spanish Italian English Portuguese Hindi This next category looked at languages [...]
Trying out Linkbee.com!
fuckspellcheck
Today, I realized the senior thesis I turned in last week uses the word "asses" instead of "assess" 17 times. No related posts.
Anonymous
Today, I was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. After writing the ticket, he asked me why I was wearing a surgical mask. I told him that swine flu was found in our area and I was scared. He thought that I was insulting him and wrote me another ticket. No related posts.
Fykkhttdsetkkhvln
Today, I was snuggling with my neighbors four week old kitten while babysitting their kids. I fell asleep, rolled over, and woke up next to a dead kitten. No related posts.
Baidu.com (BIDU) Beats & Provides Nice Top Line Guidance
We?re getting married, part 2
Thanks for all the congratulations guys! This won’t turn into a wedding blog, mostly because I’m not really “into” weddings and I’m hoping I don’t get infected with the bridezilla virus that afflicts so many young women. However, like other pf bloggers who are getting married (Paranoid Asteroid, Sallie’s Niece, Forrest on Finance), [...]
What We?ve Done To Our House
Several readers have asked for more details about what we’ve done to get our house ready to put on the market. We’re just about to the end of our very long list, and planning to call our Realtor this week to get things moving. We started sprucing up our house back in January, when we [...]
BP: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
COP: Financial Analysis through March 2009
138th Edition of the Festival of Stocks
Welcome to the April 27, 2009 edition of the Festival of Stocks. The Festival of Stocks is a blog carnival dedicated to highlighting bloggers best posts on stock market related topics. Fat Pitch Financials is the actual birth place of this online weekly event, so it is always a special occassion when I get the chance to [...]
Online Social Networking Mistakes That Can Break Your Career
When online social networking and your career don’t mix. Leverage The Internet To Get A Job We’ve heard about how great social networking can be to our job or career. For instance, by connecting with past colleagues and friends over the Internet, I’ve increased my chances for getting job leads which eventually led to actual job [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Monday Morning Linkage
[Baldwin Hills via rcgriffith7 ] · High-end Silicon Valley homes now selling for 15 percent less than asking [LAT] · Turns out God was a real estate agent [Andrew Sullivan] · Biggest new listing pricechops seen in NY, LA...
FNBO Direct Still Paying Top Rates
I have written about the FNBO Direct online savings account several times. When I first started writing about the they were paying a 6% rate. Now they are paying a 1.90% rate but since interest rates in general have dropped this is still one of the best rates available. They still have only [...]
Tell Us Tuesday: Sudden Windfalls
The topic of today’s Tell Us Tuesday post is sudden windfalls. Imagine that you get a lump sum of money, and that however much it is is enough to be surprising. What would you do with it? How much money would it take to make a difference in your life? Play nice: Share with others! ©Almost Frugal. [...]
Reader Travel Tips
One of the things that I love most about writing this blog is the reader and community interaction. But often times comments are tucked away, and not every one gets to see them. So I thought that today I’d highlight some of the best comments left by readers on the theme of travel, as the [...]
Baidu: Investors Decide To Sell On The News
Technical/Fundamental analysis a child?s game
A reader named nikesh posted a comment to yesterday’s Improving the Win Rate of Trend System With Oscillators entry. It brings up some things about my own approach to trading and the markets that I think could do with a bit of clarification. i don?t want to do any effort to spill out your trading system public; [...]
Improving the Win Rate of Trend System With Oscillators
This question came in over the weekend from a gentleman working on improving his trend trading system. Hi John , I have a question for you I’m hoping you might be able help with . I recently started researching Donchian’s Channel Breakout System to trade Forex with. Using Donchian’s 4 week rule I have my price bands [...]
Tracking the Swine Flu Google Style
Prosper Relaunches in California Without SEC Approval
It has been a little over six months since Prosper shut down its social lending marketplace under threat (and later consummation) of a cease and desist action from the SEC. Early this morning, the site was reopened after a weekend-long outage, with some expected differences but also many unexpected changes. Regulatory Issues with SEC Although Prosper will [...]
Attending Finovate Startup 2009
Today I will be attending Finovate Startup 2009. It is an incredibly fast format over 1 day with a bunch of great companies. I will be live twittering at http://twitter.com/BlogTrafficExch In the break I have scheduled some talks with SimplFi, Mint, and Calendar Budget. I am sure that I will talk to many many others at [...]
Prosper launches to borrowers in 50 states; lenders in California
After a six-month quiet period to register their platform with the SEC, Prosper has re-opened to borrowers in all 50 states and lenders in California. They have simultaneously launched FixTheCreditCrisis.org which is a campaign to reach out to elected...
Thank You Prosper Community, Thank You California!
We are pleased to announce that Prosper Loans Marketplace is now open for business once again after a six month hiatus. At this time we are launching to borrowers nationwide and to individual and institutional lenders in California. We hope to be fully national soon. First we would like to thank the Prosper community [...]
Teach Your Kids about Money Management
It is never too early to teach your children the basics when it comes to good money management. Teaching your children good habits is always wise, and money management is definitely a set of good habits that is better taught sooner instead of later. If you teach your children how to value and manage their [...]
Where is Prosper?
UPDATE: As of 5:30 pm (Pacific) on Monday, April 27. Prosper remains offline. Prosper has not provided any new information on their site to indicate when they expect to come back online. After more than 6 months in “exile,” anticipation ran high on Prospers.org this weekend regarding a massively long planned system outage on the Prosper [...]
The Next Great Bubble?
Vitaliy N. Katsenelson, CFA, is director of research at Investment Management Associates in Denver, Colo., and he teaches a graduate investment class at the University of Colorado at Denver. He is the author of ?Active Value Investing: Making Money in Range-Bound Markets? (Wiley 2007). ~~~ One more bubble, please. After the bubbles in technology, housing, [...]
Tuesday links: macro conclusions
A big jump in consumer confidence from three-year lows is usually a good sign for the stock market. (Sentiment’s Edge) “It doesn’t take much in this environment to spark a relief rally coming out of earnings.” (Breakout Peformance) Don’t underplay the importance of the beginnings of a bull market. (Fundamental Insights) “Drawing macro conclusions from the performance of [...]
Looking at furniture
How To Pay Off Credit Card Debt: A Success Story
I love success stories, and so when I read that one more personal finance blogger has finally squelched her debt load, I had to share her story here. Tricia from Blogging Away Debt has announced that she has eradicated her credit card debt and finally has a $0.00 balance on her card accounts. [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Summers: Expect "sharp declines in employment"
Bank Balance Sheet: Liquidity and Solvency, Part II
Uncrunch America Contest for $5,000 0% APR Loan
Uncrunch America is a consortium of peer to peer lending companies including Lending Club for personal loans, Virgin Money for mortgage loans and On Deck Capital for small business loans. Credit Karma and Geezeo are also part of the ?Uncrunch? team...
My Cash Transfer Hub: E-Trade Complete Savings Account
If you have your cash spread out across several bank accounts, whether it’s to help with chasing higher interest rates, paranoia, or saving for different goals, it can become quite a hassle to transfer money between accounts. I get asked all the time about how I juggle them all.
Part of my solution is to utilize the E-Trade Complete Savings account to connect them all together. This is basically E-Trade’s version of the online savings account which I’ve had for years. From my experience, the interest rate goes up and down (it is currently a so-so 1.20% APY), but it works very well for me as my bank “transfer hub”.
What are some important things to look for in such an account?
Basics and Cost
To start off, you’ll want a bank that offers a very low minimum balance and no monthly fees. A decent interest rate would be good, but a top interest rate isn’t critical since this isn’t where you’ll be keeping the bulk of your funds. You might want to keep a little bit of cash here in case you need to transfer some out quickly, and also to keep your bank from closing out an empty account.Transfer System
Just about all banks allow ACH (automated clearing house) transactions, but you have one party initiate such transactions, and many “old-school” banks don’t do this. Accordingly, you’ll want your hub account to have the ability to “push” or “pull” funds in and out of multiple external bank accounts, with no transfer fee. Some banks only let you link one or two accounts, while others charge you to initiate transfers. For example, Bank of America allows you to move money to BofA for free, but charges if you move money from BofA using their system.The E-Trade Complete Savings account has no minimum balance and no monthly fees, you can link an unlimited number of accounts, and there are no transfer fees.
Transfer Speed and Interest Crediting Policy
Of course, you’ll want fast transfer times. Some banks take 3 business days to move money in either direction, with your money in limbo and not earning interest anywhere. However, E-Trade is much faster, with transfer times of only 1 business day (which is how long it should take…). Also, if you schedule a funds transfer from an external account to E-Trade before the end of the business day at 4pm EST, they will actually credit your account the same day, even before they withdraw the money (although to prevent fraud you can only withdraw after 3 business days). However, you will start to earn interest starting that day, even before the money actually get debited from your source account!Here is a sample screenshot:
In fact, if you initiate a transfer on Friday, you can earn interest at both accounts over the weekend. Here is a sample timeline:
- Friday: You schedule a transfer of $1,000 from Bank A to E-Trade. You start earning interest at E-Trade on Friday. Nothing has happened at Bank A.
- Monday: $1,000 is withdrawn from Bank A.
- Thursday: $1,000 is now available to withdraw from E-Trade. You schedule a transfer to Bank B. $1,000 is debited from your account at E-Trade.
- Friday: $1,000 arrives at Bank B.
Yes, it will take you a week to move the money, but you’ll be earning interest the entire time due to the double-interest over the weekend. Compare this to other accounts where the money is in limbo for 3-5 total days (3 business day + weekends/holidays) and you’re earning zero interest during that time.
For these reasons, I think the E-Trade Complete Savings account is very useful for the ability to connect any two bank accounts and move money relatively quickly with minimal interest loss. If you already trade stocks with them, it’s basically a no-brainer given the horrible yields on money market funds right now.
I have also heard good things about the transfer speed at GMAC Bank, but I don’t know if it’s quite this good as I don’t have any personal experience with them. I’m also concerned about how GMAC Bank will be around… if they get bought or sold to another bank, the website may disappear as well. I’m already going to miss my WaMu interface when I get forced over to Chase next month.
The Neighborhood Plant Swap
This is a guest post from Kris. Earlier this month, I shared the notion of SwapLucks. Kris recently participated in a similar event, trading plants with friends and neighbors. Last weekend, my friend Rhonda hosted a Plant Swap. It was so successful that she?s decided to make it an annual event. Although this story is specifically [...]
Commercial Real Estate in the US: A time bomb? (Zero Hedge)
Tucson Economic IndicatorsStatistics can tell you only so much While I’m a numbers and stats guy there are times when I go for the more urbane approach to statistics. This means there are non-scientific indicators of what is happening in an economy. One of those current indicators is blowing the roof off the “recession” indicator. It also [...]
Post from: Tucson Real Estate
FBN Roundup- School?s Out Edition
School isn’t quite out yet. I still have two finals to take but I’m taking those this week so I won’t have to go to school after this month. Here are some of my r-favorite recent posts from the Frugal Blog Network. Almost Frugal shares what she spends her money on. Her three top expenses are [...]
A Ray of Sunshine
[image credit] It’s a beautiful weekend and I feel blessed to have my renewed strength and health. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I’ve been sick for over a week. I want to thank everyone for keeping me in your prayers and checking on me. I really appreciate it! You only get one [...]
How to Use The Power Of The Internet To Sell Houses on Autopilot
You can sell houses on autopilot? Yes, you can, but to a point. Let me explain. We all strive to make our lives easier, better and less stressful. We all want to work less and make more, right? So how do you do that? Well, there are several strategies you can use to work less [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How to Use The Power Of The Internet To Sell Houses on Autopilot
Existing Home Sales Show Recovery Not Here Just Yet
The National Association of Realtors published their March data on existing home sales and the word that comes to mind is “disappointing”. With everyone from Larry Kudlow to President Obama attempting to buoy our collective spirits about the housing market and the economy with reports of “mustard seeds” or “green sprouts” both euphemisms for selective [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Quotes Entirely Relevant to Investing 04-26-2009
Life is tough ….. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid. - John Wayne (HT SCH) Past Quotes Entirely Relevant to Investing
Weekly Round Up: Great Nexus
Photo Credit: Great Nexus Pinyo over at Moolanomy has a new and very helpful site over at the Great Nexus. If you’re looking to get a nice snapshot of what going on with sports, health, tech, and of course, personal finance; this is a fantastic site. If you happen to be on the personal finance section, you can find [...]
From 2 wheels to 4 wheels!
Officially moving in with my boyfriend
shadowednavi
Today, one of the guests I was in the middle of seating knocked an empty wine glass from the table. I assured them it was all right and proceeded to kneel down to pick up the now broken glass. The lady insisted on helping as far as picking the glass up and dumping the shards into my open hands. No related posts.
Weekend Spending: New Bike Edition!
It turned out to be quite the expensive weekend! Beach chair: $23 Farmers Market: $6, strawberries, avocados, lettuce, apples. T paid for some of those. New coffee travel mug, $16 New GT Nomad ‘08 bike: $250 Bike helmet, $40 Beer, food, parking at friend’s birthday celebration thing at Naja’s Place: $44 TOTAL: I don’t want to do the math! I still need a [...]
Personal Finance Resource Links 04-26-09
Finally the weather is starting to level out and get a bit warmer around here! Our garden is starting to com back to life. We have some tulips growing for the first time and the rose bushes are sprouting. Next step for us is to hit the gardening store to see how we want to [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
How to Make Chicken Stock
My wife and I enjoy cooking (she is the better cook by far!). We try to make our meals as healthy as we can, and one way we do that is by making our own chicken stock. It is easy to do, tastes better than store bought chicken stock, and is a much healthier option [...]
Upromise - Earn Free Money for College Education
My wife and I are expecting our first child, so we have been looking into various college savings programs, including 529 College Savings Plans and Coverdell ESA programs. As part of our research a friend referred us to UPromise, a free college savings program. UPromise has been around for years, but we haven’t used it [...]
5 Easy Things to do This Earth Day and Every Day
Today is Earth Day, so in honor of that, I thought I would share a few easy ways to save money every day by consuming less energy and producing less waste. These are very easy and inexpensive changes to make, and once you incorporate them into your daily routine, you will probably ask yourself why [...]
Should I Pay Off Student Debt or Save Money?
This article is part of the “Ask the M-Network” series. I recently received a question about paying off student loans and saving. Here it is: I recently graduated and moved to start a new job. I’m living rent-free for a couple months with my GF in order to save my first few paychecks but I’m not [...]
When Was Your Last Financial Checkup
Like our health, many of us take our finances for granted. I know I do. But every once and awhile we should do a financial checkup to make sure everything is running as smoothly as we think it should be. You should do a financial checkup at least once a year, or with every major life [...]
Roundup - Fantasy Baseball Edition
Baseball season is in full swing, and for me that means it’s time for fantasy baseball! (much to my wife’s dismay). Last season I had several fantasy baseball teams, but due to time constraints, I limited it to just one this year. The cool part is that the league is primarily comprised of personal finance [...]
What Happens if You Miss the Tax Deadline?
Yesterday was Tax Day, and for most of us, that means we can take a few days off and relax - tax season is over until next year! But if you didn’t file your taxes or didn’t file a tax extension, then this article is for you! What happens if you missed the tax deadline? If you [...]
Don?t Be A Tightwad: Give Generously
This is a guest post from Grant Baldwin, the author of Reality Check, a book about helping students transition into the real world. His new website, BrokePiggy.com, answers questions from teenagers about personal finance, savings, and all things money. This series “12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach [...]
Win a Flip Video Camcorder
Tomorrow is the end of the tax season, which means unless you filed an extension on your taxes or decided to chance fate and not file taxes this year, it’s time to celebrate! And to celebrate the end of tax season, I will be hosting a giveaway for a Flip Camcorder, similar to the one [...]
Roundup - Baby Registry Edition
This weekend has been absolutely beautiful and my wife and I are planning on spending as much time outside as possible! We took a long hike yesterday, and we have another one scheduled for today. Baby registry. My wife and I signed up for a baby registry at Target and Baby’s R Us this weekend. Whoever [...]
Podcast: Recession Tips and Shrinking Your Bills
It’s finally here! Welcome to the first edition of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast. Today Tom and I discussion tips for surviving financially through an economic and personal recession. The feature, however, is Tom’s interview with Peter Pham, the CEO of price fighting service BillShrink. To listen, use the player above (Adobe Flash required), download [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Government Releases Swine Flu Treatment Stockpiles (RHHBY, GSK)
Short Sellers Abandon Financial Shares, Tech Stocks
Bank of America?s (BAC) Lewis Sold CFO His Porsche
The Top Ten Stocks For Short Sellers (MSFT)(INTC)(SIRI)(F)(AIG)(C)
Bank Balance Sheet: Liquidity and Solvency, Part I
Krugman Worries about L-Shaped Recession
Glitch Update
You will note a few things are still in SNAFU mode: The ?<< Older Entries? link / text at the bottom of The Big Picture page doesn?t work. The address shows successive page numbers but the same stories are listed over and over again. There is no link to email to someone a post. Some older posts [...]
Maybe Pacino was Right: Be Careful What Kind Of Leaders You?re Producing
Every now and then, I pull out a movie from the old DVD collection. Last night, Scent of a Woman caught my eye and I threw it in the DVD player. Aside from marveling at the Oscar winning performance by Al Pacino, one particular phrase from his specialty “end-of-movie” tirade captured my attention with laser like [...]Post from: Steadfast Finances
Freebies Roundup
As promised, here?s a list of some free samples. Aveeno Nourish Hair Care Better than Ears Dog Treats Zyrtec Allergy Huggies Pure and Natural Gain Splenda No Calorie Sweetener with Fiber –Frugal Husband
Win a $1.5M home in Las Sendas. Proceeds benefit Child Crisis Center of Arizona
The Child Crisis Center of Arizona is holding a fundraising effort. The grand prize in a raffle is a stunning custom home in Las Sendas (pictured above)valued at $1.5 million (or a cool million in cash, your choice). We?ve offered up a little side bar space over there to your right to help sell tickets. [...]
Exhausted!
Anonymous
Today, while walking through the halls of my high school, me and my boyfriend shared a quick kiss. A young teacher walks by and tells us to stop due to Personal Display of Affection rules at our school. She then looks at my boyfriend and tells him he could do so much better. No related posts.
Weekly Links: April 26, 2009
Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it’s where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories [...] No related posts.
Economist: A Glimmer of Hope?
Late Night Open Thread
A Good Share of the Blame
OK, I admit it: I missed seeing it the first time around. Regardless, as I was doing my usual search-and-sift for information and insights on the current crisis, I came across an interesting document, published in March by the Consumer...
A Couple Tidbits of Recent News
The "Making Work Pay" Tax Credit
A Visit from Family
Amortization Schedules and Principal Prepayment, Part 2: VerificationYesterday in Part 1, we talked about the basics of amortization and mortgage prepayment. In this post, I just wanted to share some other interesting results I got when tinkering around with the amortization schedule.
Are you always paying the same amount of interest?
As I noted before, amortization is a way to make equal payments but still preserve the right ratio of principal paydown and interest. You can check this using the same schedule of payments as before, except now I’m just looking at it broken down by 12 years instead of 360 months. ($200k mortgage, 30-year fixed at 5%).
If you have a loan of $200k at 5% interest, simple arithmetic will lead you to guess you’ll pay around $10,000 of interest the first year. As you see above, during the first year you actually pay $9,933 towards interest, as your loan balance went from $200,000 down to $197,049 over time. If you simply divide the $9,933 by the average of $200,000 and $197,049, again you’ll get 5%.
This just provides a rough estimate, but you can see that you’re always paying 5%, even as the principal shrinks. Only at the very end does it vary slightly, not sure why exactly, but I’m guessing due to smaller numbers. The lender isn’t ripping you off by having you pay a ton of interest in the first year. You just have a lot of interest to pay! Kind of neat, actually.
Is your investment return from paying extra towards principal really the mortgage’s interest rate?
When you pay down your mortgage at 5% interest, it is often assumed that this is the same as investing that cash elsewhere and earning 5% per year. (Ignoring tax issues.) But is it?
Again, a quick check on the spreadsheet confirms this. Let’s say I am just starting Year 2. If I prepay the entire equity portion of $3,102, this will advance me to Year 3 of the schedule, and I will be shaving off one year from my mortgage. In other words, my $3,102 will be worth an entire year’s worth of payments, or $12,884, in 29 years. This works out to be the same as a 5.03% annualized return. Close enough for me. Again, if you prepay near the very end of the term, the percentage starts to drop off a bit. But remember, if you’re prepaying, you’ll probably be finished with your mortgage well before reaching that point.
I’ve plotted both the effective interest rate paid and the paydown investment return (gain) below:
You can play with the spreadsheet yourself at Google Docs or in Microsoft Excel format.
Free Schick Quattro Trimmer / X-Men Movie PromoRequest yet another free razor sample.
Amortization Schedules and Principal Prepayment, Part 1: Shortening a 30-Year Mortgage Into 15I’ve been tinkering around with my mortgage. Have you ever wondered how the monthly payment was determined? It’s called amortization. An amortization schedule is a way to make equal payments over a period of time, but have the payments split between principal and interest so that the interest paid over time decreases over time along with the loan amount remaining. It is a balancing act to be fair to both borrower and lender, and you can find a mathematical derivation here.
The most direct way to see where you are on your amortization schedule is to ask your lender to send you a copy. Alternatively, you can generate one yourself by using a mortgage calculator with this feature. Here is the amortization schedule for a $200,000 loan with a fixed interest rate of 5% over 30 years.
(May not be visible in RSS format. Here is the direct link.)As you can see, in the beginning most of your payment goes towards interest, and only a little reduces your principal, or outstanding loan amount. As time goes on, your payment stays the same, but the chunk going towards interest decreases as the principal shrinks.
Mortgage Principal Prepayment
If you want to pay off the loan in less than 30 years, you’ll have to pay more than required. This is known as principal pre-payment. The effect of making such additional payments can be visualized by imagining that it moves you “ahead” in the amortizaton schedule.Here’s an example using the schedule shown above. Let’s say you’re just getting ready to make your first payment of $1,074. At this rate, you still have 359 out of 360 monthly payments left to go! How much money would it take to shave off one extra payment off the end? To find that, you just have to look at the principal portion of Month #2, which I highlighted orange: $241.
If you pay $241 additional with your first payment now, you’ll won’t have to pay the $1,074 due on Month #360. Why is this? Working backwards, you can confirm that this is pretty much a 5% compounded return on $241 for 30 years, as expected. In addition, you’ll be shifted forward to Month #3 on the schedule. So next month your (still required) payment of $1,074 will have a bit more applied towards principal, and a bit less towards interest.
Making a 30-year Mortgage into a 15-year Mortgage
This actually creates an interesting way to shorten your mortgage. What if you kept paying the next month’s principal payment on top of your required $1,074 each month. You’d add on $241, then $243, then $245, and so on. Every month you’d shave off one month off the end, leaving you with a 15-year mortgage! You can also imagine this as skipping every other payment by just paying the principal and saving the interest.This can work out nicely because the extra required will start out reasonably low at $241, and increase gradually with time along with your income and/or cashflow.
An alternative is to add $510 to every payment each month to shorten the term to 15 years. Although if you’re sure you want to do that, you might want to just get a 15-year fixed mortgage at a lower interest rate.
SwagBucks Sign Up Bonus and Gift Cards
SwagBucks is offering readers bonus SwagBucks for Free Money Friday this week! You’ll have to act quickly though, the offer is only good for the next 5 days! How to Get Your SwagBucks Sign up for a SwagBucks account by Wednesday, April 29. Use the swag code: MYDOLLARPLAN, which is case sensitive. You’ll get 5 bonus swag [...]
Visual Guide to Tax Spending, Credit Cards, and Housing
We’ve had a huge week! My husband finally made a decision about his plans to work for the upcoming year, everything is almost finalized and we’ll be closing on our rental property next week, and there were some new developments with the loan modification that we’re considering pursuing. Add those to the mountain of paperwork [...]
Solar Energy Tax Credit: Will You Install Solar Panels?
The economic stimulus plan lifted the maximums on the solar energy tax credits, making the purchase of solar panels very appealing. Since we decided not to downsize and stay in our house long term, we’re considering installing solar panels this summer. I thought it would be fitting to celebrate Earth Day with some details about [...]
Measurable Challenges
People just love challenges, and if you can provide challenges that’s meaningful and measurable, the chances that the challenges will result in actual improvements is much greater. For example, the cashier has a daily error margin of 5%, you must measure this every day and reduce it to an acceptable figure, say 1%. This way, the [...]
The Lure of SkyMall
For me, the best personal finance lessons are the ones I learn first-hand. When I actually experience something, I get a lot more out of it than simply by reading about it. Last week I flew to San Francisco. To kill time on the early morning flight, I browsed the SkyMall catalog. Big mistake. There’s some [...]
21st Century Real Estate: Use a Blog to Sell Your Home
David Hobby at Strobist recently posted an interesting article describing how to use a blog to sell your house. Hobby and his wife have outgrown their townhouse in Columbia, Maryland, and are looking to move on. But typical real-estate brochures and marketing are often woefully inadequate. (I was just mocking a real-estate flyer last night, [...]
Ask the Readers: Debt Consolidation or Consumer Credit Counseling?
One of my favorite parts of Get Rich Slowly is the weekly “Ask the Readers” section. It’s fantastic to see how well this community pulls together to help each other find solutions to financial dilemmas. Most of the questions come via e-mail, but last week I met a man named Aaron who reads the site. [...]
The Fundamentals of Personal Financial Planning
Last week I shared Investing for Your Future, a fantastic 11-week home-study course for beginning investors with small dollar amounts to invest. This week I found a similar resource from UC Irvine, which offers a free online class in the fundamentals of personal financial planning. According to the course introduction: This course is not intended to [...]
How to Read a Mutual Fund Prospectus
This is a guest post from Neal Frankle, a Certified Financial Planner, and the author of Wealth Pilgrim, a blog about his financial journey. If we?ve learned anything from the current financial crisis, we?ve learned that it’s important to understand what it is we?re actually investing in. No more black-box investing, right? That’s true of the [...]
Daily Links: Making Money Edition
Building wealth involves two broad skill-sets: cutting costs and increasing income. Most personal finance blogs — including this one — tend to focus on the former. Frugality tips have broad appeal because they can be applied by nearly everyone. But in reality, it can often be more effective to boost your income. You can only [...]
Saving Money and the Environment: Where Green and Frugal Meet
This is a guest post for Earth Day from Beth H., who writes about saving time, money, and the environment at Smart Family Tips. Going “green” has a bit of a bad rap. As soon as marketers realized it was profitable to be green, suddenly all sorts of products flooded the marketplace with eco-friendly claims. It [...]
Baby Boomer Problem Solved!
So I went to a professional association meeting last night and I ran into a few boomers and jokingly asked them if they were planning on retiring soon or if their plans had changed because of the market collapse and financial mess. Sadly, many of them somberly said that their plans had changed and they [...]
Nothing?s Changed, Markets Still A Mess
I’m still sitting out the markets and quite frankly, they’re still a mess. Absolutely nothing has changed, the banks are still insolvent and the only thing I hear that makes any sense is that the recovery MIGHT begin in 2010. The government is predicting a worst case scenario of banks losing 50% of capital if unemployment [...]
Six Social Security Issues
I recently ran a series of guest posts on making the most of Social Security that was very well received. As such, I thought it would be useful for those of you who missed the series, to see all of...
2008 Money Stats and How I Fared
In their annual "What People Earn" issue, People Magazine gave some national numbers on general finances of Americans as well as key unemployment numbers. I thought it would be interesting to review these and let you all know my thoughts...
Another Example of Getting Rich on a Low Salary
Get Rich Slowly points to a story of a social worker that amassed a $1.4 million net worth. How did she do it -- amass a fortune way above what most Americans will ever own while earning an "average" salary...
Save Money by Finding a Knowledgeable and Fair Sales Person
It all started when we needed computer paper. My wife and I scoured all the ads and saw that Office Max had the best deal that weekend. In addition, they offered a $30 rebate in OfficePerks dollars (or whatever they...
5 Key Sacrifices to Make if You Really Want to Save Money
The following is a guest post by Kathryn Vercillo from Money Saving Blog, which gives away free discount codes and voucher codes. She writes about personal finance, living frugally and saving money. I have added a few of my thoughts...
Make Six-Figures Walking and Watching Pets
When I suggested that you make money on pets as part of my 20 ways to make more money, little did I know how much a person could make by simply walking dogs and sitting for pets. Just how much...
Didn?t Save a Bunch of Money on My Car Insurance
With all the commercials on tv these days about how I could be saving a ton of money on my car insurance, I’ve had this little bug in the back of my head chastising me for not having checked my insurance rates in many years. I have been with the same insurance company for [...]
What Kind of Idiot Buys a New ATV Four Wheeler During a Recession?
I should start this post out by apologizing for my lack of blogging lately. Life seems to be getting in the way of a few things and one of them is blogging. There has been lots going on around here lately. Awhile back, I found out that I will be spending almost $11,000 on [...]
Zero Hedge on the Stress Tests
ICICI Bank reports 35% drop in EPS/Net Profit
Specializing in Philately ? An Introduction & Free Stamps Giveaway
Triple Leveraged ETFs - An Introduction
Economy, Business, Credit, and Debit at the Roundup #6
Recognizing an Expert: The Stress Test Issue
Many years ago the old prof was an aspiring prof, traveling back from a bridge tournament with the team. There was an appealing place to stop -- a truck stop, in fact -- so we entered and sat down at...
A Career Fair Disappointment
Cavalcade of Risk #76
No-Grocery-Shopping Week
We have a lot of weird unrecognized holidays. Some support good causes or are designated by various groups to raise awareness. Some amuse us. Some are like fight club, and should never be spoken of again. Day’s like: March 1st: pig day March 10th: learn what your name means day August 20th: Snowman burning day. Nooooo! Not [...]
Friday Finance Findings for April 24th
Well, it looks like my hot streak trading options is coming to an end this week. Over the past month or so I’ve been trading some puts and calls on various stocks based purely on technical analysis. I used to do a lot of short-term trading, but I don’t have the time to keep up [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Buying High and Selling Low Continues for Many Investors
I’ve talked about this trend in the past where people do just the opposite of what they should be doing. Ask even the most novice investor and I bet they can recite the words “buy low and sell high” to you. It’s an incredibly simple concept, yet most people can’t follow through with it. Human [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Poll: Have You Refinanced Your Mortgage Recently?
I’m sure you’ve already heard the news, but mortgage rates are down significantly over the past year or so. Many people are talking about getting into a fixed mortgage with rates under 5%. That’s pretty significant when you consider that just a few years ago most people were getting 30-year fixed loans for anywhere between [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Supreme Court Case Highlights the Importance of Keeping Your Beneficiaries Up to Date
Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont With little fanfare, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case back in January that highlights the importance of keeping your beneficiaries up to date. Having a beneficiary on file with one of your financial accounts can make the transition of assets upon death a very simple process. But with [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Supreme Court Case Highlights the Importance of Keeping Your Beneficiaries Up to Date
FREE YNAB Pro Giveaway
The Winner of "NURU Personal Finance Cards" is .......
Expectations from The Personal Finance Workshop
Listening to expectations for the money management workshop
Doing the Maths: Time Value of Money
Much of financial planning is based on mathematics. But fortunately the mathematics is not really complicated. You probably learned the basic principles in School. This post is about the Time Value of Money
Last Class Ever
Thursday was my last class ever of law school. I need to take two finals and finish my r&w and I will be done. My finals are Monday and Thursday of next week so I’ll be done with those in April. One of my finals is in a pass/fail class and I already have [...]
?The Skinny on Credit Cards? Book Giveaway Winner
The winner of the book “The Skinny on Credit Cards” is Tyler. I’ll be contacting you soon by email to get your shipping information. Thanks for everyone who entered. This will probably be my last giveaway before my hike but I plan to have more of them when I return. Share and Enjoy: © [...]
Bought a New Cell Phone
I bought a new cell phone yesterday to take on my hike. I bought an LG Rumor off Craigslist for $60. This was a great price since it would have cost me $30 to buy the phone if I signed a new two-year contract. It is worth more than $30 to me to not have [...]
The 4-Hour Work Week
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris is my favorite personal finance book other than Your Money or Your Life. I was a little skeptical of this book before I read it but I found it to be full of good ideas. After reading it I believe that a 4-hour work week is possible in my [...]
What Really Happened to 2010 Medicare Advantage Payment Rates?
I am in the middle of a three-post series on the basics of Medicare and its payment systems. The first post covered FFS Medicare and the second covered the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. I?ll release the third post next week. This post applies a bit of what was covered in my review of the MA [...]
Get Your Savings in Shape This Summer!
As we hope everyone has heard by now, we launched a new campaign last month (Grow Your Green), which is aimed at helping you achieve your savings goals in 2009. To learn more about Grow Your Green and the cash prizes you can win for participating, including a $1,000 grand prize, go to www.growyourgreencampaign.com. In the [...]
Fast Fix For The Economy
I received this in my Inbox this morning. It’s brought up some interesting discussions elsewhere. I’d love to hear your thoughts: This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on “How Would You Fix the Economy?” I think this guy nailed it! Dear Mr. President: Please [...]
Guess the NASDAQ Close $1000 Contest Update 2
Update 2 with the top 10 leader board for the $1000 Cash prize Guess the NASDAQ Close Contest.
5 Rules of Following Insider Trading
Using the trades that executives make as one of the major tools of your stock investment research is a wise decision. Follow these simple rules to ensure success.
Entering an Order to Buy or Sell Options Investor Series, Part II
In part I of our options investor series we looked at a table (from the CBOE) displaying option quotes and other useful data. This time we?ll see how you use that data to enter an order to make an option trade.
Top 5 Economic Indicators To Track
When facing mountains of competing data, the trick is to cut through the clutter and focus on what truly matters. With that goal, we have identified five key economic indicators and the reports that convey the data.
EPIC Insights Mid-Week Analysis, Banks and Stress Tests
Three surprises President Obama has created. An administration that is high on ideals yet light on details has steered us down many winding paths. The most recent is the bank stress test.
Free Resume Examples with Resume Tips
This article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the introduction. At some point during this How to Write a Resume series you’re going to laugh (hopefully), and say, “I need to look at sample resumes” to really get a grip on this resume [...]
I Can?t Afford It
A fabulous reader left a comment in my random thoughts post and I wanted to highlight it for discussion: Your comment: There?s a Food and Wine Festival at the National Harbor in June. Wish I could go. The Essence Music Festival is in July. Wish I could go to that too. I can?t afford either. [...]
Putting a TARP Over Our Economy
Image by rajeshvj via Flickr In Nicholas Pileggi?s brilliant book ?Casino,? a budding casino developer considers taking an investment from powerful union interests. But before he pulls the trigger, the developer?s mentor takes him aside with a warning. ?Don?t do this,? the developer is told. ?Don?t get into bed with these people. They will [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Residency - A Frightening Case Study of Squatters Rights
I will be the first to admit I thought I had a handle on residency, i.e. when and how it is established. I am taking excerpts from an article that appeared on April 21, 2009 in a Spokane valley newspaper under the headline: Unwanted tenants may have moved on and using it as the basis for this [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The 10 Question Test Which Will Determine Your Real Estate Success
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Do you want to know why I?m such a successful real estate investor? Do you want to know why others are so successful also? Well, I?m about to tell you. So, over the weekend I had one of my REIA meetings (on Saturday). At the meeting I had the usual number [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The 10 Question Test Which Will Determine Your Real Estate Success
Agrarianism?
Select List Update: Sold Cheesecake Factory
The following is a research update to Peridot Capital’s Select List model portfolio. Readers may sign up for a 30-day free trial to the Select List which has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 8% year to date. Taking Profits in Cheesecake Factory April 22, 2009 After a 49 percent increase in the Select?s List consumer discretionary [...]
Paulson Threatened To Remove Ken Lewis If He Backed Out Of Merrill Lynch Deal
Some people are worried that President Obama is going to try and run the banks and credit card issuers but how about this little tidbit from the Wall Street Journal: Then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson threatened to remove Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis and the bank’s board of directors if the bank backed [...]
Q1 2009 Earnings Exceeding Estimates So Far
Are you surprised that the market is acting as well as it has lately, especially with earnings season having begun? Still waiting for that overbought correction after six weeks of gains in stocks? Me too. Why the relative strength? Well, according to Bespoke Investment Group first quarter earnings are coming in well above estimates so [...]
FREE Gillette Fusion Razor
Gillette is giving away FREE Fusion razors to the first 500 people everyday until May 16th. To see if you can get one, click here. I have links to more free stuff this weekend, stay tuned! –Frugal Husband
Friday Link Love - Gardening Weekend Edition
After talking about it for so long, I’m actually going to start my garden this weekend. The ties making up the border are in place, I’ve sprayed Round-Up on the grass on the inside, and I’ll go tomorrow and load up my truck with top soil and plants. Finally, the garden can begin. I’ve already decided [...]
Join Me In the 30-Day Budget Dare
I’ll come clean: While I’ve repeatedly suggested that everyone have and follow a budget, I’ve been lax in that department. While I could excuse myself because of the stress of providing for a growing household, that only provides me yet another reason to actually have a budget. That’s why I’ve decided to join in the [...]
Fertilize Your Plants Naturally with Worm Poop
Starting your garden or just want to perk up your houseplants while helping the environment? Composting is a green, free way to provide great nutrition for your plants while putting less garbage into our growing landfills. And vermicomposting takes standard composting to a whole new level. For this year’s Earth Day, how about setting up [...]
Subscriber Swap Saturday: Man Vs Debt
This is the twenty-first edition of Subscriber Swap Saturday. For the uninitiated, every Saturday I do an interview with another blogger. That blogger also interviews me and posts that interview on their website.We then tell our readers ? hey, I think this guy is interesting, you should subscribe to his blog for a week. This week I?m [...]
Wedding Gift Ideas - Surviving Wedding Season on a Budget
Now that Spring is here, wedding season will start before you know it. I love seeing our friends or family members starting down the path to wedding bliss. It reminds me of my newlywed days with my husband. I am always grateful when I?m invited to share these special days. Unfortunately, [...]
When to Refinance
Refinancing your home?s mortgage is becoming more and more prevalent. Interest rates are the lowest they?ve ever been. I have to admit, even though we?ve got a decent interest rate, I have been thinking about refinancing our home. Moving our mortgage to a new loan with a lower interest rate could make our [...]
Finding Furniture You Can Afford
In uncertain economic times, it?s only natural to swear off any unnecessary purchases. You might even decide to hold off on any major purchases no matter how much you need them. There are times, however, when you simply can?t wait. A new addition to your family, for instance, often requires that you buy [...]
Unemployment Map by County
The map at the link shows unemployment by county over the entire United States. Sadly, note that the data is from January; things have gotten worse since then. Here’s a snapshot of the map; however, click the link below for a more interactive view. The darkest areas suffer the highest rates of unemployment. The Geography of a Recession [...]
Dave Ramsey Town Hall Meeting
I admit I know nearly nothing about Dave Ramsey (I know he’s some sort of “financial guru” that a lot of people follow), but I’ll tell you, in the interest of disseminating information, that he’s holding a town hall meeting tonight about “The economy, your money, and real answers.” It’s tonight, April 23, at 8 PM [...]
Kids and Money - April 22, 2009
Welcome to the April 22, 2009 edition of Kids and Money. mortgager presents Second Hand Endowment Policies posted at Endowment Policy, saying, “Read on how to act with second hand endowments easily during crisis.” Talia presents Bitty Budget | backtobasics-talia.com posted at backtobasics-talia.com. David presents Checking Accounts posted at Personal Finance Ology, saying, “Learn about [...]
Freddie Mac Acting CFO David Kellermann Found Dead (Update5) - Bloomberg.com
Man, suicide is never the way, but I certainly hope it wasn’t over something as trivial as his job. He obviously inherited a horrible work situation. But when you’re at the bottom, there’s only one way to go - up. He could have been a star just by bringing everything out into the open and then watching [...]
Shareholder Meetings: Proxy Vote
Do Military Spouses Receive a Paycheck?
The military pay system can be pretty complicated, especially for a new military member. It is even more complicated for new military spouses to understand. Marrying into the military transforms your daily life, and if you haven’t been exposed to it before, it can be a culture shock. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a manual! Do [...]
How I Save Money At CVS: 19 April 09
Today I paid $0.79 out of pocket for $3.79 worth of items. I love this ACT mouthwash because it restores minerals to your teeth. My dentist is pleased with my teeth so I guess it works. I got a $1 ECB from the coupon machine at the front of the store, as well as $10 [...]
Update On Poopy Cloth Patrol
So I recently wrote a post about Reusable Toilet Wipes that drew some interesting comments (and emails!!!!). Just for the record I do agree that using a moist wipe helps with hygiene and does feel better. In fact I use baby wipes as well AFTER using regular old toilet paper (too much information?) because I feel cleaner [...]
Disclosure from Counsel on Dim Teithner
As retained illegal counsel for LoSC, I sometimes perform consulting work for other clients. The terms of our engagement require me to disclose the nature of such work to you where it could create a conflict of interest within the firm. Naturally, I really only perceive such conflicts where the nature of the [...]
Never Trust an OFF
While remunerative powers of OO are still evident, and if you doubt that fact, google it, confirm it and then realize how wrong you had been. But are the risks or rewards associated with other letter combinations? We don’t want to produce a knock-off of our original analysis, but the answer is yes. [...]
Tell All Thursday - What?s Your Emergency (Fund)?
When we originally started seriously getting out of debt, we set our emergency fund at $1000 kind of arbitrarily. There was a reason specific to our family - I had had about $1000 for the past two years in our savings account and it was usually enough to bail us out of any problems, but [...]
The Tripod of Stability
Below is a video clip of a webcast I did with Tim Ferriss, who wrote The Four Hour Workweek (read my book review). The question was, “How many false starts have you had?” but in my response, I mention something I’ve been meaning to write about: The Tripod of Stability. This basically means that I try to [...]
Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
I haven’t been posting a whole heck of a lot lately. I do think I have a good reason for that. I am getting married in about 30 days from now, I purchased a house about five months ago and I’m down to my final three classes in my pursuit of a bachelors degree in [...]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The biggest topic on most American?s minds these days is the state of the current economy. The economy is in very bad shape right now. The housing market is declining at a more rapid rate than it has in history. The unemployment rate is around seven percent, which is the worst it has been [...]
Joint Banking, Budgets, and Savings
Joint budgeting has been a topic for the past few weeks on some personal finances sites. Several bloggers have been posting their financial maps. Personal Finance Hour had a great show on couples and finances with Jim and J.D sharing their differing opinions on how they handle their family’s finances. I decided to update on how we [...]
Bye bye Scooter!
Scooter: pending sale. again.
Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Sorting out ICBC paperwork
Very happy to have my boyfriend home
Twitter is addicting but oh so annoying
$300 richer today. Hopefully.
Wednesday Morning Thoughts
Travel Insurance 101
My Husband and I Have Made so Many Bad Decisions it has Led Us Into Serious Debt. - Lisa
I apologize in advance for the short response. I am currently away on vacation with limited internet but wanted to give you an answer as soon as possible. Steve Lisa wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use [...] No related posts.
TEDTalks : Comics that tell the little stories of a big city - Ben Katchor (2002)
In this captivating talk from the TED archive, cartoonist Ben Katchor reads from his comic strips. These perceptive, surreal stories find the profound hopes and foibles of history (and modern New York) preserved in objects like light switches and signs. No related posts.
I Have Been Wanting to Do Something About My Debt. It?s Time. - Dang in Debt
Dang in Debt wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would [...] No related posts.
Anonymous
Today I got a text from my girlfriend saying she needed more phone credit, so I bought her more and got another message saying "Great, now I have enough credit for this..." as she spelled out a three page message breaking up with me. Yes, I paid for her to break up with me via text. No related posts.
fencernick
Today, I was eating a hamburger on the street when a pigeon came down to take a bite. I ran and got 30 birds or so chasing me. My legs were burning, half of my burger was gone, and an entire office building was laughing at me. No related posts.
TEDTalks : How texting and GoogleMaps helped Kenyans survive crisis - Erik Hersman (2009)
At TEDU 2009, Erik Hersman presents the remarkable story of Ushahidi, a GoogleMap mashup that allowed Kenyans to report and track violence via cell phone texts following the 2008 elections, and has evolved to continue saving lives in other countries. No related posts.
Anonymous
Today, I was taking a shower after a run. We were under a tornado watch, and I halfway through the lights dimmed and I heard the tell-tale "train" sound. Panicked, I bolted wet and naked for the basement, crashing into my mom as I flew out the door. The sound was just her new vacuuming. No related posts.
Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope
Last night I attended a Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope at my church. It was an outstanding presentation and I would like to offer a summary to those of you who missed it. Ramsey is a great speaker and this presentation was no exception. He mixed sound principles with humorous, pithy sayings to create [...]
What should I have done?
This article is part of the Ask the M-Network series. Molly submitted a question and asked: I have had 2 temp jobs that said that they were temp to hire, but I had not been hired. During both times, I have had family members pass away, which left me an emotional mess. 2 out of [...]
Live 30 days on a budget - I dare you!
If I had to name just two personal finance techniques that have literally changed by financial life around they would be: Budgeting and the Debt Snowball. Budgeting because it’s allowed me to control my money rather than my money controlling me. The debt snowball because for years I struggled to try and get caught up [...]
Popular Online High Yield Savings Accounts
Do you have a high yield online savings account yet? If you aren’t sure why you need one you can check out 9 Reasons You Need An Online High Yield Savings Account that I wrote a little while back. To get you started here are some popular online high yield savings accounts: ING Direct Savings Rate: 1.50% APY* Minimum [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
Tax Season Is Finally Over! Or is it?
The mad rush up to April 15th is finally over! We’re past tax season and having to worry about our income tax return. No more worries until next year, right? That is until next April when you start to panic about the past year’s taxes again and you start racing around looking for all of [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
MSFT: Financial Analysis through March 2009
MSFT: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
COP: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
PEP: Financial Analysis through March 2009
So you want to be a Professional Blogger!
Top Stories of the Week at Value Investing News
Here are the top stories this week at Value Investing News: Image Entertainment (DISK) Valuation Despite Merger Failure A reader provided a detailed analysis of DISK and why it is cheap even now without the merger. A high LBO target. For Value Investors, Smaller Is Better Value investors are always looking for inefficiently priced stocks. Such stocks are often [...]
myFICO Score Watch: Equifax Credit Score Monitoring
Why Watch Your Credit Score? For many people, credit monitoring is an afterthought as they don’t bother checking how their credit is doing until something unpleasant happens. I’ve also discovered that a lot of people I know don’t realize that they can save money by doing a better job with managing their credit and tracking [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Book Authors Among Us: Finance Books By Bloggers
Lots of people have been hitting the books lately. Not in the way you expect though. I meant that many people I know both online and off have been participating in some exciting projects, and have decided to become published authors. Everyone’s A Writer: A Family of Authors? Here’s what I mean. [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
How To Make Cheap Phone Calls and Lower Your Phone Bill
How are you saving money? Some suggestions: lower your utility bills and cut down on phone service costs! I’ve been working to cut down on some household costs by evaluating the various services we use. One of the expense categories I’ve had my eye on is that for my phone service: unfortunately, my current budget [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
linklings, three things for Friday edition
I have had some real trouble staying organized lately. I’d attribute some of that to the move, but I’d also continue to attribute some of it to lacking structure to my days. When you don’t have a 9-to-5 schedule it’s easy to think that you’ll get around to something “a bit later” - when in [...]Post from: brip blap.
enjoy earth day, then forget about it
The purpose of events like Earth Day is to focus attention on a particular cause - in this case the environment. It spawns a lot of stupidity and meaningless lip service. Why send Earth Day cards? Or go to amazon and find great items like a 22 inch Earth balloon - nothing says Earth [...]Post from: brip blap.
Why Do People Still Have Landlines?
The year is 2009, and I think it’s safe to say that practically everyone has a cell phone these days. They’re portable, relatively inexpensive, and do way cooler stuff than the phones our parents grew up using. So here’s a question from a Generation Y’er who has relied solely on a cell phone for the [...]
Why I Never Bring My Lunch To Work
One of the most commonly covered topics in the personal finance world is bringing your lunch to work. By packing a frugal lunch, you can really save a lot of money over time. For one of my summer jobs in college, I brought my lunch four days out of the week, and it saved me [...]
Remember when an A- was nowhere near good enough?
Creature Comforts
CD rates not even worth chasing
Seasonal Sell Signal? Thoughts
?The Skinny on the Housing Crisis? Winner
The winner of the book “The Skinny on the Housing Crisis” is Kathleen B. I’ll be contacting you by email soon. Thanks for everyone for entering. I hope to have more contests here in the future. If anyone wants to promote their book by having a giveaway on my site please [...]
Chase College Checking $25 Bonus
You can receive a $25 bonus when you open a High School Checking account or College Checking account at Chase Bank. High School student must be 13-17 years old to open a High School Checking account with a Parent/Guardian as a joint owner. High School Checking has no monthly service fee when the account [...]
Setting Up A Good Financial Plan Can Help You To Weather Any Storm
The last few days we’ve been talking about how you can prepare yourself for emergencies, both big and small. We looked at what you should put in a safe deposit box. We discussed making “What If I Die” spreadsheet, putting all of your important information in one place in case you pass on, or become [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Setting Up A Good Financial Plan Can Help You To Weather Any Storm
An Emergency Fund Will Help Reduce Your Risk Of Financial Catastrophe
A couple of years ago if you had asked me what I would do if an emergency presented itself and I needed some money quickly, I would probably have told you, “That’s what credit cards are for!”. Just put it on the card and pay it off when you can! Emergencies aren’t really something you [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
An Emergency Fund Will Help Reduce Your Risk Of Financial Catastrophe
What Types Of Insurance Should I Have?
This week is “In The Event Of An Emergency” week. We’re looking at things you can do to plan ahead for life’s emergencies, both big and small. The first post in the series looked at why you should have a safe deposit box or fire safe, and what you should be putting in it. The [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
What I Spend My Money On
One of the advantages to keeping a written budget is that you get to see exactly where your money is going. So, while I’m not going to bore you with the numbers, I thought I would share where our money is going, from most spent on a category, to least spent. It’s enlightening, to be [...]
Using Social Media to Become More Frugal
I’m not what you would call a social media junkie, but I am fairly social media proficient; I use Twitter and Facebook, both as tools professionally and personally. And of course I blog which is, lest we forget, one of the most common social media or Web 2.0 tools around. I was interested in how others [...]
Free Faxing and Resume Printing at Office Depot (Ends May 30, 2009)
Through May 30, 2009, Office Depot will offer customers free copies of resumes and free faxing. From the Office Depot press release: Customers will be able to participate in this special offer by visiting the Design, Print, & Ship Depot center in any one of the more than 1,100 Office Depot retail store locations nationwide. Office Depot [...]
Free Events This Weekend in Portland: Apr 24?26
Admission is free for all events below. For more concerts, visit Concert Co-op. Have a great weekend! All weekend Carnival Days at Eastport Plaza: Enjoy live music, children?s activities, carnival rides, classic car show, and more. On Saturday, come early to watch the start of the 82nd Avenue of Roses parade. For more information, visit the event website. Art [...]
The ADHD Entrepreneur
I am always on the search for articles, that can be helpful to AD/HD business owners. The freedom, passion and creativity invovled in owning a business is often a great match for people with ADHD. David Giwerc, MCC is a...
QATW - I Don?t Know Anything!
Some of the most common stock trading questions are answered? You are not alone.
When to Sell a Stock
Probably one of the hardest part of stock trading is know when to sell. How do you know when a stock has reached its potential?
3 Ways to Not Lose Money in the Stock Market
Believe it or not, avoiding or minimizing your losses in the stock market is really not that hard.
Should I spend the income tax refund?
One More Thing About Credit Cards This Week
In addition to the Bill in the U.S. House that may see a vote as early as next week, the new rules by the Fed that won’t go into effect until July 2010 (unless voluntarily by individual banks), and yesterday’s meeting between the president and 13 top bank executives in which he urged them to [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Reader Question: How Can My Money Earn More for Me?
A reader and friend is looking for some basic financial advice. It just so happens that April is National Financial Literacy Month, so the timing is perfect because I am in a sharing mood. I get to share his situation and my suggestions with Consumerism Commentary readers, and readers have the option of offering their [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
New Proposed Regulations for Credit Cards
As Smithee mentioned earlier this week, the Congress and the White House are both working to introduce legislation to help consumers and curb deceptive techniques practiced by credit card lenders. Yesterday, a committee of representatives interested in financial issues put forth a bill to the rest of the House, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Money Basics: Simple Interest, Compound Interest, APR and APY
April is National Financial Literacy Month in the United States. In most cases, schools do not extensively teach financial skills. Teenagers, highly susceptible to messages from the media, often do not have guidance from teachers, who are not trained to teach financial skills, or from parents, many of whom do not model healthy financial behavior. [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Money Basics: Simple Interest, Compound Interest, APR and APY
Rant: Why does Obama have to ruin primetime TV?
I admit it. I watch a lot of TV, and this year I have had the unpleasant experience of turning on the tube to find President Obama when I expected some funny or smart show to come on. This has happened repeatedly in the last few months and it is scheduled to happen [...]
Are parents obligated to pay for their children?s college or graduate education?
My husband and I are both fortunate to have generous parents who paid for most of our college expenses. From my experience, it seems that in the Asian community parents are always expected to pay for their children’s higher education. I have even heard of stories of some parents who take money from their homes [...]
I Think I Owe Price Pfister an Apology
Remember my rants (here and here) about my Price Pfister kitchen faucet? Well, let me bring you up to speed. A vice president from Price Pfister must have seen my rant because he sent me an email and apologized for my troubles and offered to send me a new faucet. I accepted and replaced [...]
Regions Financial (RF), Fifth Third (FITB), And Keycorp (KEY) Are Probably Banks That Failed Stress Test
Four More Banks Fail: Stress Testing FDIC
Government Slips Another $2 Billion Into GM?s (GM) Pocket
Auto Future: ?The Big 3? Becomes ?The Big 2? (F, GM, DAI)
Just How Bad Are Things At Campbell Soup? (CPB)
Stress Test Criteria, Very Conservative
Are Lower Rig Counts Stabilizing? (BHI, OIL)
Moody?s Likes What It Sees at Comcast (CMCSA)
Google (GOOG): A Big Android Push In Europe
The Tesla-Tata Road Race
Can a Shared Trading Edge Still be Profitable?
Yesterday I wrote Conspiracies, Regulations, and Trader Paranoia in which I tried to clear up some of the common perceptions that I’ve seen of late. A comment was left on that post which I think warrants more than just a reply in the comment stream. Can an edge be shared and still be profitable given that [...]
Conspiracies, Regulations, and Trader Paranoia
Last week I posted No More “Hedging” for Forex Traders to discuss the pending NFA rule which effectively ends the process of “hedging” in the forex market whereby a trader can hold open long and short positions in the same currency pair in the same account at one time without those positions being netted out by the [...]
Some Good Entries From Fellow Members of the Blogosphere
A couple of recent posts by fellow bloggers caught my attention and I wanted to share them with you. Enjoy! The Definitive Guide To Trading Mastery & Success by Babak at Trader’s Narrative is a very good look at what it takes to make it in trading over the long-term. He lays out quite [...]
Get More From Bespoke
Muni Bond ETF Makes a Comeback
The Derby Trade
Baltic Dry Index on 9-Day Winning Streak
Bad Economy and Overpriced Tickets = Empty Seats
Best and Worst Performing Russell 3,000 Stocks Year to Date
Earnings Season Beat and Miss Rates
Chipotle (CMG) Shorts Get a Reprieve From the Pain
Bespoke Highlighted In Irish Times
S&P 1500 Most Volatile Stocks
Commodity Rebate Boosts Consumer Stocks
Most Positive and Negative Reactions to Earnings
Q1 Earnings Growth Better Than Expected So Far
Charlie Rose: Stiglitz and Ackman
First American Economist on Housing
The Pain in Spain and in Britain
Bank Failure 29: First Bank of Idaho, Fsb, Ketchum, Idaho
Bank Failure 28: First Bank of Beverly Hills, Calabasas, California
Bank Failure 27: Michigan Heritage Bank, Farmington Hills
Geithner Press Conference
Bank Failure 26: American Southern Bank, Kennesaw, Georgia
Markets and Chrysler Pier Loans
NCUA Seizes Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union
Federal Reserve Releases Stress Test White Paper
Geithner News Conference at 4:30 PM ET
Home Sales: The Distressing Gap
New Home Sales: 356 Thousand SAAR in March
Ford: "Turning the tide in North America"
Bloomberg Video about BofA CEO Ken Lewis and Merrill
NY Times Norris: "Subprime Loans, Corporate-Style"
AmEx: Conference Call Comments
Wells Fargo and Auction Rate Securities
Federal Reserve Assets Continue to Increase
Report: Chrysler Bankruptcy Could Happen Next Week
Hotel Occupancy Off 11%
BofA CEO Lewis: Excerpts from Testimony
More on Existing Home Sales
Prosper to Resume Full Service Soon?
The site Prosper.com shows only a maintenance note today saying “… We expect the site to be down both Saturday (4/25/2009) and Sunday (4/26/2009).”. Speculation: Maybe Prosper will end its quiet period and resume its full p2p lending service on Monday?
Prosper Readies for Relaunch
Apparently, the third amendment’s the charm. Having filed a third amendment to its S-1 filing with the SEC just last week, Prosper has added a maintenance message to the header of its site, stating that the site will be offline all weekend for “system upgrades and configuration changes”. This is probably an indication that Prosper is [...]
NeatlySaid targets Financial Hobbyists with Mircoblogging
I was surprised this week to receive an invitation to join ?NeatlySaid? because I?m a financial blogger. I?m not in to following stocks, commodities, etc at this point, but I took a spin through microblogging because I?ve seen some really coo...
Money Management and Budgeting are Vital for Avoiding Financial Disasters
Anyone who is worried or stressed out about their finances right now has probably had concern over whether or not their budgeting and money management tactics are working. It is important that you learn how to develop good skills for money management in this day and age, otherwise you will never able to appreciate everything [...]
FinovateStartup: Stock Market Resources
FINOVATESTARTUP 2009 opens next week in California and we?re still researching all of the amazing participant companies.Here are quick profiles of several applications that might be of interest to prospective stock market investors.First up is WeSee...
Best for Bolivia
Bolivia?s political conflict, antics and struggle are very much a part of the day to day. But somehow, I haven?t really felt it. I know that in September of 2008 the situation was much more tense. Violence was on the rise. The US Ambassador was expelled. A potential civil war between the highly indigenous west [...]
How to Survive Inflation
Turn on the television, read a paper or go online and chances are you?ll be bombarded with bad news about the state of the economy. Inflation is being whispered about, and in some cases, shouted about from the rooftops. Are we really facing inflation and how bad will it get? How can you find ways [...]
Matt Flannery speaking at The Commonwealth Club, April 29
Matt Flannery will be speaking at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco next week, for a lunch session on Cutting-Edge Innovators. Also speaking will be Mark Dwight, Founder and CEO, Rickshaw Bagworks.Triumphing in the face of economic adversity, Dwi...
The Dangers of Long Term and Interest Only Loans
There are two new trends in the banking world that may actually be very dangerous for consumers. Long term personal loans and interest only loans are gaining in popularity, especially in the wake of the housing crisis. While these may seem to be a great option at the time, there are many risks from these [...]
Adios Guatemala
Today is my last day as a Kiva Fellow working in Guatemala City. I will admit that in recent weeks my mind has been wandering to the luxuries of home: ethnic food, safe and timely public transportation, dishwashers, smog laws, etc? But as always, when leaving a new ?home?, I know that I will miss [...]
Need Money Epic Fail
I love Fail Blog When I discovered it, I lost about 4 straight hours of my life (so click through after you read this post). I just find the pictures hilarious. Earlier this week I was at Taco Bell. The receipt struck me as borderline funny enough to submit to Fail [...]
Budgeting Business
It’s been mentioned a few times in recent press coverage that we’re pushing for Zopa lending to be ISA-able. So yesterday’s changes to ISAs in the budget got us thinking… You’ll probably know that the current cash investment limit for an ISA is £3,600 per year, rising to £5,100 in April 2010. So how would these [...]
Running Out of Time? How to Catch Up Financially Before it is Too Late
Whether you are pushing thirty and trying to get your first home or your retirement is staring you in the face, there are times when you may feel as though you?ve run out of time financially. We don?t always make the best decisions when it comes to saving money and before long, we end up [...]
Rice Accounting 101 in Rural Cambodia
Sophisticated income statements and balance sheets are the standard tools used by global corporates to demonstrate their year-over-year growth and net change in assets and liabilities. I saw my fair share of SEC sanctioned 10K annual and 10Q quarterly financial reports while working in corporate banking in New York City, but from where I stand [...]
How to Handle Debt Collectors
If you?re phone is ringing off the hook, or your debt collectors are literally breaking down your door, it?s time to learn your rights and how to handle them. No matter why you ended up delinquent on your accounts, dealing with debt collectors is humiliating and infuriating. However, there are a few steps that you [...]
Eventual Value Destruction
I skimmed this research paper on leveraged ETFs, breaking my long-standing rule never to read anything about money that makes use of Greek letters, and I’m glad I did because this line made me chuckle: “Some investors — despite very clear language in the prospectuses — clearly do not understand the point that leveraged ETFs will [...]
Interesting Food for Thought from the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal has a new report out, entitled Weathering the Storm, which features numerous articles on how to survive and thrive during hard times. While some of the insights and recommendations appear to be predicated on the notion...
Worth Checking Out
In "Best Blogs for the Recession," Recessionwire (which is on my blogroll) highlights a number of websites that offer useful advice for coping with an economic downturn. Although some might take issue with the "best" moniker -- after all, they...
Stock Chart VRTX
Video-o-rama: Economy ? recovery or relapse?
Video-o-rama: Economy ? recovery or relapse? The video clips below come via my hotel room at Dana Point, California, where I am attending a conference hosted by Rob Arnott’s Research Affiliates. Also present are financial luminaries such as Peter Bernstein, Burton Malkiel, Harry Markowitz and Jack Treynor. It will be fascinating to hear whether these gentlemen [...]
Road Tripping - STL to DCA
First off, this was a very frugal trip for me. Because this was a pick up for my boyfriend, he paid pretty much for everything, with the exception of a couple Diet Cokes and a hot dog. Background: My boyfriend bought his dream car off Ebay Motors. It was in Missouri, so we had to go pick [...]
A Very Small Adventure: Riding the Bus
I had a big day today, though I’m sure many of you will laugh: I rode the bus for the first time. Actually, I’ve been on buses many times before. I rode a school bus as a child, and I’ve used public transportation in other towns. I’ve even used the light-rail trains here in Portland. But [...]
Investing 101: How Bonds Work
This is a guest post from Joe Light, a staff writer for Money Magazine. Light also shares daily insight at his blog, Invest Wisdom. You probably know how to find and buy stocks. It’s so easy, E*Trade says, a baby can do it, right? Unfortunately, while online stock brokers have made stock investing child’s play over [...]
This Is What Life Should Be
I’ve been unemployed now for three months and my life has changed for the better. I get much deeper sleep now and feel so much more relaxed than I’ve ever had in my life. This is the first time I’ve been off for such an extended period of time without carrying a blackberry, without having [...]
Economy Got You Down? Pig Out!
In their May issue, Money magazine lists three ways to keep your cool in this market. The third on really got my attention: Eat a doughnut. Or the comfort food of your choice. Behavioral economists have found that agitation makes...
RBI cuts rates by 0.25%
Carnival of road to financial independence #6
Links to Carnivals from April 14 - 20, 2009
Stock Options Basics, Part 3 Selling Options
In this series I’m covering the absolute basics of options. Note that I am not recommending the use of options is any way. I am simply trying to make you aware of how options work to increase your knowledge it the area of investing. Part 1 of this series covered basic terminology and a couple of [...]
A Wall Street Journal Subscription is Cheaper Than You Think - Get a Discount on the WSJ
WSJ Discount of 75% or More Equals Big Savings While many newspapers are vanishing, there’s one paper that has, and should continue to stand the test of time. The Wall Street Journal has been the definitive source for financial news since 1889 when it was delivered by telegraph. Surpassed by only by USA Today, it’s the [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
A Wall Street Journal Subscription is Cheaper Than You Think - Get a Discount on the WSJ
Why Is It Called Personal Finance
Continuing with my post on “What is personal finance?” Part 2, people ask as to why it is called “personal” finance. Let me share my thoughts on this question. Ostensibly, finance is such a vast subject with elements of business finance ( capital structure, financial management of a business, working capital management, etc), government finance (budgets, [...]
Today?s Animal Farm
I like this. My wife sent it to me. Who will help me plant my wheat?” said the little red hen. “Not I,” said the cow. “Not I,” said the duck. “Not I,” said the pig. “Not I,” said the goose. “Then I will do it by myself,” said the little red hen, and so [...]
Beware the Obamaian Phog
Media Struggle to Understand Non-Violent Non-Smelly Protesters Who ever wrote the headline for this should win an award. But even beyond that, this article?oops, sorry, I mean “commentary”; it’s only an article if it comes from the highly reliable AP?sheds light on how easy it is to confuse liberals, and how the media is truly Obama’s [...]
Dave Ramsey - Debt Free Revolution
I may not agree with every word out of Dave’s mouth, but I definitely think the debt reduction principles he teaches are the best common sense around. I listen to him every day on the way home from work. If you’re not a Dave Ramsey listener, give him a whirl. Dave Ramsey callers have provided [...]
5 Benefits of Investing in the Bigger Picture
Some investors prefer focusing on the small details to generate ideas; others rely upon big ideas. While both approaches have merits and can lead to excellent results investing in the Bigger Picture offers great benefits.
3 Resume Formats: Chronological, Functional, or Screw Both?
This article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the introduction. Sitting in front of a computer struggling to format your resume isn’t much fun. Should you list your jobs in order? What if your employment history isn’t steady? What if you’re a career [...]
How healthy are your finances?
A fabulous reader sent me this financial assessment tool from CNN Money. It runs you through a few basic questions, then gives you a financial “grade” based on how you answer as it relates to your age and income. I took the test and was given a B+ with questionable (red) areas in diversification and life [...]
How to Attend Harvard For Free
A Home Buyer?s ?Fair? That Had Much To Reveal?And It Is Not So Good!
Image by TheTruthAbout… via Flickr This past weekend, I dropped in at the Second Annual Home Buyer’s “Fair” at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was billed as a two day event, complete with seminars and other educational opportunities for the would-be home buyer. Because of recent speculation–and some actual facts–indicating a slight upturn in the real [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A Home Buyer’s “Fair” That Had Much To Reveal–And It Is Not So Good!
Free Ice Cream Cone at Ben & Jerry?s
Ben & Jerry?s is celebrating their 31st anniversary by giving away a free ice cream cone today, April 21st. To find a participating location, click here. –Frugal Husband
Save Money By Dropping Some Pounds
I’ve struggled for over a decade with my weight. Although I proclaimed last year that I wanted to get back down to my high school weight, but my efforts have been far less than successful. I know I could try harder, but I haven’t found the key to motivating me to eat better and [...]
Can You Afford to Buy a House?
Owning your own home is supposed to be the American dream. However, for people who?ve bought a home that they can?t afford, it?s been more like a nightmare. I know you hear people say that now is a great time to buy a home if you can afford it. Maybe you?re wondering, though, how to [...]
£6,000 Per Minute
£6,000 per minute. That large sum is not the wage demands of the latest signing for Man Utd, or the expenses claim of a porn-addicted MP, but the profit that Tesco made every minute over the past year.a
Feeling Deflated?
So, Britain has officially fallen into a period of deflation, for the first time in nearly 50 years, with the news that the Retail Price Index (RPI), has gone sub zero, to -0.4%.a
Financial Planning For Military Families
The way you handle your personal finances is important to the financial stability of every family. Military families face different challenges when planning for the future, especially when service members are deployed. For this reason it is especially important for members of the military to not put off getting their finances in order. [...]
Where?s Barney? Part 2
An Open Letter to Hugh Jackman: Please support Mothers Fighting for Others
Dear Mr. Jackman - On April 14, you announced on Twitter that you would donate $100K to someone?s favorite non-profit organization. What a fantastic gesture, and a nice way to use the power of social media. I?ve been reading your Twitter stream and it looks like there has been a tremendous response from some very [...]
Now I definitely need a new iPod
Loving the sunshine!
Baking up a storm this evening
TEDTalks : Rethinking the way we sit down - Niels Diffrient (2002)
Design legend Niels Diffrient talks about his life in industrial design (and the reason he became a designer instead of a jet pilot). He details his quest to completely rethink the office chair starting from one fundamental data set: the human body. No related posts.
TEDTalks : Rethinking the way we sit down - Niels Diffrient (2002)
Design legend Niels Diffrient talks about his life in industrial design (and the reason he became a designer instead of a jet pilot). He details his quest to completely rethink the office chair starting from one fundamental data set: the human body. No related posts.
why I spend
I forget, from time to time, why I care so much about money. I know that the easy answers are “I do it for my children” or “I do it for financial freedom” or even - if we’re honest with ourselves - “I do it for stuff.” In the western world, in America in [...]Post from: brip blap.
What If I Die? Make Sure Your Family Has All Your Important Information In One Place
Today is day two in “In Event Of An Emergency” week here at Bible Money Matters. The posts this week are looking at ways you can plan ahead for unforseen emergencies, tragedies or hard times. Yesterday we looked at how you can make sure that all your important documents are safe by having a fire [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
What If I Die? Make Sure Your Family Has All Your Important Information In One Place
Tell Us Tuesday: All About You
I was tagged in a meme a few months ago, one of those ‘random things’ ones floating around. So I wrote a post about some random financial things about me. Now though, it’s your turn! Don’t feel obliged to come up with seven things, but what are some random financial things about you? Tell Us Tuesday: [...]
Money Basics: Savings Accounts
April is National Financial Literacy Month in the United States. In most cases, schools do not extensively teach financial skills. Teenagers, highly susceptible to messages from the media, often do not have guidance from teachers, who are not trained to teach financial skills, or from parents, many of whom do not model healthy financial behavior. [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
The State of Credit, April 2009
A quick roundup of current lending news. In December 2008 we reported a prediction that credit card issuers would be reducing available credit by about 45%, and recently the company behind the FICO score released a report of credit lines being reduced from April to October 2008, right before that prediction was made. From the study, we [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
The Regulations Are Reasonable?The Thoughts That Go Along With Them Aren?t
Saw this in today’s Wall Street Journal and just had to mention it: Policy Makers Take Aim at Credit-Card Practices Credit-card companies are going to have to start adhering to the followin rules, which take effect in July 2010: • Banks can’t treat payments as late unless consumers have a “reasonable amount of time” to make the payment; [...]
IPO FILING: Ellora Energy (LORA)
Amazon Gets Deeper Into Media Downloads (AMZN)
Seagate Gets Used To Losses (STX, WDC)
Yahoo! (YHOO) Sneaks By The Hangman, A Little Slip In Q2 Could Push Firm To Only Break Even
AMD Plays Confusion Game (AMD)
SanDisk Embraces ?Less-Bad? Notion (SNDK)
$1 Trillion Public Private Partnership Investment Program In Trouble (JPM)
Geithner Say ?Vast Majority? Of US Banks Have Surplus Capital, But Which Ones Don?t?
Jefferies, Proving To Be Rainmakers? Alternative (JEF, BAC, GS)
Pressure on Uranium Prices, Real or Not? (CCJ, URRE, DNN, NLR)
Three Years Gone, But Just the Start
Time is definitely a funny thing. It was three years ago today that Wiley officially released my book The Essentials of Trading. That was a whirlwind period. A lot of book publishing in the traditional model is waiting for things to be done on the publisher’s side. You submit the initial manuscript. It get’s proofed by [...]
Smart new feature: "Search for "me" on Google" http://bit.ly/10pyX1 $GOOG
Smart new feature: "Search for "me" on Google" http://bit.ly/10pyX1 $GOOG
Capital One: Expect Charge-Off Rates Greater than 10%
Fannie, Freddie Report Surge in Prime Delinquencies
Chrysler Pier Loans
More on Office Vacancy Rates and New Construction
Citi CEO: Citi Will Repay TARP
Geithner Testifies
IMF: Global Losses may hit $4.1 Trillion
Stocks With the Most Buy and Sell Recommendations
Retail Stocks Show Relative Strength
IBM Down on Earnings
Lake Titicaca and the Floating Islands
After almost two months living in Puno, Peru and after a few embarrassing moments when tourists I encountered asked me for advice about visiting Lake Titicaca and I had to sheepishly admit that I hadn?t yet embarked, I decided it was time to make the trip. In my defense, I had been waiting for [...]
I am living in Kisumu, Kenya
I am living in Kisumu, Kenya. Here is a picture of the street where I volunteer, in the Nyalenda slum. Walking around the slum, one quickly comes across evidence of the post election violence. Burned buildings are common. As are random herds of goats. White people in Kisumu are usually in self-contained SUVs. Not too many [...]
A charming walled town on Lebanon?s Mediterranean coast
The other day, I walked around Saida’s old town in southern Lebanon and just soaked in the mood of the place. The old town is far removed from the modern part of the city where cars dominate. Here, people go about their business in the narrow streets and interact in a far more intimate space. [...]
Dollars & Cents
Earnings: good news or bad news? Green shoots get frosted Big Government or Big Business: which is a greater threat? Companies fear more rules from government spending Financial markets face a lost generation of investors A slight majority of Americans...
The Peter Lynch of Consumer Internet is.....
Fred Wilson. Why this just hit me today I do not know, but after thinking about it I know it to be true. I was having a conversation with a very good guy from MTV Digital today, Michael Bloom, and...
Just What You Might Expect
Many things are obvious in hindsight. Like, for instance, the fact that easy credit and ultra-low rates lead to massive speculation and untenable asset bubbles; or, that incentive schemes based on revenues rather than profitability generate plenty of money-losing sales;...
Tuesday links: do half
Do half. “Scaling in and scaling out gives freedom to investors, and removing many of the psychological burdens that they bear.” (Aleph Blog) “Every one is talkin’ their book. It’s human nature” (Andy Swan) What a forecast really means and how most people misinterpret them. (Sentiment’s Edge) Another look at some measures showing [...]
So Your Life Sucks, But Your Finances Doesn?t Have To
A recent instant message from my younger cousin pointed me towards the deliciously funny website: fmylife.com, which basically contains various stories and tidbits about how much one’s life sucks. For example, here’s the top rated FML (f– my life): Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birth date wrong. Then I picked up [...]
Bogle & Enough: Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted
John Bogle is the founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group, and the creator of the first index fund. Reading his latest book Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life was like listening to one of his many speaking engagements, a distillation of a lifetime of wisdom from a man who changed the way that billions of dollars are invested today.
As Heller famously responded when told by Kurt Vonnegut that a hedge fund manager had made more money in a single day than his classic novel Catch-22 made in its entire history, “Yes, but I have something he will never have… enough.”
Very simply, this book outlines the problem with making how much money we have the way to measure “success”. Such a philosophy affects how individuals invest, how business is conducted, and how lives are led. Bogle warns that this is taking our country down a dangerous road, which may leave our future less bright than the past. As Albert Einstein said: “Not everything that counts can be counted.”
His words about the need for character, accountability, and stewardship definitely ring true. However, I just can’t see the people of Wall Street turning down all this easy money without some “convincing” from the rest of us. Sure, they may feel a tinge of guilt now and then. But as Bogle paraphrases Upton Sinclair: ?It?s amazing how difficult it is for a man to understand something if he?s paid a small fortune not to.”
In my opinion, it all ends up falling on us common folk as a whole to vote with our own dollars by not allowing overpaid CEOs as shareholders and consumers, not investing in high-cost complex investments, and not valuing “stuff” so much. We need to change things from the bottom up, not just with top-down rules and regulations.
Finally, my favorite part of this book is how Bogle acknowledges that his success was largely due to a mixture of luck and the assistance of many other people who believed in him. Too many successful people look back and think they did it all themselves. Sure, they may have worked very hard, but every one of us had help. A loving and supporting parent. A teacher who went the extra mile. A mentor who shared their own experience. Knowing that you didn’t do it alone, makes it easier to stop thinking of only yourself, which helps you find the balance of “enough” that includes thinking of others. At least that’s how I see it.
16 Second Quarter Financial Tips
Each quarter, I like to do a financial check in. It’s a good reminder to reevaluate some topics that have been on the backburner and a great time to address new topics that depend on the time of year. With tax season complete and summer on the way, here are tips to get your finances [...]
ASM and ASW 2020 to Launch New Units for 2009
Yup, if my memory serves me right, Amanah Saham Wawasan (ASW2020) did not issue any new units in the year 2008. I only remembered them declaring distribution last year. So, the news is out that PNB will be launching 3.30 billion units of (Amanah Saham Malaysia) ASM effectively today and 2 billion units of ASW2020 on [...]
Goldman Sachs Sues Blogger
Remember how Microsoft (MSFT) used its power during the Tech Bubble to grind down competitors? Remember what it did in spreadsheets, browsers, etc.? As a result, newer tech companies (e.g. Google (GOOG)) have adopted the “don’t be evil” motto. Has Goldman Sachs (GS) become the Microsoft of today? See Barry Ritholz’s comment (among ...
The Basics of Bonds
Tomorrow morning, Get Rich Slowly will feature a guest post about how bonds work. Bonds don’t get a lot of press. They’re not as sexy as stocks, and many beginning investors simply ignore them. (I know that has certainly been true in my case.) Before tomorrow’s story, though, I wanted to take some time to [...]
Fail-Safe Investing? Harry Browne?s Permanent Portfolio
“The first rule of investing is don’t lose money; the second rule is don’t forget rule number one.” — Warren Buffett At the end of March, I asked you what topics you’d like to see covered during Financial Literacy Month. I received many great suggestions, and will continue to fulfill requests not just in April, but [...]
I Owe The IRS Nearly $10,000 And I?m Not Paying!
I meant to post this last week but I did my taxes for the year and I ended up owing close to 10k and I won’t be paying it anytime soon. I’m preserving cash right now and the IRS is just going to have to wait. Yes, there will be penalties and there will be [...]
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC) April 7.5 Calls Exercised
4/20/09 Stock Position Update - Up as the rally continues
How to Find Out if You Qualify for a Mortgage Refinance Under New Making Home Affordable Plan
New Site Allows You to See if You May Qualify You may have heard about the Making Home Affordable (MHA) plan that’s part of the greater financial stimulus efforts, but what is it all about exactly? Well, the idea is to help homeowners refinance or modify their loans when in the past they may not have [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
How to Find Out if You Qualify for a Mortgage Refinance Under New Making Home Affordable Plan
Book Giveaway: The Skinny on Credit Cards
This week’s giveaway is the personal finance book The Skinny on Credit Cards. This book gives an overview of credit cards using stick figure illustrations. The book is inspired by the Manga writing style. It is a quick read but provides lots of useful information. To enter the contest leave a comment on [...]
24 Work From Home Job Ideas
It?s pretty depressing to see how many of the people I know and love are out of work. It?s hard to be encouraging, because? well? they?ve heard all the pep talks they can tolerate without choking the living daylights out of people. They don?t want to hear that ?it?s going to be ok in the [...]
The Key To Buying Penny Stocks Successfully
Picking hot penny stocks is one of the most speculative investments a investor can make. Buying penny stocks is no easy task but can be done successfully.
Easier Said Than Done
As of today, my savings account has a balance of approximately $36,600. By saving $200 bi-weekly through payroll allotment, I will automatically save an additional $3,800 by the end of this year. Including compound interest, which hovers around $45 per month depending on the interest rate, I could potentially earn an additional $360 by the end of [...]
Obama?s Making Home Affordable Plan Update
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Sean Donovan was on Bloomberg this morning discussing the state of housing and the Obama Making Home Affordable Plan. There are some signs that the program is starting to work.”I think we have a good balance of carrots and sticks” said Donovan when asked about banks and servicers working [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CVS 4/19 to 4/25
Another decent week at CVS? My Transaction: 1 Edge Shave Gel - $2.89 1 Bayer Crystal - $2.00 1 Milk and Cereal Bar -$0.69 Coupons Used: $4.99 in Extra Care Bucks TOTAL OUT OF POCKET: $0.59 TOTAL SAVED [...]
My Frugal Story: Generic Pain Killers and Pre-Buyer?s Remorse
I have been frugal as long as I can remember, but there are times that I catch myself taking it too far. Yesterday as I was standing in the pharmacy aisle of my local Target meticulously comparing generic pain killers and weighing the better cost per unit of the large bottle against the likelihood of [...]
I Am Going Home!!!!!
I will be going home for the month of July this year. I have not been home for a long time (about 5 years!!!) and while I will be happy to see my family…it will be a litle sad since I lost my mother in December last year. I will finally get to see her [...]
I?ll be on tour in these cities over the next few weeks ? meet up?
Yo — I’ll be doing a media tour in a bunch of cities over the next few weeks. Most of it will be local media (TV, radio, newspaper, etc). Sign up below to get details on whichever city you’re in. One thing I’ve noticed is that as my book has gotten bigger, it’s easier to [...]
How Todd made $13,000 in 5 months, doubled his salary, and turned down a $25,000 raise
Todd exemplifies everything about I Will Teach You To Be Rich — focusing on the big wins, negotiating a raise from his ordinary salary (see chapter 9 of my book), and always looking for a creative solution to earning more while others complain. Check out how he earned more than $13,000 in 5 months (and [...]
Our Recession Experience Thus Far - Some Up, Some Down
I’m not an economist, so I have no idea if what is going on with the US economy officially qualifies as a recession. But the word is thrown around in the news endlessly, so I might as well use it. We’ve observed two different phenomena in our financial lives regarding prices since the recession, or whatever [...]
Trying to sell my scooter. Again.
Flight of the Conchord tickets: pending sale
Thoughts on buying a car myself
TEDTalks : The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry - Margaret Wertheim (2009)
Margaret Wertheim leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by a mathematician -- celebrating the amazements of the reef, and deep-diving into the hyperbolic geometry underlying coral creation. No related posts.
TEDTalks : The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry - Margaret Wertheim (2009)
Margaret Wertheim leads a project to re-create the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by a mathematician -- celebrating the amazements of the reef, and deep-diving into the hyperbolic geometry underlying coral creation. No related posts.
More thoughts on staying employed during a recession
My first post here on Gather Little by Little started out as an advice article for readers. It turned out that several comments in the thread that followed contained some good questions and even more good advice. In my previous article on staying employed during a recession I listed the following suggestions for people who [...]
25 Ideas For Your Income Tax Refund
Tax day is finally past! Whew! Are you getting a big IRS income tax refund? It’s always nice to get a nice chunk of change coming back to you! But what will you be doing with your income tax refund? I came up with 25 ideas for a large income tax refund. I’ve broken it out into [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
WMT: Look Ahead to April 2009 Quarterly Results
PEP: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
What I?m Trying to Accomplish Here or a ?Where?s the Value? Manifesto
*Maybe this is just a rant, and maybe it’s a bit long, but I think it turned into something worthwhile. What’s the point of this blog and why do I spend my time writing it? I started this blog after discovering a few personal finance blogs, I think Get Rich Slowly was the first one I found. [...]Follow Finance and Fat on Twitter | Follow me on Twitter | Copyright 2007 - 2009, Finance and Fat. This post originally appeared at:
What I’m Trying to Accomplish Here or a ‘Where’s the Value’ Manifesto
Financial Festivals and Carnivals
This week’s Festival of Stocks is up at Disciplined Approach to Investing. The Carnival of Personal Finance is at Mighty Bargain Hunter. Finally, last week’s Money Hacks Carnival was at The Consumer Boomer. It featured my story on Banking Your Savings. Sponsored By: FPF Contributor’s Corner Special situation opportunities in the stock market for small [...]
Seven Productive Things To Do When You?re Bored At Work
How To Avoid Bankruptcy: 5 Steps To Solvency
How we sidestepped bankruptcy. I talk about my near bankruptcy experience. Why do people go bankrupt? The avalanche can begin any number of ways. A few missed days at work. An unexpected medical bill. A sick child. Or maybe it all happens at once: your car blows up, your interest rate adjusts, your job [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
The Real Meaning of Risk
By Curmudgeon - Curmudgeon’s a long-time friend of brip blap and I always appreciate his contributions; here’s his latest: I?m afraid that I mentally hit the ceiling earlier when I read a comment on one of Steve?s posts. The comment was: In real estate, the quicker you can go into massive debt, the quicker you can become [...]Post from: brip blap.
What Should I Put In My Safe Deposit Box Or Fire Safe?
photo credit: rpongsaj Last week, having that fire in our neighborhood really made me stop and think about some things that I’ve been putting off doing that would be important in the event of an emergency or death. This week I thought I would do some preparation and run an “In Event Of An [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Book Giveaway: The Skinny on the Housing Crisis
I’m having a giveaway this week for the book The Skinny on the Housing Crisis. This book is written in the Japanese Manga style and gives a good overview of the housing crisis. To enter the contest leave a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen at random this Friday. The book will be [...]
Money Basics: Checking Accounts
April is National Financial Literacy Month in the United States. In most cases, schools do not extensively teach financial skills. Teenagers, highly susceptible to messages from the media, often do not have guidance from teachers, who are not trained to teach financial skills, or from parents, many of whom do not model healthy financial behavior. [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
iPhone 3.0: Pretty Nifty, I Must Say
Reader Comment on My Asset Management Post
AFM reader, Chris, left this comment on my post from last week: What is the profit margin on a bag of cheetos, 50%?? The margin on the gel for my hair is over 100%. Why do we quibble over 1%? Do we expect money managers to work for free? I know it sounds like a lot [...]
DuPont (DD) Earnings Collapse On Flagging Demand, Firm Cuts Forecasts
Japan To Raise $109 Billion, Test Appetite For Sovereing Debt
Running The TARP On A Whim And A Prayer
The Administration Give GM (GM) And Chrysler Another Chance
Who Stole The Recovery?
The Futility Of Great Journalism
Media Digest 4/21/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Asian Markets And Europe Open 4/21/2009
TI Sets Earnings Benchmark For Broadcom (TXN, BRCM)
IBM (IBM) Shows How It?s Done
Update on Trader - The Paul Tudor Jones Documentary
Back in February I posted Trader: The Paul Tudor Jones Documentary Video in which I mentioned that I have a video tape (VHS) copy of that now cult classic (see that post for a full description of the film). I mentioned then that I intended to make a digial copy of the video as soon as [...]
CNBC: Ken Lewis Interview
Another Fun Day in the Markets
Office Space for Rent: One Year Free!
BofA CEO: "Credit is bad, going to get worse"
BofA: $13.4 billion in Credit-loss provisions
S&P 500 Six-Week Winning Streaks
Inspector General Barofksy on TARP
Texas Instruments: Conference Call Comments
Sector Weightings of the S&P 500
Nasdaq vs DJIA
Winners and Losers Today
Dow Member Performance Year to Date
Forbes and the "Self-Made" Label
The White House Announces Microfinance Growth Fund
Over the weekend, the White House announced a new $100 million microfinance growth fund for the western hemisphere:The global credit crisis is having a significant and harmful impact on the availability of finance for micro and small businesses that pr...
Untapped Riches: Never Pay Off Your Mortgage?and Other Surprising Secrets for Building Wealth by Susan Cutaia, Anthony Cutaia and Robert Slater
On the surface, this book seemed like the ideal read. It has a strong premise of how to create multiple streams of income using debt leverage. That is a great premise and one that we follow and put into practice every day. It was such a disappointment that this book failed to deliver on such [...]
Taxi Taxi! Maaso awo
I have always wanted to write something about our transport system and the huddles involved for one to get to work early and let it be printed in the papers but again part of my mind said why not for us here! Eeh before I forget, taxi are the matatus we use here in Uganda, [...]
Finovate Profile: CalendarBudget
CalendarBudget is going to be a participant at the 2009 Finovate conference later this month. The company, which was founded by husband and wife team Eric and Robin Poulin in Toronto is planning to exit beta mode just in time for the start of FinovateS...
Keeping Track of Cash Flow - Your Household is Your Business
You should create a budget to track your spending and get a handle on your finances. You plan out all of your bills, and the amounts look good. The budget is the first step in getting your finances under control. However, the budget is not the only step. There is one vital thing that needs [...]
Cutting Costs with an Energy Monitor
I recently described how Google was helping to raise customer awareness of energy use. While Google?s program allows you to see summarized data of all energy use, you can also use a standalone energy monitor to measure individual electronic devices. Energy monitors are plugged into a standard outlet and then measure the energy used by the [...]
Stock Chart DV
List of Solar Stocks
Fast Money Recap 4/17/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “Regional Banks” (Najarian) “S&P 500″ (Terranova) “Steel” (Seymour) “Technology” (Karabell) American Express (AXP) (Terranova) Apple (AAPL) (Jim Goldman) Apple (AAPL) (Karabell) Apple (AAPL) (Najarian) Applied Materials (AMAT) (Terranova) Arcelor Mittal (MT) (Seymour) BB&T (BBT) (Najarian) Broadcom (BRCM) (Jim Goldman) Broadcom (BRCM) (Terranova) ConocoPhillips (COP) (Terranova) EMC (EMC) (Najarian) Exxon Mobil [...]
Quick Review of ESPlannerBasic, Free Version of ESPlanner Retirement Planning CalculatorBackground
There are an increasing number of sleek but simplistic retirement calculators out there, and most of them are basically the same. You put in your savings rate and overall asset allocation, and it crunches some numbers based on historical market returns to see if you can replace 80-100% of your current income in retirement.Then there’s ESPlanner, which represents “Economic Security Planner”. It is based on consumption smoothing, an economic theory where the primary goal of financial planning is instead to avoid abrupt changes in one?s standard of living. Here is one graphical explanation:
This method has gotten some extra publicity because it often tells you that you need to save less money as compared to other calculators. However, since the software cost $149, I never really got to try it out. But now, they have released ESPlannerBasic, which is a slightly stripped-down but free version that everyone can tinker with. For example, it assumes that everyone will live to 100 in its computations.
You input various financial information like income and assets, and the calculator will give you a “spending and saving plan” for each of the rest of your life. I think the most important column is savings:
Saving is the recommended increase (reduction) each year in your regular financial assets. This saving is over and above your specified contributions to retirement accounts.
Sample Run of ESPlannerBasic
Let’s take a look at some of our results, using very rough numbers and a retirement goal at age 50. (Sound familiar?) Our “standard of living” has us spending $60,000 per year as a couple forever. During the next few years, we are supposed to save about $75k per year. (I specified zero future retirement contributions for simplicity, it’s all included in the $75k.)Then at my chosen retirement age of 50, things change fast, with us starting to take large withdrawals from savings:
That’s be scary! Then, at age 65, the calculator assumes that Social Security will kick in, which almost has us at a zero savings rate.
Criticisms and Compliments
My thoughts on this calculator are pretty much in line with my thoughts on consumption smoothing in general.For starters, I don’t like the idea of a calculator telling me what I should be spending in retirement. I like the idea of constructing this on my own, based on conscious decision making. However, the fact that the calculator chose $60,000 per year is creepy. Beforehand, I had already estimated my non-housing expenses in retirement at $24,000 per year. My housing costs are current about $36,000 per year. Add them up, and you get.. $60,000! Of course, at that rate the mortgage should be paid off after 29 years. Still, just an interesting coincidence?
In addition, the calculator gives very specific results based on what are essentially wild guesses. I have no idea if my income will stay the same, increase, or decrease. I have no idea if Social Security will change the full retirement age to 75, or if benefits will be means-tested. I have no idea what tax rates will be 30 or 40 years from now. So I’d take the results with a big grain of salt.
However, since the calculator is free, I can play with many different scenarios and see how different inputs change the given results, and this may help in my retirement planning. What are the most sensitive factors? I hope to try exploring this next.
Via Bogleheads and WSJ Wallet.
The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 5: Buying a Car
I recently bought a used Mini Cooper from a local car dealer. I did some things right, and I did some things wrong. All this aside, the entire car-buying experience makes for a great discussion topic, so that’s what Jim and I plan to tackle Monday afternoon on the fifth episode of The Personal Finance [...]
Money Links for the New World Order
I am having a bit of fun with the New World Order crowd and alarmist preparing for 2012, so don’t fret that I have turned to the occult and conspiracy. The Secret Recipe of Slumdog Millionaire 19 Money-Changing Licences Revoked The Turning Point Save More Money in 2009 Budgeting Tips Monthly Automatic Saving Interview - All About Appearances AEI Subprime V.1: Pollock Introduction Sugarcane [...]
How I Got 28,000 Hits in One Day
“Every dog has it’s day” It all started on Tuesday (4/14) when I was fooling around on YouTube and came across some funny The Price is Right Bloopers. After wasting a good hour looking and laughing at these clips, I decided that this would be a good idea for a post. After all, just about everyone [...]
ETF Update: Time for REITS?
Sometimes price action seems inconsistent with the fundamental story. One of the ways we use our ETF rankings is to highlight developments that deserve further investigation. While financial sectors in general earn continued strong ratings, the most noteworthy feature of...
Reducing My Work Schedule
Crack of Doom: How Jean Coutu Bailed Out Canada
In fact, since the financial crisis began, American taxpayers have provided more than $300 billion dollars to more than 450 companies. During that same period, from their government, Canadian banks have not received one penny. [1] That’s a useful myth, but it happens not to be true. Doomers who run through our Canadian subject category or [...]
9 Ways for CS students to earn extra money
Being in college is often synonymous with being flat broke. After tuition, fee?s, books, board and food you find yourself pursuing a degree and broke. What are some ways to make a few extra dollars? What about work experience? What if you could obtain work experience and money while still pursuing a degree? Students who [...]
Back To Reality, Foreclosure Moratorium Ends
I had been hearing a lot of talk lately about how home foreclosures were down. Real estate agents were pointing to this and saying that the market was going to turn around soon. Even the talking heads on the late night news were reporting that foreclosure filings were down and things were going to get better. Could [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How To Avoid A Big Real Estate Marketing Mistake To Sell Your Next Property
One of the biggest problems I see real estate investors and agents make on the internet when they are marketing their business or their property is very simple, yet often overlooked. How do I know? Because my clients and coaching students do it all the time. Not everyone is doing this one simple mistake but [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How To Avoid A Big Real Estate Marketing Mistake To Sell Your Next Property
Foreclosure Victims Slapped In The Face Again
Image via Wikipedia On Wednesday this week, the Obama administration announced which companies would get the initial outlay of government money to help those homeowners fighting foreclosure. I have written on BiggerPockets Blog back when the sorrowfully small amount allocated for Obama’s loan modification programs was announced a few weeks back calling the $50 billion amount [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
FREE Ecosmart CFL Bulb
Home Depot is giving away 1 Million Free CFLS Bulbs today only. There is no purchase necessary and they are giving 1 per customer. To find your local store, click here. –Frugal Husband
Improve Your Credit Score - Four Steps To Take To Improve Your Credit Score
If you need to improve your credit score, there are steps you can take right now. Creditors are getting much pickier in the wake of the credit crisis about the type of borrowers they will offer credit to. Today, in order to get credit, you will need to demonstrate the ability to make your [...]
$50 Grocery Challenge From AFullCup.com
I recently took the $50 grocery shopping challenge from AFullCup.com. Using the coupons and deals I found on AFullCup.com I was able to purchase over $95 worth of groceries for about $50. Here is a picture of the items I purchased: You can see that’s a lot of food for $50. Here’s what [...]
Quotes Entirely Relevant to Investing 04-19-2009
We refused to touch credit default swaps. It would be like buying insurance on the Titanic from someone on the Titanic. -Nassim Taleb (HT CP) Past Quotes Entirely Relevant to Investing
The TPREG Forum: Blogsperiment #7,943a
I?m a forum junkie, have been since the old Bulletin Board and Compuserve days. Forums can provide a lot of interaction, similar ? yet different ? than blog comments. And I love interaction. Often the format of a forum is better for back and forth exchanges. So enter The Phoenix Real Estate Guy Forum. You can find [...]
Weekly Round Up: Sinus Problems
Photo Credit: hamron It’s been a good week so far with the U.S. Census work and the site. I’ve been getting a good amount of exercise with it and I’m learning more about the city. The problem I’ve been happening for the past month is dealing with my allergies. After several people recommended it, I bought a neti [...]
Having trouble sleeping
How to save money
One of the things I enjoy doing every so often is doing a little research on the types of phrases and topics people are searching for on the internet. Fortunately, Google provides a really slick tool to do this called Google Trends. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to most of you, but [...]
EIX: Look Ahead to March 2009 Quarterly Results
Removing Barriers to Success: New Exercise Clothes
In the past month or so, I started playing basketball again. I say again because I grew up playing basketball, played it all the way through high school, and continued to play for fun for several years after that. Of course, I was in great shape back then. Sadly, for the past three-and-a-half years, I’ve [...]Follow Finance and Fat on Twitter | Follow me on Twitter | Copyright 2007 - 2009, Finance and Fat. This post originally appeared at:
ETrade Online Brokerage Account: Top Broker Review
The first online stock broker I came to know happens to be ETrade, and this was way back in the 1990’s. So I’m a bit more familiar with this company than I am with a few others we’ve covered here, only because ETrade has been around longer and is certainly considered as one of the [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Awesome Weather Roundup
The weather in California was awesome this weekend, so I tried to make the most of it. Unfortunately, everybody else had the same idea. I was supposed to play tennis with one of my friends, but we couldn’t find any open courts. Instead, we just grabbed some food at a restaurant with a nice outdoor [...]
Wild Weekly Wrap-Up
Staying Motivated for the Long Haul
One of the biggest problems I have with my journey towards living a more frugal life is staying motivated. I have now been actively working on improving my finances for more than a year and a half. And while this may not seem like a long time to those who have been trying to get [...]
5 Reasons Gold is a Bad Idea ? Is It?
Everybody always seems to be intrigued with investing in gold, but is it really a good play?
StockTwits Palooza - 4/19/09
Ever wonder what goes on in the world of StockTwits? Well now I am giving you a chance to see my mass predictions.
Analyst With $1.50 Price Target On Citigroup (C) Dumps On Bank Again
Is Business Becoming More Optimistic?
Banks Insult The Government By Lowering Lending
The Uselessness Of The Fortune 500 (WMT)(XOM)
If Government Converts It Bank Investments To Equity, Common Shareholders Get Killed
Chairman Mao Gets Into The Car Business (SNP)(PBR)(TM)(HMC)(GM)(RTP)
In Favor Of Not Firing Bank CEOs (C)(BAC)(AIG)(JPM)
Media Digest 4/20/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Asian Markets 4/20/2009
Summers: For New Capital, Banks Must Try Private Markets First
Appraisal Changes: Home Valuation Code of Conduct
Sunday Night Futures
Planet Money Webcast
Larry Summers: "Substantial risks; issues in the global economy, commercial real estate"
Housing Activity Forecast
Money Management Questions and Answers
How can money management techniques be applied to my life? - The first step is to realize that you could possibly have an overspending problem. This is the number one reason why people get over their head financially. You can easily consult with a money management counselor that will help you discover what direction your finances [...]
Not Such a Bad Thing
For permabulls and other dreamers, there is a persistent sense that when the current crisis is over, life will return to the way it was prior to the spring of 2007, with its myriad excesses and imbalances. But for those...
Google?s Earnings Show It Is A Must-Own Stock
Henry Blodget of Alley Insider probably said it best after Google’s (GOOG) Calendar Q1 results crossed the wires: “cash flow will knock you silly” (Link). While the overall economic situation has admittedly hit even the mighty search giant, by controlling costs at unprecedented levels the company was able to generate $2Billion ...
The Turning Point
I had lunch with my friend Bo recently. Over our enchiladas, we talked about how dumb we were when we younger, and how we’d do things differently if we could. To what point would we return if we wanted to change our lives? “I’d go back to the end of my sophomore year of high school,” [...]
Delta says goodbye to Indian Call Centers
My New Approach to Applying for Part Time Jobs - Qualification Deflation
How I Save Money Visits: 19 April 2009
Welcome to How I Save Money visits ! Today we visit: “2009 Q1 Progress Report” at Dividends 4 Life . A look at some financial stuff. “Save Money By Packing Your Own Snacks” at How I Save Money . Simple to do and saves money too. “Working Into Retirement” at Dollar Frugal . What would you do? “Broke Piggy Teaches Teens About Money Matters” at Her Every Cent [...]
Federal $8000 Housing Tax Credit Explained
We?ve discussed the $8,000 Home Buyers Tax Credit at length (see archive of several posts). But sometimes a video is worth more than 8 posts and 307 comments. This video, from the Chief Tax Economist from the National Association of Home Builders, explains the major points pretty well. The FAQ referenced at the end of the [...]
The benefits of owning a car
Weekly Links: April 19, 2009
Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it’s where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories [...] No related posts.
How To Make Money Online
Writing an eBook There are very few of us who are lucky enough from a financial point of view to be able to ignore an opportunity to make a bit more money. Even the hardest-working among us may often find that we have reason to consider new ways to make money, whether it be because we [...]
If Online Sales Add State Tax, Do Amazon (AMZN) And Ebay Get Dinged?
China?s Sovereign Fund To Get Aggressive Again
A New Way to Consider Personal Finance
Through the past few years, many of us have been conditioned to believe that being in debt is a bad thing. While it certainly may be true that debt is dangerous in the wrong hands, there are actually many ways that debt can be very effective and can actually help you get more money. This [...]
A Preference for Used
The willingness to buy one good or service instead of another when the price of the former falls relative to the latter is known as "the substitution effect." Some classic examples include when a consumer chooses a generic over a...
Fast Money Recap 4/16/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “S&P 500″ (”going to 900″) (Adami) CIGNA (CI) (”high volume calls”) (Najarian) Cisco (CSCO) (”buy on a pullback”) (Najarian) Cisco (CSCO) (Finerman) Cox Radio (CXR) (”refuse tender offer”) (Finerman) Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) (Najarian) General Electric (GE) (”buy at 10″) (Najarian) General [...]
Small is Cool at Apartment Therapy
Gillette Free Razor Giveaway MonthGillette is giving away 500 razors each day at Noon Eastern every day for a month, until May 16th. Register at Gillette.com/walk. It might be better to wait a few days for this promo to die down? Don’t watch the painful video of Tiger, Jeter, and Federer strutting.
500 Gillette Fusion razors are available each day for 31 days. Beginning at 12:00 Noon (ET) each day starting on 4/16/09 and ending on 5/16/09, go to Gillette.com/walk and follow the on screen instructions to register. If you are one of the first 500 people to register on that day you will be eligible to receive a Gillette Fusion razor.
PineCone Paid Survey Link Open AgainJust a quick post to say that PineCone Research is accepting new members again for their paid survey panel. It seemed to die right after I posted it last time. Thanks Jan.
Lending Club Referral Bonuses
Lending Club is busy expanding their service right now, so Free Money offers just keep popping up. Lending Club now has a multi-level referral program for you to earn bonus money. How to Get Your Referral Money Sign into your Lending Club account (or open a Lending Club account if you don’t have one yet). Invite your friends [...]
10 Millionaires? Secret Money Tips
Here are 10 money management tips from the millionaires themselves (via Yahoo! Finance): 1) Start early to avoid financial pitfalls. 2) Believe that you can do it. 3) Articulate your vision for success. 4) Insure against life’s risks. 5) Work hard–and you’ll get lucky. 6) Practice smart budgeting. 7) Do what you love. 8) Decide how much money you really want. 9) Invest against [...]
Google, Citi, GE Report Better Than Expected Earnings
Google (GOOG) reported better-than-expected first quarter results due to improved margins on cost-saving measures. Revenues, though down 3% from the previous quarter, was up 6% from a year ago, marking the firm’s first-ever sequential quarterly drop caused by the recession’s impact on consumers’ clicking activity and advertisers’ fees paid per click. ...
Video: 04/17 Pre Market: Google
The stories, data, and stocks that may have the greatest impact during the next trading session.
In Pursuit of Financial Education for All
This is a guest post from Sharon Lechter, co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and a member of the President?s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. She is the CEO of Pay Your Family First and founder of YOUTHpreneur. Our current economic condition has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that we, as a nation and as individuals, [...]
Ask the Readers: Help! I?ve Been Laid Off!
In December, I shared a guest post that provided 10 essential steps to take before you’re laid off. But what if it’s too late? What if you’ve already lost your job? In this economy, more and more people are facing that situation, including long-time GRS reader Allen. He writes: I was laid off yesterday. If it [...]
Two More Examples of How to Take Advantage of HUGE Opportunities to Increase Your Income
Just a few days after I talked about taking advantage of extraordinary opportunities to increase your income dramatically, I see two more examples of this principle at work again. Here are the details on them: Susan Boyle is all the...
For Now, Save, Save, Save, and Pay Off Credit Cards Later
The following is a guest post from Think Debt Relief. For years, we?ve heard that we need to have a game plan when paying down our credit card debt: prioritizing our highest interest rate credit cards over the ones with...
Really? This Much?
In the May issue of Consumer Reports they note that you can save "$1,000+" each year by doing your own mowing -- based on what pros charge for a quarter-acre lawn care. Really? I think of it this way: I...
A Comprehensive Guide To Understanding The Pros & Cons Of Investing Into A Roth IRA
A good friend of mine from work told me several years ago that I needed to get a Roth IRA. At the time I was beginning my freshman year in college, making $400 a week, and in close to $10,000 of debt. The last thing on my mind was investing money in some account that [...]
ULIPs Versus TermPlan+Investment: The Winner is Clear
The Visible Hand
Late Day Fade Into Expiration, But Some Hidden Momentum Regardless
Stamp Collecting ? Bidding on eBay Lots - An Introduction & Free Stamps Giveaway
Jim Abbott and the Wall of Worry
Regular readers of "A Dash" are familiar with our loyalty to the University of Michigan and also our notion that sports can provide valuable insights for investments. Here is a good example. Jim Abbott Truth is stranger than fiction. Who...
On When to Peak
Bank On Yourself - Is This Strategy For Real?
Bank on Yourself is the title of a book that is gaining popularity, and to be honest I’m not a big fan. The basic premise is that by selecting very specialized whole life insurance policies you can become your own banker and borrow from these over-funded policies. This concept is not really all that new. I’m no [...]
Friday Finance Findings for April 17th
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad tax day has finally passed. April 15th is the worst day of the year for my bank account. Between 2008 taxes owed and 1st quarter estimated taxes, it’s a lot of money headed to the IRS all at once. Luckily, we now have one new deduction and [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Had Second Court Hearing Yesterday
The court hearing for my second case was yesterday. This one went much more smoothly than the prior one and everything was resolved as planned. I was still very nervous and have plenty of room for improvement but I got the job done. The nice thing is that I am now basically finished with my [...]
Uprinting Business Card and Brochure Winners
The winner of the 1000 business cards is commenter #6 Kathleen and the winner of the 500 brochures is commenter #7 Cindy. You will be receiving an email shortly from Uprinting explaining how to redeem your prize. If you don’t receive the email please let me know. There will be another giveaway next Monday [...]
Share Your Thoughts (and Poems) in the Economic Poetry Slam!
Since it?s National Poetry Month, we thought it would be fun to point you to a little project hosted at Scratch Pad, one of the blogs of American Public Media?s Marketplace ? that?s the business and money radio program that airs on NPR daily. They?re doing a ?poetry slam about the economy,? and have had some [...]
Top Ten Most Read Posts at Momma?s Blog
Working on the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog project has prompted me to look at things I haven?t thought to check out before. Like what people are actually reading the most. Turns out, my favorite posts aren?t necessarily your favorite posts. I do have to tell you that I?m not certain how the [...]
How to Make the Best Option Trades, 6 Keys to Success
To make the best option trades stock option traders should understand 6 key concepts about the option exercising decision.
Spending Money on Fabulous Deals
I’ve been in a shopping mood lately. I have a mental list of things I need want to buy for upcoming birthdays and showers, the vision I have to redecorate my bedroom, and random odds/ends. When I find what I’m looking for at a great price, I do not hesitate to snatch it up. [...]
Be Proactive with Undemanding Tenants
Image by TheTruthAbout… via Flickr So you?ve got five residential tenants. Joe consistently pays late. Christine got in a fight with her boyfriend and kept everybody awake on Christmas Eve. Alex leaves his trash out in the halls. Richard calls you around the clock to complain ? about the other tenants, but also about the traffic [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Cramdown Legislation & Blue Dogs
Image via Wikipedia Language is a beautiful thing. It provides us with the ability to label everything. The label can be clear, concise and to the point or it can be clear as mud. Take the title of this post. The words seem to be clear, concise and to the point but in actuality they are [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Subscriber Swap Saturday: an Interview with Kevin from No Debt Plan
No Debt Plan is about getting and staying out of debt with a plan. Kevin, the author, is passionate about budgeting, saving for the future, and using goals to reach financial freedom. You can subscribe to his blog by RSS or email. This interview is part of a new feature he’s developed called Subscriber Swap Saturday. [...]
Earning Money Watching Ads
I recently have become a member of YouData and wanted to give this site my review. Once you become a member, you get paid for looking at ads. Basically you will get a set of ads (websites) to visit and they will pay you for clicking the link. I average about $1.50-$2.00 for about [...]
The Great Garden Experiment of 2009
After last year’s successful container garden, I decided to up the stakes and build a “real” garden in my back yard. Following in the footsteps of Get Rich Slowly’s J.D. and wife in tracking their garden’s production, I’ve decided to chronicle my experiment for you. Before winter came, I measured out a 10′ by 10′ square [...]
Subscriber Swap Saturday: Prime Time Money
This is the twentieth edition of Subscriber Swap Saturday. For the uninitiated, every Saturday I do an interview with another blogger. That blogger also interviews me and posts that interview on their website.We then tell our readers ? hey, I think this guy is interesting, you should subscribe to his blog for a week. This week I?m [...]
Earn Extra Cash By Selling Stuff on Ebay
One of the easiest ways I?ve found to earn a little extra cash is to sell things on eBay. There?s no upfront investment since I can pay the eBay fees out of my PayPal account after the listing has sold, and I get to clear a little extra ?stuff? out of our house. [...]
The Great eBay Purge Begins!
I’ve snuck away for a few minutes. My wife and I are going through our house, room by room, and doing a major spring cleaning. We are looking for three things - items to sell on eBay, items to put into storage, and items to throw away. As of this morning, we have thirty items [...]Follow me via Twitter
Back From A Week Of Taking Care Of Business
Whew. What a week! I’ve been “away” for a week, taking care of several little odds-and-ends. I use quotations marks, because I haven’t actually been away. I simply took a few days, set them aside, and just plowed-through a series of once-every-year type tasks. Instead of spacing these tasks out over the course of several months - [...]Follow me via Twitter
I don?t want to die while making a living
Sometimes I truly hate those really scary news teasers that succeed in enticing me to watch their “real” news instead of The Daily Show. Most of the time it’s all hype no substance. However, there was one teaser tonight that made my heart flip-flop and scurry over to Google: New York masseuse murdered in posh hotel. I’m a [...]
Sign of the Times: In Surgery? Get Out Here Now, You Are Fired!
This is just wrong - Wis. nurse called out of surgery and laid off MADISON, Wis. ? A nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off. What is wrong with people?
10 Millionaire Secrets PLUS a Bonus Secret
Here are some “secrets” of the millionaire next door - but they left out one, which I’ll show you here by example - 11. Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are no “secrets.” Everything has been discovered. Don’t try to make something up. It’s already out there. You just may not know about it yet. 10 Secrets [...]
Barack Obama?s Income Tax Return
He paid more in taxes than most people make, yet I’m sure it wasn’t enough since he made over $2.5 million. Attached is Barack Obama’s joint tax return, Federal form 1040, in all its glory. The Biden’s tax return is here, too.
Weekly Personal Finance Roundup: April 18, 2009
What a great week in personal finance blogging. On a side note, I discovered the joys of Google Reader, which is making my blog reading a lot easier, and lets me read a lot more blogs. Iwas way far behind the times!
Get Your PineCone Referrals Here!
PineCone Research is looking for more people to do paid surveys and I have been given some referrals to hand out. PineCone is simple to use, they send you an email with a link to a survey which lasts from about 1 to 5 minutes. You get paid for every survey you do via PayPal. [...]
Save Money By Packing Your Own Snacks
I am always looking for ways to save money and I think that in addition to bringing in your own lunch you can also bring in your own snacks. I love having food readily available to me as I get cranky when I am hungry. I mean really, REALLY cranky. It can be so easy to run to [...]
Piratery Picture Addendum: Swedish Piratery
Submitted by user The Paleofish Swedish piratery firms present a compelling investment case. Consider: Online piratery will surely grow by leaps and bounds with a favorable verdict in the Pirate Bay trial. According to Wired, pirates win either way no matter the outcome. Though headquartered currently in Sweden, these pirates can quickly export their piratery services to more [...]
FML
Free Business Cards/Brochures CONTEST!
Starting to get rid of stuff
Glad that he is safe!
I Can?t Make the Payments I Owe. - Rich
Rich wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
We Are Moving to Mexico for a Job. - Mellisa
Mellisa wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
Anonymous
Today, I had to re-take an hour long MRI scan because I got an erection midway through. No related posts.
TEDTalks : Hang in there! 9 rules of rock climbing - Matthew Childs (2009)
In this talk from TED University 2009, veteran rock climber Matthew Childs shares nine pointers for rock climbing. These handy tips bear on an effective life at sea level, too. No related posts.
Anonymous
Today, I found my phone under the car seat after three days. I flipped it open ready to issue apologies to everyone who had tried to get in touch with me and I had worried. No missed calls. No related posts.
50+ Personal Finance, Investing, And Money Tweeps Worth Following
Miranda writes for Bankling, a personal finance portal, which contains both a blog, and a tools section that contains resources like the best bank CD rates, the best savings account rates, online mortgage rate calculators, and more. These days, it’s all about Twitter and the tweeple there. While many (including my husband) see very little point [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
50+ Personal Finance, Investing, And Money Tweeps Worth Following
NOK: Financial Analysis through March 2009
Twittering the Pounds Away
Since The Oprah is now on Twitter, I imagine it should be safe to write a post about Twitter and figure that most of you will know what the heck I’m talking about. If you’re not sure, just click over to Twitter and give it a try. I already have a personal Twitter account, where [...]Follow Finance and Fat on Twitter | Follow me on Twitter | Copyright 2007 - 2009, Finance and Fat. This post originally appeared at:
Weekend Reading from Value Investing News
Here are this week’s top stories at Value Investing News: United Technologies (UTX) Dividend Stock Analysis Distressed Debt Analysis - Six Flags More Cheap Graham Stock Ideas Wells Fargo (WFC) - show me the money Stock Pros Who Survived the Depression The Importance of Return on Capital Nucor Corp. (NUE): Forging A Different Path Consumer Sentiment and Spending Positively Correlated Balance Sheet Analysis: Introduction Special [...]
2009-Q1 Progress Review
On the third Saturday after each quarter-end I review my asset allocation and year-to-date total returns by category. The attached PDF contains my actual asset allocation as of 2009-Q1. Asset Allocation There are three areas that I am focusing on from an asset allocation perspective. I. Employer/Company Stock As discussed in the previous reviews and in “My Dirty Little [...] No related posts.
Do You Haggle? How To Negotiate A Price
Here’s one other way to get a bargain. After living in Mexico for more than a decade, I suddenly realized that we Americans don’t have it in our blood: I’m referring to the ability to haggle. It doesn’t seem to be an innate skill that we possess, most likely because the practice is not built [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Trade Your Home Through A Home Swapping Service
This house for trade! Image from Best House Swap A while back, we talked about what you can do if your house won’t sell. Well, if you’re running out of ideas, maybe you can try this one: I saw this story on my local news site, and I thought it was pretty cool. Now that [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
linklings, too old for the factory edition
Another week goes by and another spate of bad job news. I’m beginning to suspect that I may be in the “old enough to be difficult to hire” category - many of the manager positions I’ve looked at quickly turn me down. I doubt it can be my qualifications or me personally - since [...]Post from: brip blap.
Bit of a hamster in a wheel right now
Friday Morning - Google, GE and Citi, Oh My!
Personal Finance Bible Verse Of The Day: Be Thankful
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15 It seems that as Christians we often have a hard time living in the peace of Christ. Like the rest of the world we love to worry. We worry that we’ll [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Sovereign Bank $100 Checking Account Bonus
Open a new Sovereign Premier Checking, Business Owner Premier Checking, Interest Checking or Partnership Checking account by May 22, 2009 with a standard minimum opening deposit of $10 and request a Sovereign CheckCard (”SCC”). If you make 6 SCC purchases totaling at least $250 within 60 days after you open your account, you will receive [...]
Free Events This Weekend in Portland: Apr 17?19
Admission is free for all events below. For more concerts, visit Concert Co-op. In addition, Saturday is Family Day at the Oregon Historical Society. Up to two children (age 18 & under) get in free with each paid adult admission. Have a great weekend! Friday, April 17 Focus the Nation?s Town Hall on the Clean Energy Future: More than [...]
A Starter Package from Cultures for Health
Today’s giveaway is the last of the week, and it’s a real treat for all of you who enjoy eating healthily and frugally (that’s everybody, right?). Cultures For Health sells starters and cultures to help you make your own yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, sourdough and so much more. They also have a selection of books and [...]
QATW - Questions and Answers of the Week
A new weekly series that will publish some of the best or most asked questions I receive each week.
Short USD/CHF 1.1780 area
Long AUD/USD 0.6850 area
Basics of the Fair Tax
Now that Tax Day has come and gone again, and anger is subsiding, let’s spend some time thinking about what a better system might look like. Have you heard of the “Fair Tax” proposal? I may be late to the knowledge party (Flexo mentioned it briefly in December 2007 when comparing presiential candidates’ ideas), and it’s [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Resume Dos and Don?ts (Plus Resume Makeovers)
This is a guest article by Ginger from Girls Just Wanna Have Funds. Ginger teaches women how to break financial ceilings one stiletto at a time! Join the social network, Girls Just Wanna Have Funds on Ning to connect with other financially savvy women. This week I’ve been helping out my company’s HR department by reviewing [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
S&P Downgrades Both Google And Yahoo
eBay: Prepare For More De-Megification
Investment Management is Big Business
Check this out. I found this on page 161 of Christopher Jones’ book, The Intelligent Portfolio*, regarding mutual fund fees. I never really looked at fees in this way. The aggregate numbers on the magnitude of investment fees are sustantial. For example, look at the fees charged by mutual fund companies. According [...]
OT: One of the ONLY Videos I Have Ever Put Together
My how the time flies. It’s hard to believe that I shot this video nearly FIVE years ago. The music is called “First Youth” from Philip Aaberg’s CD, “Cinema.” I thought the title was appropriate. The music brings tears to my eyes nearly every time I hear it. I’m a [...]
Stocktwits Market Trends: Where is Google (GOOG) going?
Asking For TARP Capital That Is Not There
China?s Rhetoric On Economy Running Hot
Weekend of Cancer Data at AACR Ahead of ASCO (ALTH, AMGN, ARIA, ARRY, AZN, BIIB, CELG, CRIS, IMMU, IMGN, INFI, MEDX, MNTA, ONCY, PFE, PCYC, SUPG, TELK, THLD)
Idling Rig Count Resumes? More Foreign Oil (BHI, USO)
Foreign Brands Gone Missing For Investors (NYX, NDAQ, ADDDF, BAESY, AHBIF, LVMHF, NSRGY, NTDOY, RHHBY, LUKOY)
What If Green Jobs Don?t Pay?
Russian Oil Pipeline to China Gets Closer & Closer
S&P Downgrades Credit Ratings on DDS, JCP, M, Neiman Marcus, JWN
Chesapeake Again Hacks Production (CHK)
Shifting from Trade Signal Follower to Trader
Trader Rob from north of the border in Canada (at least that’s north of the border for me) has submitted a question that actually feeds into something I plan on working on in the not too distant future. He wants to know how to shift from trading under the direction of someone else’s methodology to [...]
Hot stocks for tomorrow - Google and Evergreen Solar
Report: One-Third of REOs Seriously Damaged
Bank Stress Test Release Date: May 4th
Bank Failure 24: American Sterling Bank, Sugar Creek, Missouri
Market and Jim the Realtor on Nightline
Stress Test: To 8-K or not to 8-K?
Bernanke on Financial Innovation
Record Unemployment Rates in California and North Carolina
Citi: Net Credit Losses Rising Rapidly
Citi Announces a Profit
High Yield and Corporate Credit Spreads
Oil Outperforming Oil Stocks
Percentage of Stocks Above 50-Day Moving Averages
Google (GOOG) Trading Lower on Earnings
Volcker vs. Kohn on Inflaton
Stress Test: Debating How and What to Release
GM Update
Bank Failure 25: Great Basin Bank of Nevada, Elko, Nevada
New Vietnamese Partner moving to Active Status
Hello Fellow Kivans --I just wanted to share the latest development from Vietnam. Our newest Vietnamese partner - Thanh Hoa Fund for Poor Women - has completed their Pilot phase and will be moving to Active status effective immediately. Thanh Hoa Fun...
Does Business Diversification Reduce Risk or Increase It?
Perhaps it depends on the context. Now having served as a Kiva Fellow at three of Kiva?s partner microfinance institutions (MFI) in three distinct locations, I have seen a wide variety in the types of businesses Kiva lenders are funding. I have also seen many, many situations where one client has several businesses. In a recent [...]
How Sierra Found Her Glasses
Emprender has two offices in Cochabamba and three in Santa Cruz. Both these cities have a distinct character, and reputation that precedes them. The Cochabambinos, or ? ?Bambinos? (best nick name ever right?) are known for their gigantic plates of food. Everyone tells me that I would eat a lot in Cochabamba, and that I [...]
See 57 financial technology startups in one day
At Prosper Lending Review we are not only interested in p2p lending - all financial technology startups capture our attention. For this reason, we are quite excited about FINVOATE Startup 2009 which will be held in San Francisco on April 28, 2009.The ...
Tips for Paying Off Student Loans
Right now, the student loan industry is going through one of its worst periods in decades. New Federal regulations have forced many banks to stop offering student loans, and students are being forced to either find a direct loan or start paying back what they owe. Enrollment figures are being affected dramatically and right now, [...]
Kiva at the Commonwealth Club
This Friday (tomorrow), Kiva Co-Founder Matt Flannery will be on a panel at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. It will be a huge honor for Kiva to be featured alongside other Bay Area Changemaking organizations like The Institute OneWorld Health,...
Makeover at DebtGoal.com
I posted earlier this month about DebtGoal.com, one of the many up-and-coming financial services companies that will be participating in FINOVATE later this month.I wanted to let Prosper Lending Review readers that the site has gotten a dramatic face-l...
Teach your Teens to Save Money
Teaching your children how to manage their finances is absolutely critical if you want them to be successful at managing their money in the future. More than 80 percent of all parents are led to believe that their children are learning enough about personal finance and money management in school, unfortunately more than 90 percent [...]
Strength in Chinese Property Developers
I was looking through the components of the CSI 300 Index (a popular stock index here in China), and was surprised at how few stocks are trading near their 52-week highs. Two companies that did make a new 52-week high last week were, believe it or not, property developers. It’s not hard to [...]
More Better Than Expected Earnings: GOOG, GE, and C
Now Posted at When Giants Fall
For those who are interested, my latest column for the Huffington Post, "Intended Consequences?" is now posted at When Giants Fall.
Video-o-rama: Are stock market gains built on solid foundations?
Video-o-rama: Are stock market gains built on solid foundations? As stock markets attempt to notch up a sixth consecutive week of gains, the debate as to the longevity of the nascent rally rages on. The featured video material sees Steve Leuthold stating that the S&P 500 Index will rise to 1,100 this year, but Laslo Birinyi [...]
Fast Money Recap 4/15/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “Copper” (Adami) “Copper” (Terranova) “Financials” (”buy on pullbacks”) (Adami) “Financials” (Macke) “Regional Banks” (Adami) American Express (AXP) (Finerman) AutoZone (AZO) (”buy on pullbacks”) (Adami) AutoZone (AZO) (”buy on pullbacks”) (Najarian) AutoZone (AZO) (Macke) Bank of America (BAC) (Finerman) Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) (Najarian) Biogen Idec [...]
What Will The Government Do With Goldman Sachs?
A Vision of the Future
eBay: Berkshire Hathaway 2009 Annual Meeting Tickets for $5
Kind of short notice, but as I mentioned before in my Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett?s Omaha book review, Berkshire Hathaway is now selling tickets to their 2009 annual meeting directly on eBay. You get two tickets for only $5 in Buy It Now format, including free shipping.
All buyers receive two (2) Berkshire Hathaway 2009 Annual Shareholder Meeting Tickets and Visitor’s Guide. Please provide a mailing address when you checkout.
These tickets are being offered directly by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in response to others who are selling tickets on Ebay.
The meeting is on Saturday, May 2nd at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. There are some additional activities on Friday and Sunday as well. If you are a BRK shareholder, you should have gotten your 2009 annual report in March, which had a postcard to mail back in order to get tickets. Hmm… maybe I’ll get to see Warren Buffett next year.
Business Mastercard Easy Savings: Get 5% Back on USPS Online Postage, Dunkin Donuts, & MoreMasterCard has an automatic rebate program called Easy Savings that works with “a MasterCard small business or select middle market card issued in the United States, from a participating bank.” This includes certain business debit Mastercards. You can find out if your card qualifies by visiting the website and typing in the card number and trying to register for free.
Here is a list of participating merchants. Two newly added offers are 5% back at the U.S. Postal Service Click-N-Ship website (online postage) and Dunkin Donuts shops. I know some active eBay sellers that wouldn’t mind a 5% discount on postage. The rebates are automatic and show up on your monthly statements. You don’t even have to click through a portal like eBates, just shop like normal.
My CitiBusiness Mastercard and WaMu Business Debit cards were accepted. Given that any individual (as a sole proprietorship) can get either a business credit card or business checking account (with debit card), this is then basically open to anyone who wants it badly enough.
Savings I-Bonds Update: New Inflation (err? Deflation) Rate Announced
New inflation numbers for March 2009 were announced today, so it’s time for the usual semi-annual update:
New Inflation Rate
September 2008 CPI-U was 218.783. March 2009 CPI-U was 212.709, for a semi-annual decrease of 2.78%. Using this official formula, the variable interest rate for the next 6 months will be approximately -5.55%, depending on the fixed rate. What does this deflation mean for the investment returns for I-Bonds?Buying Now = ~3.08% APR, 11-month investment
If you buy before the end of April, the fixed rate portion of I-Bonds will be 0.7%. You will be guaranteed an variable interest rate of 4.94% for the next 6 months, for a total rate of 5.64%. For the 6 months after that, the total rate will be zero, not -4.85%. This is due to the 0% floor on savings bond rates.You can’t redeem until 12 months have gone by, and any redemptions within 5 years incur a 3-month interest penalty. However, a known ?trick? with I-Bonds is that if you buy at the end of the month, you?ll still get all the interest for the entire month as if you bought it in the beginning of the month. Let?s say we buy at the end of this April, hold for the minimum of one year, and pay the 3-month interest penalty for redeeming within 5 years. You?ll be able to sell on April 1, 2010 for an actual holding period of 11 months.
This would leave you with a 5.64% return on your money for 6 months, and then nothing for 5 months. Overall, that’s a 3.08% annualized return, and you will be exempt from state income taxes on the interest as well. This is very competitive with current bank CD rates.
Buying Later? If you wait until May 1st, you will get a new unknown fixed rate minus 5.55%, for a virtually guaranteed composite rate of zero for the first 6 months. (The next 6 months will be based on an unknown rate based on future inflation.) Unless there is a big bump in the fixed rate that makes it a good long-term investment, sticking with banks or credit unions will likely give you a higher yield.
Low Purchase Limits
The annual purchase limit is now $5,000 in paper I-bonds and $5,000 in online I-bonds per Social Security Number. For a couple, that?s $20,000 per year. Buy online at TreasuryDirect.gov. As for paper, here is a post on how to buy paper savings bonds from your local bank. Some larger banks may have an electronic process.For more background, see the rest of my posts on savings bonds.
A Sad Tale, with Violins (Really)
Did You Miss the Stock Market Rally?
It wasn’t long ago that we were feeling the pains of a plummeting stock market. While it was hard to watch tens of thousands of dollars disappear from our accounts on what seemed like a daily basis, I kept reminding myself and everyone around me to stay put. We’re in it for the long term. [...]
Ask Madison: Last Minute Tax Questions
Tax day is here! Have you filed your tax return yet? If not, you can always file an extension. Don’t forget that the first 2009 estimated tax payment is also due today. Lots of first time home buyers are planning to file for the 2009 $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit on their 2008 tax [...]
Personal Finance Forum for Malaysians
I’ve been pondering for some time if I should put up a discussion forum, and it remains a thought until recently when a friend brought it up again during a casual chat. Since the chat, I began reflecting on the viability of the forum format and how it could work on Meshio.com. Perhaps I should just [...]
International Year of Astronomy 2009 Commemorative Coins
Other than my collection of one-sen, five-sen, ten-sen, twenty-sen and fifty-sen coins, I’m not really into coins collection, but these ‘blink-blinks’ seems really attactive, and the fact that they’re made of gold with 999.9 purity makes them all the more valuable. Bank Negara Malaysia is issuing three types of commemorative coins in conjunction with the global [...]
E*Trade Drops Savings Rate - I Drop E*Trade
(Rates may be out of date. Please see the Savings Rate Wiki for the latest rates) I regret to report that E*Trade just lowered the rate on their Complete Savings account to a miserly 1.20% APY. This is disappointing to me because I have the bulk of my emergency fund there. While their savings rate was [...]
Hot Stocks For Tomorrow: Google And Evergreen Solar
Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com ( click to enlarge ) Evergreen Solar (ESLR) - For the short term, it is consolidating inside a symmetrical triangle with resistance at 2.37. Breakout point is 2.4. Target price is 3.15. MACD is currently bullish and RSI is just halfway from being overbought. Average volume is around ...
Google Tops Lowered Earnings Expectations
Google (GOOG) topped first-quarter expectations with GAAP earnings of $4.49 per share, 28 cents better than the consensus estimate. Revenues were also well above the average forecast, totaling $5.51 billion versus forecasts for $4.16 billion. The numbers represent a true surprise given recent trends. Over the past 30 days, 7 brokerage analysts ...
8 Questions to Ask BEFORE Hiring a Financial Planner
This is a guest post by Jeff Rose, an Certified Financial Planner from Illinois. Rose is also the author of Good Financial Cents, a financial planning and investment blog. Before reading his article, you may want to begin with two previous guest posts from Dylan Ross: What is a financial plan and why have one? [...]
Daily Links: Working Vacation Edition
As you may have noticed, I’m running a heavy dose of guest posts for the next couple of weeks. I’m very busy at the moment (including a business trip to San Francisco and a weekend vacation to central Oregon), which makes my own writing time scarce. Meanwhile I have a ton of great guest submissions [...]
Investing for Your Future
Sometimes you can find financial advice in the most unlikely of places. Recently, I was browsing the website of the Oregon State University extension service for gardening information. Kris and I have found that university extension offices often have fantastic resources for do-it-yourselfers. Our extension office has gardening calendars and how-to articles, for example. Apparently the [...]
The Per-Diem System: An Easy Way to Budget Your Spending Money
This is a guest post from Spencer, a GRS reader in New York. As a guy who just finished paying off $14,000 in credit card debt, I wanted to share one tip that helped me get over the bad debt hump. I allocate my spending money on a per diem system. At the beginning of each [...]
How Governments Turn People Into Criminals
In the never ending saga of the city trash collection schedule, I’ve reached a point where I’ve technically become a criminal. At least, I think it’s criminal to dispose of trash the way I’ve resorted to doing these days. For a quick primer, the city used to pick up trash twice a week and heavy trash [...]
How to Save on Digital Services
After many of us railed on the guy who spent $170 a month on phone, TV, and internet services, I saw this piece from the NY Times suggesting some ideas on how to save on digital services. They start with...
Sound Mind Investing Winner Named
Just wanted to let you know that I named the winner of the Sound Mind Investing book giveaway announced on Sunday. Click on the link in this post and scroll to the bottom of the new page to see if...
Interactive Graphic on Job Gains and Losses Since 2006
This graphic is fascinating. It shows the job increases and losses since January of 2006. Talk about going from Blue to RED! http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/
Sos: Exit all positions, buy Nifty put
More On Psychology - Waiting On, And Playing The Expectations Game
Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Instruments (ETFs, ETNs, and CEFs) ? An Introduction
The Wide-Ranging Thoughts of Dan Niles
We always turn up the sound and back up the TIVO when we see Dan Niles on financial television. He has a well-deserved reputation for great knowledge of what is happening in technology, especially semiconductors. He combines this information with...
Owe Taxes? - Options for making payment
Dark Helmet Strides Out Onto His Own Astroturf
Derided by elitists as phony, the tea-party movement is spontaneous, decentralized, frequently amateurish and sometimes shrill. If it has a father it is CNBC’s Rick Santelli, who called for holding a tea party in Chicago on July 4. Yesterday’s gatherings were made up of people who may never meet again (there’s no central collection point [...]
Tax Day Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions on average last about 1.5 weeks based on my own personal survey. :-) Perhaps people don’t know how to set and effectively achieve goals. Or maybe they need more than a drinking binge to bring about effective change in their lives. So how did your tax preparations go this year? Did you spend [...]
Poll: Generation X Feels Unprepared for Long-Term Care Costs. Are You Prepared?
Long-term care, what a depressing topic for old people and who cares, that’s what Medicare is for, right? Well, not so fast. While I’m sure most of us with 25 or more years until retirement aren’t spending a lot of time thinking about health care issues like long-term care, it’s actually a pretty important part [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Poll: Generation X Feels Unprepared for Long-Term Care Costs. Are You Prepared?
12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach Them)
This is a guest post from Grant Baldwin, the author of Reality Check, a book about helping students transition into the real world. His new website, BrokePiggy.com, answers questions from teenagers about personal finance, savings, [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach Them)
How to Maximize your Income
In the last post on personal finance, I represented personal finance in an equation, which was: Income(t) ? Expenses(t) = Savings(t) + Investments(t) where time t signifies moving money, or purchasing power, backward and forward in time. Now, Deepak Shenoy has a lucid post on the difference between Savings & Investments. In his intro, he says and [...]
Town Hall For Hope is 1 Week Away
Are you aware of Town Hall For Hope? We are 1 week away from this event! April 23, 2009, 8:00 p.m. EDT / 7:00 p.m. PDT. Town Hall for Hope is your opportunity to sit down with people in your community for a nationwide town hall meeting led by Dave Ramsey. Thousands of venues across [...]
The Uninsured
So it goes: If the uninsured were a political lobbing group, they’d have more members than AARP. Crazy, right? Actually, it’s kind of sad. But it’s a true. The Associated Press makes the point that the uninsured are a very large and underrepresented group. Given all the banter in Washington about health care reform, I thought that this [...]
Tax Day Tea Party
There is a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the random “Tea Party” events that have been popping up. They have been all over the United States, such as in major cities like Seattle and Orlando. Now apparently there is a larger “Tea Party” planned for April 15th - the final day to submit [...]
A Post Tax Day Windfall
I received a pleasant surprise from the IRS today. Apparently I made a mistake on my tax return and overpaid. They sent me a refund check for $182. I had paid them $141 back in February so most of the check is getting my own money back. Since I had considered that [...]
A Million Dollars is Too Much and Not Enough
There is something about a million dollars that seems to evoke strong feelings in people. Compare the following two posts about a million dollars. “84 Year Old Social Worker Saves 1.4 Million Dollars” at Get Rich Slowly. Most people found this to be an inspiring story but there were some who felt that she must [...]
Free Movie Tickets from Daily Candy
You know I like free stuff. Here is the latest deal. If you sign up to become a member of Daily Candy they will give you 2 free movie tickets via Fandango if you refer 5 more people who become members for 30 days or more. This is a completely free newsletter and they [...]
The Biggest Mistake is to Deny the Impact
We are under no delusion that we?re going to suddenly change the world on April 15th. We do, however, understand that the original Boston Tea Party Protest only had a few hundred participants and set the movement on a path to ultimate victory against the King of England. Back then, it wasn?t nationally known celebrities or [...]
Summer Clothes On a Shoestring
With the school year coming to a close, and the weather warming up, it?s time to start thinking about summer clothes. Having 3 daughters at home full time (2 of which are teenagers) means that clothes are sort of a big deal. They want to be cute? I want to make everything last [...]
18 Financial Literacy Websites that aren?t Blogs
When you?re selling a house, the realtor will tell you to move all of your personal stuff, (knick-knacks, photos, and general clutter) into a storage unit so that perspective buyers can see THEIR stuff in your house. It makes sense. After all, it?s harder to envision how your things fit when the house [...]
5 Critical Rules of Asset Allocation While Investing
Successful investing revolves around having a strong set of rules and asset allocation strategies. The Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) breaks down 5 key rules to know.
Guess the NASDAQ Close $1000 Contest Update 1
Update 1 with top 15 leader board for the $1000 Cash prize Guess the NASDAQ Close Contest.
Entering an Order to Buy or Sell Options Investor Series, Part I
This investor series will walk new options investors from start to finish through the process of placing an order to trade options. Part I answers the simple question, What Do The Numbers Represent?
14 Things to Do Before and After a Car Accident
It’s been a week since I ate my car’s airbag. Feasting on a deployed automobile safety feature is not something you want to do any day of the week. But if you happen to one day get into a car accident, there are things you can do to prevent further injury for yourself and those [...]
The Largest U.S. Property Bankruptcy Filed by General Growth Properties
Image via Wikipedia In yet another sign that the economic downturn can gobble up companies small and large alike, Bloomberg is reporting that General Growth Properties, the owner of such prime properties as Faniel Hall and the South Street Seaport, filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history. The company had accumulated “$27 billion [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Largest U.S. Property Bankruptcy Filed by General Growth Properties
Considering a Self Directed IRA? Caveat Emptor
Image via Wikipedia I just scrapped the blog I was writing because of a phone call I received. The call was from a man that I met on the east coast while teaching an event a couple of months ago. When I met him he was winding down on an audit that he was [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
How To Solve A Major Lease Option Problem
Image via Wikipedia If you’re an investor whose closing deals and making money now, you know that it’s a subject-to and lease option market. However, because of the crazy fall in home prices a “problem” has developed in selling houses on a rent-to-own basis (my favorite way to sell a house because the tenants take awesome [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Have Your Retirement Plans Changed Due To The Recent Stock Market Decline?
This is a common question many people are trying to figure out these days. Can they retire? If so, when? Will they have to work longer than they thought just a year or two ago? What kind of investment returns are required to retire when they want to? What are the best investment options to [...]
Life Insurance Is an Affordable Necessity
One day, you will die. It’s an unfortunate fact, but the truth still remains. We’re not long for this earth and we don’t know when we’ll make our exit. Life insurance is one of those things that you need, but it’s hard to want to buy - it feels somewhat morbid to discuss your eventual [...]
Clothes Drying Rack - An Easy Way To Air Out Savings
I’ve found that using a simple clothes drying rack is an easy way to save money on electricity expenses. I purchased one a few years ago because our clothes dryer was taking too long to dry all the towels. At first I thought it would be a hassle to dry my clothes this [...]
Landscaping on a Budget
Now that the weather is turning nice again, it?s time to turn your attention back to the outside of your house. Even if you?re lucky enough to live in a climate with a milder winter, there are some things that just get forgotten during the winter months. The driveway needs a hosing. [...]
Frugal Container Gardening for Your Home
There are plenty of circumstances that might encourage you to decorate your yard with a container garden rather than traditional landscaping. Perhaps you want flowers, but you want to keep your maintenance to a minimum. Maybe you don?t have a yard and need to work out your gardening passion on a porch or [...]
Egg Money To Stop Paying Interest On Positive Balances
Egg have announced some changes to their Egg Money credit card which may be of interest to their customers. From 15th May the card will become the "Egg Money World MasterCard", but more importantly the card will stop paying interest on positive balances.a
£5,000 Incentive For Buying Electric Cars
Car buyers are to be offered a bribe of up to £5,000 to buy an electric car from 2011, according to several sources this morning.a
Civic responsibility kinda sucks
It’s been a bad week for demands from On High — I’m talking taxes and jury duty. My accountant texted me a couple of hours ago to say he’d be dropping off my annual tax docs with my doorman tonight. I have no idea how it’s possible, but I always end up getting money back from the state. How [...]
Back!
Banks Are Not Dead - Yet
JPMC, aka Chase or JP Morgan, reported a better-than-expected profit today. Sounds good, right? While the company (also my employer) didn’t make as much as it did same quarter last year, it did earn a profit. That’s a glimmer of hope. However, upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that most of the profit came from [...]
Biggest Real Estate Failure Ever - Mall Owner Files for Bankruptcy Protection
In a sign that the credit markets are still seized up, General Growth files for bankruptcy protection. General Growth Properties Inc, the second-largest U.S. mall owner, declared bankruptcy on Thursday in the biggest real estate failure in U.S. history. They are the owners of over 200 malls. They filed for restructuring (Chapter 11), so hopefully their creditors [...]
Economy on the Rebound?
Hey, look, there’s hope on the horizon! The Obama administration is sounding a bit more optimistic lately, as they should - The stock market has shown 5 weeks of gains. Some of the “bailout” money is being paid back, as banks determine they are “out of the woods” (and only in the sticks). Some banks are betting their [...]
Product Review: NeatReceipts
Tracking My Finances In 2009: 14 April
Welcome to tracking of income and expenses for the month. Please note thatI get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month. This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less [...]
Reusable Toilet Wipes (Poopy Cloth Patrol)
I found this site called WallyPop that sells Resuable Family Toilet Wipes. Yes. Wipes. For the family. Now these wipes are simply cloths that you use instead of toilet paper, sort of like baby wipes. The main difference is that unlike baby wipes, these wipes are made of a washable material….sort of like cloth diapers. You use the wipe and then [...]
The Piratery Picture
In January 2006, we put out a research piece titled Update: Short Indian Ocean Piratery. In our recommendation, we said as follows: Increased pillaging of dhows is a classic indicator that the local pirate market off the Somalian coast is over-saturated. We recommend a Short position on those markets as they are likely to [...]
The Andy Beal Award For Eschewing Moronism
Morons. They are everywhere. But brilliance, true brilliance, should eschew their limiting grasp. As we think important both the recognizing of brilliance and the eschewing of moronism, we are establishing The Andy Beal Award For Eschewing Moronism. Who is Andy Beal and why is he being so honored? He is [...]
Video from my appearance on the CBS Early Show
I’ve been in New York for the past few days kicking off the media tour for the book. More posts to come soon, but I thought you might want to check the video of me at the CBS Early Show this morning. If you guys want, I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at what a [...]
Technical Difficulties with Home Search Photos
UPDATE: April 16, 11:30am - See this note from the CEO of my IDX provider. All is returning to normal! Hey Jay, Looks like we have everything just about squared away. As you probably know one of our storage servers decided to freak out on Tuesday. Despite the fact that it was a high end storage [...]
Nerd Alert! MIT shows ?Six Sense? ? wicked cool tech interaction device
From MIT?s Fluid Interfaces Group comes Sixth Sense, ?a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data?. This video is worth the eight minutes. There are some interesting comments on the TED blog post about this, with some proclaiming it?s Big Brotherish, some saying it will never work, and [...]
Preparing For A Consignment Sale
In my area, there is one huge consignment sale run twice a year by a local church that everyone knows about. It is the place to go if you are in the market to buy gently used, good quality used children’s clothing, and the waiting list to become a seller is a mile long. I [...]
I have a boyfriend on the peak!
Saving money with the rental car
Shuffling my money around
Might be going home this weekend
Not sure about this weekend anymore
I Just Turned 26. Should I Liquidate My 401K to Pay My Debt. - Carie
Carie wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
My Debt is Affecting My Everyday Life and Relationships. - Enrico
Enrico wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
I Am Extremely Overwhelmed and Stressed About My Debt. - Julie
Julie wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
TEDTalks : Tour the AlloSphere, a stunning new way to see scientific data - JoAnn Kuchera-Morin (2009)
JoAnn Kuchera-Morin demos the AlloSphere, an entirely new way to see and interpret scientific data, in full color and surround sound inside a massive metal sphere. Dive into the brain, feel electron spin, hear the music of the elements ... No related posts.
I cashed out my SIMPLE IRA
I am not a financial advisor, nor do I play one on the internet. So the following story is not necessarily an example for anyone to follow. In fact, you might find a conflicting piece of advice right here on this blog. The coming months and years will tell if I made the correct choice. I cashed out one of my IRA accounts last [...]
Delay Gratification To Succeed
In today’s busy and hurried society, we want everything now. Think about some of the “instant” things we have in life. On-demand TV programming. 30-minute 30-second meals. Instant messengers. Drive-thru options for just about any store (because who wants to get out of their car for anything?!). The list goes on and on. We want what we [...]
Bookkeeping: Covering Con-Way (CNW) to Close
Treasury Saving $10 Billion for Big Banks to Modify Loans
Google (GOOG) Solid; Posts First Sequential Decline in Sales
12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach Them)
This is a guest post from Grant Baldwin, the author of Reality Check, a book about helping students transition into the real world. His new website, BrokePiggy.com, answers questions from teenagers about personal finance, savings, and all things money. There Is More Free Money Than You Realize For College BREAKING NEWS?THIS JUST IN?SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT?. College Is Expensive. Ok, [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach Them)
INTC: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
NOK: Earnings Announcement 2009-1Q
INTC: Financial Analysis through March 2009
Real Portfolio now active?.1st purchase was XLF
10 Gmail Labs Features You Must Enable
Wednesday Morning Linkage
[Via Flickr user C5D16144] · Americans are too fat and so are our roads [Streetsblog] · Santa Monica hotels try and land guests via "Sun, Sea, Save" program [SMDP] · Irvine attempts to crack down on the rub and...
Should You Earn A College Degree?
This is a guest post from Grant Baldwin, the author of Reality Check, a book about helping students transition into the real world. His new website, BrokePiggy.com, answers questions from teenagers about personal finance, savings, and all things money. This series “12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Name Your Price With Priceline: Get A Bargain Vacation
In tough economic times, one of the first industries to take a hit is the travel industry. Trips to Disney World and Caribbean cruises seem a bit frivolous to most people when they’re looking at a 30% - 50% decline in the value of their investments and/or are worried about becoming another statistic in the [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
Thursday AM Linkage
Brooklyn & Queens market reports · Brooklyn and Queens post steep sales declines in first quarter [Real Deal] · Surprise Among Home$ick Boros [NYPost] · Light at end of tunnel for falling home prices in Queens, Brooklyn [NYDN] · Brooklyn...
how to pay less income tax
Taxes. It’s that day - the day the bloodthirsty government takes its pound of flesh out of you to pay for the programs and causes we (as a people) have voted for, again and again. Medicare, Social Security, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and before that, the Cold War), and public roads, [...]Post from: brip blap.
What Percent of Your Salary Do You Save?
It’s no secret that the only way to get out of debt is to spend less money than you make. Everybody knows that. It’s common sense. But why do so many of us struggle to do it? Most college students graduate with at least some student loan debt these days, so saving money isn’t exactly the [...]
Which Way Wednesday - Beige Book Boogie
Days Like This Make You Realize What Is Important: It Isn?t Your Possessions
A Phone Call Yesterday I was at work when I got a call from my friend who lives next door. He said that he had just talked to his wife, and that our neighborhood was in danger of going up in flames. There was a fast moving grass fire that was quickly consuming much of the [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Days Like This Make You Realize What Is Important: It Isn’t Your Possessions
What Should I Do If I Can?t Pay My Taxes? What Options Do I Have?
Tax returns are due on April 15th. That’s today for those of you who are keeping track! Some of you are basking in the glow of a newly minted tax refund, while others are wondering how they’re going to pay good old Uncle Sam the money that they owe. In this economy a lot of people [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
What Should I Do If I Can’t Pay My Taxes? What Options Do I Have?
Bank of America $75 Bonus
Bank of America comes out with bonus deals pretty often. This latest bonus is for those who already have a Bank of America credit card. You will receive your $75 credit to your new account within 50 days of opening your new personal checking account online. Limit one $75 incentive per household every 6 months. [...]
Credit Union Bonuses in MD,MO,TX
Here are a few local credit union bonus deals. Credit unions often have good bonus deals but since they are usually only locally available I don’t normally post them. Neighborhood Credit Union $100 Checking Bonus. This is in the Dallas,TX area, click through the link for more info. Community America Credit Union $50 Checking Bonus. [...]
The Taking Care of Children Giveaway
Today’s giveaway is for those of you who have children in your life. And again, it’s a two parter! Last week I talked about frugal childcare, and AuPair Care contacted me with a fantastic offer for Almost frugal readers. As a side note, I used to be a nanny, and I have friends who have aupairs [...]
The ?Skinny On? Books
Today’s giveaway comes from the ‘Skinny On:’ books by Jim Randel. I have three books to give away: The Skinny On Credit Cards, The Skinny On The Housing Crisis and The Skinny On Willpower. I receivied these copies to review (I didn’t know about them before) and I find them to be really informative and [...]
Are You Still Listening To Your CDs?
Internet Radio Revolution The Internet has revolutionized the way we live; it?s no wonder that listening to music the old way is about to become extinct. Internet radio is replacing those traditional CDs, and more and more listeners are discovering the convenience and features Internet radio provides (which traditional music players simply cannot) due to technological [...]
Video Look at Umoo
A nice screen cast on how popular paper trading software, Umoo, works.
Properly Using Fibonacci
You have probably seen me do it. You have probably seen others do it too, but do you why or how to use it?
Long GBP/USD 1.4612-1.4602
Knowing Your Financial History is Crucial to Your Future
About the author: This is a guest article by Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil. Dr. Bonnie was named by New York Magazine as one of the city’s top therapists. Her most recent book, Financial Infidelity, was released in paperback edition on March 31. Whether or not you’re specifically struggling with money in your relationship, one thing [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
The Greatest Loss of This Recession
About the author: This is a guest article by The Weakonomist, an anonymous blogger responsible for everything at Weakonomics.com. As a banking insider he’s witnessed the economic implosion from inside the bubble. You can usually find him at the corner of Wall Street and Main Street throwing rocks at traffic. My retirement accounts have dropped [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
6 things you can buy that will pay for themselves in a yearI must say that I really get a kick out of doing little things that will pay big dividends. So each of these 6 items offer a little bit of that promise. Put a few bucks in now and save more! What I love about it is that, you can run out and buy everything mentioned here and actually be richer in a year! Yes you are welcome! ;)
Post from: Christian Personal Finance .com
Google Gives Back Most After Hours Gains; Worries On Q2?
Google?s Schmidt: We?re Still In ?Uncharted Territory?
Google Q1 Revs-ex TAC $4.07B; Non-GAAP EPS $5.16; Paid Clicks Up 3% Vs. Q4; Kordestani Takes Advisor Post
Check Out Ramit on the CBS Early Show
This is cool… Ramit on the CBS Early Show Notice what she calls the book. Some people need to learn to notice details. Congrats, Ramit.
Lately, Reading the Wall Street Journal is as Good as a Fiction Thriller
Over the last few months, the Wall Street Journal has covered some fascinating stories. This is stuff that would normally be found in a John Grisham thriller but sadly is real: • The Bernard Maddoff Fraud • The Stanford Fraud • Danny Pang The Danny Pang fraud broke yesterday. If the Wall Street Journal is to be [...]
Scott Burns Responds to the Paul Farrell Article
I sent an email out today to several people I like and respect in the investment field, asking for their opinions on the Paul Farrell piece I wrote about yesterday. Here is the response I got back came from Scott Burns: I certainly appreciate Paul Farrell’s anger and contempt for Wall Street. It [...]
Dale Carnegie?s ?How to Win Friends & Influence People? Summarized
I have been reading (again) Dale Carnegie’s awesome book, How to Win Friends & Influence People*. If you haven’t yet read this book, you should give it a shot. Listed below is a summary of what the book is about. The book is divided into three parts with principles for each part. [...]
Bonds Beat Stocks by Factor of 11 Times From 1981 to 2009
I just read an interesting article by Paul Ferrell over at MarketWatch. Here’s the interesting part: Bonds beat stocks by factor of 11 times from 1981 to 2009 Yes, and you’d have been 11 times richer. Listen closely to Shilling’s analysis of the past 28 years. In his Insight newsletter he compares the performance of the [...]
Important Upcoming Earnings Reports
Key earnings reports continue through the end of the month. Below we highlight some of the more significant reports expected over the next several days. Historically GOOG and ISRG are some of the more volatile names, and will likely create...
Direxion Launches FAS/FAZ-Like ETFs For T-Bonds (FAS, FAZ, TYD, TYO, TMF, TMV)
GE Full Earnings Primer (GE)
Google Slides Past Gatekeepers (GOOG)
Google?s Earnings Controversy (GOOG, YHOO, BIDU)
Best Performing Sectors This Week: Cancer Stocks, Home Furnishing, Aircraft Leasing
Regions Claims Profitability, Slips A Mickey To Bears (RF)
Introducing the Tarp-o-Meter
Buffett Housing Play: Pay Mortgage If You Lose Your Job (BRK-A)
Kinder Morgan And Broader LP Distribution Conundrum (KMP, EPD, ENB, BSR)
Sunoco and Holly, Tulsa Refinery Hot Potato (SUN, HOC)
Forex ?Hedging? Continued
In yesterday’s No More ”Hedging” for Forex Traders post I pointed out a new rule from the NFA going into effect on May 15th which effectively eliminates “hedging” as it has come to be known in the forex market. That’s holding simultaneous long and short positions. In every other financial market doing that is an offset, meaning the [...]
Looking Back on 499 Trading Education Posts
This post is #500 for this trading education blog. Well, actually it’s something higher. I’ve culled posts at different points when I thought they’d gone beyond their shelf life, so the real post count since I started just about 3 years ago is probably closer to 600 at this stage, but this is the first [...]
Jim the Realtor on Nightline
TARP COP Elizabeth Warren on the Daily Show
Regulators Give BankUnited 20 Days to Deal or Die
DataQuick: California Bay Area Home Sales Increase
Hotel Occupancy: RevPAR Off 28.1 Percent
Report: Downtown Office Vacancy Rate Rises to 12.5%
Philly Fed: Manufacturing "contracted less severely" this Month
Unemployment Insurance: Continued Claims above 6 Million
Housing Starts: Near Record Low
General Growth Properties Files Bankruptcy
China GDP increases 6.1% from Q1 2008
Six Banks to Receive up to $9.9 Billion for Mortgage Modifications
Mortgage Defaults Spreading to Higher Priced Areas
Capital One Credit Card Charge-Offs Increase Sharply in March
White House: US to release bank stress data in May
DataQuick: SoCal Home Sales Increase
NAHB: Builder Confidence Increases in April
Industrial Production Declines Sharply in March
Consumer Prices Decline Slightly in March
Stress Test Results: Here comes the Sun?
Big Banks Increase Foreclosure Activity
S&P 500 Financial Sector Overbought
S&P 500 Stocks Furthest Above 200-Day Moving Averages
Country Market Performance Since the March 9th Low
S&P 500 Moving Average Analysis
Homebuilder Stocks
CPI and PPI Both Showing Deflation
Historical Tax Day Returns
Treasury Inflation Protected Securities ETF
Dividend Dates Explained
With all of the many dates surrounding dividend payments, it can get a little confusing. Here’s the full rundown. When a company declares a dividend on their stock, they are agreeing to pay a set amount of money to each shareholder. They set a specific date to use to determine who their shareholders are. That eliminates [...]
Things to Have Removed from your Credit Report pt 2
Continued from part 1. 3 - Charge Offs. When you do not pay off a credit card account or a loan account for a period of three to six months, your creditors are generally going to assume that your account is non collectible, or that it is in default. When this occurs, your creditor will report [...]
You have internet but no running water?
Someone asked me how it was that I seemed to have (almost) constant access to the internet AND no indoor running water or heat. From an American perspective, it seems irrational and contradictory. But, Guatemala is filled with (seeming) contradictions and contrasts. I suspect that many of my ?fellow? fellows have experienced the same [...]
Nau Sale Benefits Kiva
A little apparel company based out of Portland, OR, called Nau, consists of a small group of people committed to positive change. They believe that they have a broader responsibility than simply generating profit.From now though the end of May, Nau is ...
At Finovate 2009 Budget Solutions Abound
Holy budgets Batman! Finovate 2009 is showcasing no less than ten (count them 10!) budget solutions for personal finances. I explored some of these on my blog this past week as I wrote all about budgeting for a week, but there?s a lot out there and I...
Kiva Loan Matching Plans
I am blogging this live while listening to the Kiva conference call. Kiva plans a loan matching program, where lenders and institutions can opt to automatically match loans made by other lenders. Some statements/explanations from the conference call: Today 6 or 7 people out of 100 that visit the Kiva website actually make a loan (conversion rate) Lenders [...]
Prosper Plans Open Market Loans
Prosper.com, which is still in quiet period and not allowing new loans, made a new SEC filing yesterday. In this third amendment to the S-1 filing makes several amendments, most notably introducing securitization for initial offerings of loans. Prosper plans “Open market loans”, which apparently are loans issued by traditional lenders which being securitized and resold [...]
Prosper Files Amended S-1 with SEC
After shutting down last October and being slapped with a cease and desist from the SEC and a fine from state regulators, peer to peer lending company Prosper filed a new S-1 with the SEC yesterday. This is the third amendment to the S-1 it originally filed back in 2007, asking the SEC to regulate a described secondary [...]
Prosper?s ?Quiet Period? Hits 6 Month Milestone
It has now been six months since Prosper’s self-imposed “quiet period” commenced on October 14, 2008. Since we have not seen any evidence of the “quiet period” being a condition imposed by any regulatory body, cynics would suggest that the “quiet period” is little more than a mechanism to give Prosper a plausible excuse to sanitize [...]
New on Kiva: Too Many Team Message Emails? Now You Can Receive Just One a Day
One of the problems we often hear about from Kiva lenders who are members of Lending Teams is that they get too many team message emails. They want to be connected to their teams and be informed when teammates post messages, but sometimes the number of...
More Profit Reports Beating Expectations
A Good -- er, Bad -- Connection
Some commentators (including me) have argued that a declining economy will spur a rise in the crime rate. Yet in a recent Associated Press report, "NYC Mayor: No Link Between Violent Crime, Economy," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said...
T2108 and T2107
SEC: Credit-Rating Agencies Require More Oversight
Ever notice the guys who crash planes into the sides of mountains don’t get to do the review of what went wrong? Same thing with other gian calamities: The Captain of the Exxon Valdez didn’t do the crash review; The Challenger Shuttle engineers weren’t the ones who determined it was the O rings, etc. A separate [...]
Thursday links: a bull market in new ETFs
Where does the S&P 500 stand relative to its moving averages. (Bespoke) “Real buyers” have been absent from the current rally. (FT.com also Clusterstock) “(V)ast systematic volumes of quant strategies in various time frames have become destabilizing factor due to convergence of strategies.” (Zero Hedge) Why are quants underperforming in this market rally? (Clusterstock) If one hedge fund ETF, [...]
Fast Money Recap 4/13/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “Australian Dollar” (Rebecca Patterson) “Copper” (Najarian) “Financials” (Najarian) “Gold” (Seymour) “New York Mets” (Seymour) Aetna (AET) (Finerman) American Express (AXP) (Seymour) Ashland (ASH) (Najarian) Baidu.com (BIDU) (Seymour) Companhia Vale (RIO) (Seymour) Dendreon (DNDN) (Najarian) Dow Chemical (DOW) (Najarian) DuPont (DD) (Najarian) Dynegy (DYN) (Finerman) Express Scripts (ESRX) (Najarian) Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) [...]
Credit Cards With Good Sign-Up IncentivesUse credit wisely. I don’t pay interest on consumer debt, and I never apply for a credit card unless I get something out of it! They still make tons of money from charging merchant fees, so those with good credit should expect a cut of the action…
Up to $250 from Starwood Preferred Guest American Express
Earn 10,000 Starpoints with your first purchase, and another 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months, for a potential total of 25,000 Starpoints. You can exchange 10,000 Starpoints for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate. (I ended up using my points to stay at the Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid.) No annual fee the first year, $45 after that if you don’t cancel.
$100 from American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $500 in 3 months of Card membership- redeemable for a $100 gift card at places like Home Depot or Banana Republic. No annual fee the first year, $125 after that if you don’t cancel.
$50 from Discover More card + 5% Cashback program
Earn a $50 Cashback Bonus when you make $500 in purchases within 3 months after your account is opened. Also offers 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months, with a 3% fee. There is a 5% Cashback program on rotating categories each quarter. No annual fee.
$25 from Costco TrueEarnings American Express + Gas / Travel / Restaurant Cashback
You get a $25 cash bonus after your first purchase. 3% cash back on gasoline, including Costco gas (up to $3,000 a year), 3% cash back at all restaurants, 2% cash back on travel, and 1% cash back on everything else. No annual fee.
Get Over 700 Free MP3 Songs from Amazon
Looking for some free new music to play on your computer / iPod / Zune / whatever? Look no further than Amazon’s free MP3 download section: Free MP3s - Amazon Don’t expect all #1 hits in there, but it’s hard to complain since they’re free. Be sure to sort by genre on the left - it’s easier [...]
What?s Giving The Tech Sector A Spark?
As the global recession has hurt every aspect of the economy, some sectors are thinking outside of the box to gain a competitive advantage and boost the market value of their stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Sony (SNE) has recently been in talks with Google [[GOOG] to post movies on YouTube. As of ...
84-Year-Old Social Worker Saves $1.4 Million
Over the weekend, Kevin and Nathaniel both sent me an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that tells the story of Jane M. Buri, an 84-year-old social worker who quietly amassed a $1.4 million fortune. How did she do it? She practiced the art of thrift. From the article: In retrospect, friends say Buri’s savings made [...]
Investing 101: An Introduction to Asset Allocation
This is a guest post from ABCs of Investing, a new site for novice investors. ABCs of Investing offers one short and simple investing post each week. Understanding asset allocation is a key piece of financial literacy. In my last post at Get Rich Slowly, I explained the basics of passive investing and why it’s a [...]
The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 4: Couples and Finances
I know this is late going up, but I’ve been running errands all morning (many of which were money-related). In just a few minutes, you can join us for the fourth episode of The Personal Finance Hour, a BlogTalkRadio program all about personal finance. I’ll be co-hosting the show with Jim from Bargaineering at 3pm [...]
Tomato Tree vs. Soil vs. Planter
I planted three tomato plants a few weeks ago. The first was inside that Tomato Tree gizmo you’ve probably seen on TV. The second plant went inside a large planter and the third plant went straight into the soil. It has now been about three weeks since the plants went in and here’s photographic evidence of [...]
Considering a Snow Bird Investment Property
Most of the time I feel fortunate to live in the Seattle area in the Pacific Northwest. The one time that I don’t appreciate the Seattle area is during the drab months of winter and early Spring. This year seems to have been particularly dark, rainy and gloomy. I was hoping that [...]
Call Me Justice Niece
How To Prevent Impulse Shopping
Swagbucks - A Frugal Take
Links to Carnivals from April 7 - 13, 2009
Third Warning Of 2009
I am going to ride this rally as hard and long as I can. It’s been fun and I don’t change signals on an individual stock unless the fundamental or technical analysis confirms that it’s time. Since March 2, 2009 (when I gave the Second Warning Of 2009) and including this past week, I have [...]
Google Inc. (GOOG), was that a huge fake move ?
Financial Literacy Month Continues and Thoughts on Emergency Savings
In case you forgot, April is National Financial Literacy Month. For the entire month, bloggers and financial institutions alike are working together to help bring financial awareness to the masses. There’s never been a better time to learn more about finance given the current economic climate. Between dropping investments, the difficulty in getting loans, and [...]About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
Financial Literacy Month Continues and Thoughts on Emergency Savings
Alternative Financial Advisers
lthompso at Beyond Beer Money wrote an excellent article titled How (and why) to Find a Great Financial Advisor. I had to throw my 2 cents into the mix. I will add a word of caution, I’ve never used a financial adviser, nor do I have any plans on doing so. I obtain my information [...]
Living in a Foreign Country
I’ve mentioned before that living in a foreign country is something I’m considering as part of my plan to retire at 50. Based on my past experience of living for three months on $450 in Guatemala I know that living in a foreign country can be substantially cheaper than living in the United States. [...]
5 Big Reasons to Doubt Bear Market Rallies
During the current bear market that started in early 2008 there have been a total of four bear market rallies that have all failed. We explain why investors should continue to doubt.
Breaking Down Mean Reversion while Investing
Mean reversion is among the most powerful forces in finance, and STTG author Sean Hannon explains why.
7 Great Questions to Ask When Choosing a Financial Adviser
Selecting a good financial adviser is critical to long term success and ensuring a well deserved retirement after working many years. The problem is knowing what questions to ask and whom to trust.
What If??
Occasionally, I get emails from readers that make me pause and think. For example, here’s a snippet of one that I received today: The economy is doing poorly and it seems to be affecting everyone but I noticed you are living life as usual, shoe shopping, going to the spa, taking vacations, etc. Does the economy [...]
Barack Obama: America?s Top Real Estate Broker?
A lot of people thought it strange when Barack Obama traded jokes with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. But that pales by comparison, if you ask me, with Obama’s new role as America’s unofficial (official?) top real estate broker. At what seems to be one of his endless news conferences (you certainly can’t accuse the [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Heads I Win, Tails you Lose: This Week?s Housing Data and Mortgage Markets
Last week mortgage rates were exactly flat confirming my forecast that rates may not rise for the third week in a row. The week started off strong but ended with a whimper for 2 main reasons: Wells Fargo’s announcement of record $ 3 Billion in earnings Mike Mayo’s downgrade of the banking sector. Mike has a history [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Heads I Win, Tails you Lose: This Week’s Housing Data and Mortgage Markets
Thanks Goodness, There?s Finally ONE SCAPEGOAT for the Financial Meltdown!
Or how David X. Li single-handedly killed the economy I say this tongue-in-cheek, of course. There are many culprits in the Mortgage Meltdown and Credit Crunch and DeRecession that followed. But it’s refreshing to see that some knucklehead with a propeller cap had something to do with it. And the great thing about it: We all knew [...]
Contractor vs. Consultant
Where?s Barney?
Forgot about renting a car
Trying to figure out vacation time
The cost of the crash
Easter weekend at home
I?ve Been Out of Work For a Year and I?m Running Out of Cash. - Linda
Linda wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
I Live in Columbia And Want to Get Out of Debt. - Octavio
Octavio wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
I Can?t Get My Money. - Kathryn
Kathryn wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
Business Credit Card Debt is Not on My Credit Report. - Galina
Galina wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free. Income from the GetOutOfDebt.org site advertising is used to help alleviate poverty. If you would like to [...] No related posts.
TEDTalks : How biotech will drive our evolution - Gregory Stock (2003)
In this prophetic 2003 talk -- just days before Dolly the sheep was stuffed -- biotech ethicist Gregory Stock looked forward to new, more meaningful (and controversial) technologies, like customizable babies, whose adoption might drive human evolution. No related posts.
wellgreat
Today, I was in the Student Union when a man a came up to me and asked if I wanted to be in a study to see how men acted differently when working with attractive women. Flattered and taken aback, I agreed. He then told me I would be part of the control group to see how they act around plain looking women. No related posts.
shizzy09
Today, I took my 4-year-old daughter to the local pool for swim lessons. As we walked onto the deck she turned to me and said "Mom, that lady has really big boobs!" The whole pool heard, even the man my daughter was referring to. No related posts.
A money story for kids from the 1800?s
We have read short-story books to our children since they were able to sit still, but lately we have been sharing longer books with our daughters in the evenings. We are reading a chapter a day from the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and our five year old and six [...]
CSCO: Look Ahead to April 2009 Quarterly Results
Site Redesign and Comment Improvements
I’ve spent some time cleaning up the site and making some minor improvements here and there. If you only read the RSS feed, please take a few moments to click through and visit the new site. I made some typography changes, added more padding around the text, and I think the text content now looks [...]Follow me on Twitter | Copyright 2007 - 2009, Finance and Fat. This post originally appeared at:
QLTI - a Graham value play experiment
I purchased some shares of QLTI today in what is basically my first attempt at putting Benjamin Graham’s value investing approach for “enterprising investors” at work. Given the drop in stock prices the last few months, various screens showing stocks trading at 2/3 net current asset value (or NCAV) have suddenly shown dramatic increases in [...]
Learning About The Blogging Business, Thanking Our Blog Readers
I wasn’t really paying much attention to this, but it suddenly caught my eye — my traffic statistics are showing me that this blog has hit an awesome milestone! This site has finally registered its 2 millionth unique visit (and close to 3 million page views), and wow, that’s just something that really cheered [...]This is a post from The Digerati Life.
how to have no debt
First of all, rent, because a mortgage is a big debt. I don’t know if most people qualify renting a home as debt, but I’m going to say that renting is not debt. I can walk away from a rental home with no future obligation (except canceling the lease) and other than the obvious [...]
Last Minute Tax Filing
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about why we procrastinate. I felt so inspired after writing the post that I couldn’t help but procrastinate some more on my taxes. I succeeded. Over the past weekend, I finally finished doing my own taxes for the first time, a process which I started over a month ago. [...]
By request: more bag
Don?t Forget To Make Your Estimated Tax Payment For Self Employment Income!
One thing that I’ve had to do this year that I’ve never had to do before was to pay estimated taxes. Normally all of my income has taxes withheld by my employer, so I never have to worry about actually withholding taxes for myself. This year I’ve started several small side projects that have ended [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Don’t Forget To Make Your Estimated Tax Payment For Self Employment Income!
A Year Long Subscription to RealNetworks
OK, all you music lovers out there, listen up! RealNetworks is offering one of you a year long SuperPass subscription. Here’s what they have to say: “If you?re looking for additional ways to cut back on your entertainment costs, RealNetworks? SuperPass offering trumps niche sites that offer only music, movies or free games. A monthly subscription [...]
Is Gold Doomed?
It seems like every two seconds gold wants to go higher, but it always like to come back down.
Google: YouTube Redesign Coming This Week?
Google: No Clear Consensus On Prospects For Q1 Results
SIRIUS XM Scores Debt Rating Upgrade (SIRI, LCAPA)
Intel, Shoddy But Less Gloomy (INTC)
Somali Pirates Are Getting Rich: A Look At The Profit Margins
Dell Steps Slowly Into More Services (DELL, HPQ, IBM, PER)
Bernanke Vs. Retail Sales
236 Years of Hating Taxes
Sterling Bancshares Files To Raise Cash? Adios TARP? (SBIB, SBIBN)
If Citigroup Gets Back Over $5.00?.
Just How Bad is the News on Drilling? (BHI, BAS)
eBay To Jettison Skype, IPO Rather Than Sale (EBAY)
No More ?Hedging? for Forex Traders
The National Futures Association (NFA) has a new ruling which goes into effect on May 15, 2009. It addresses the practice of “hedging” in forex trading, which is the act of holding both long and short positions in the same currency pair at the same time. Here is what the NFA had decided: Offsetting Transactions New Compliance [...]
RT @pkedrosky: JPMorgan note on Skype IPO. 2010 revenues at $740m, EBITDA of $156m., $1.6b-$3b val < not bad, maybe a $GOOG redux?
RT @pkedrosky: JPMorgan note on Skype IPO. 2010 revenues at $740m, EBITDA of $156m., $1.6b-$3b val < not bad, maybe a $GOOG redux?
More Intel Conference Call Comments
Intel Comments
Market and a few Credit Indicators
Los Angeles Port Traffic Rebounds
Goldman Sachs Raises $5 Billion
Obama: Glimmers of Hope, but More Job Loss, More Foreclosures, More Pain
Retail Sales Decline in March
WSJ: General Growth Bondholders Seek Lawsuit
End of Recessions and Unemployment Claims
Mortgage Fraud in 2008: Part II
Goldman Top Ticks the Market
Market Performance on CPI Days
Used Car Sale Prices Vs S&P 500
Credit Default Swap Index vs S&P 500
Stock Performance Based on Short Interest
Peer to Peer (p2p) Lending in Japan
Several companies are entering the market in Japan to offer p2p lending services.Japan has securities regulation that is similar to the US, which provides a substantial barrier to entry into the marketplace.Two providers of p2p services have made it th...
Silence?
The last few weeks appear to suggest an up-tick in pres coverage related to Prosper, P2P and SEC oversight. Perhaps it is a natural outgrowth of stories related to frozen credit markets, but it is interesting that several pieces are using strikingly similar language. One wonders if the spirit of the “quiet period” is still being maintained [...]
Tax Day Freebies and Promotions
There are many freebies and promotions available in the United States on Tax Day, April 15th. Add any other deals I may have missed to the comments section and pass the word about these deals using your favorite form of social bookmarking. Price and participation often vary for deals, so check with the company directly [...]
Maneo Introduces Guaranteed P2P Loan
Maneo introduces guaranteed p2p lending in Japan. On the new “G-Loan” the lender does not need to worry any more about defaults. Minimum investment is only 10,000 JPY (approx. 100 US$). The loans are guaranteed by Orix Credit Corporation which entered into a partnership with Maneo. The downside is that on “G-Loans” the lender only receives [...]
Lending Club Makes Download of Loan Data Available Again
Lending Club reintroduces the possibility for everyone to download the data of the loans as .csv or .xml file. This feature was temporarily removed in March due to privacy concerns. Lending Club says a few data points that compromised borrowers identity have been removed.
Online Dating ? Part 4
If you read the three previous posts about online dating you might be wondering whether the industry is actually making money. Revenue only increased 1% year over year from 2007 to 2008. Most likely one of the primary causes is market saturation: there are so many choices now as to which site to use. And, [...]
Chickens for when the rains don?t come
Sometimes, when interviewing the entrepreneurs from Pearl Microfinance, Uganda, I am startled to discover how many businesses they have. They are teachers with a few milk cows on the side, or used clothing salespeople who also keep pigs, or farmers who also raise cassava, matoke, and chickens! These ?super entrepreneurs? amaze me, but [...]
New Ways to Shop
In an economically challenged world, people may need to acquire a host of additional skills, even when it comes to carrying out simple or mundane tasks. In fact, based on the following USA Today report, "Food Auctions Thrive During Recession,"...
Tuesday links: all Goldman, all the time
If Goldman Sachs (GS) is selling, should you be buying? (Clusterstock, WSJ.com) Goldman claims it made no profits from AIG…this quarter. (Floyd Norris, Big Picture) Just how meaningful was Goldman’s earnings report? (Clusterstock, Baseline Scenario, Deal Journal) Goldman wants to pay back TARP funds. Patriotism or avarice? (WSJ.com, Deal Journal) Is this all a part of Tim Geithner’s [...]
Fast Money Recap 4/9/09
Stock picks by each of the traders on the latest episode of “Fast Money.” (Fast Money Recaps at Online Traders’ Forum) Buy “Bailout Bonds” (Finerman) “Bailout Bonds” (Jon Najarian) “Bailout Bonds” (Seymour) “Copper” (Macke) “S&P 500″ (Macke) American Express (AXP) (Whitney Tilson) Apple (AAPL) (J. P. Mark) Apple (AAPL) (Jon Najarian) Apple (AAPL) (Macke) Bank of America (BAC) (”preferred shares”) (Finerman) Deere & Co (DE) (Seymour) Dell (DELL) [...]
A Quick & Dirty Plan To Reach Financial FreedomDespite the current financial funk, I still desire financial freedom. The general idea is simple; I need to generate enough income from my assets to pay for my expenses. Here is how I’ve been framing the problem in my mind recently. I’m 30 now, let’s say I want to be “retired” by age 50.
Part 1: Accumulate 30 times annual (non-housing) expenses
There are numerous studies about the “safe withdrawal rate” from a portfolio, and they usually end up at around 3% to 4%. This usually means that with $1,000,000 dollars, you have a high (say 99%) chance of being able to produce $30,000 to $40,000 of income each year plus inflation adjustments for a long period of time (30+ years).
This is the same as saying you need to save 25 to 33 times your annual expenses.. If you’re conservative (or young), I’d go with a higher number, so I picked 30. Multiply your annual expenses by 30. You need that much money to retire. All of these are based on historical numbers, so this is only an estimate.
Right now I’d estimate our annual non-housing expenses at about $24,000 per year ($2,000 per month). Previously I’ve found that we spend about $18,000 per year, but that neglects a few things like health insurance and car deprecation. (Again, health insurance for those that retirement very early and are not healthy might be a bogey.)
$24,000 x 30 = $720,000.
At about $200,000 in non-housing assets right now, that leave me $520k left. Divided by 20 years and assuming no investment return, that would require $25k per year (not inflation-adjusted). At a 3% annual real return, I’d still need to save nearly $20k per year.
Remarks
With this part, you can see the power of frugal living, or the damage done by lifestyle inflation. $500 a month is $6k per year. $6k x 30 = $180,000.So if I could cut $500 a month in my expenses, I’d need to save $180,000 less. On the other hand, if I grow some bad habits and start spending $500 more a month, I’d need to save $180,000 more. Either way, that’s a big number! This is why I still need to complete my line-by-line examination of expenses.
Part 2: Own my house / Pay off mortgage
I currently have 29 years left on a 30-year fixed mortgage. For us, that would mean another ~$470,000 in mortgage principal, but more when you count in all that interest.
According to this mortgage calculator, if we make one extra monthly payment per year (simulating a bi-weekly acceleration plan), that’d give us about 24 years before we’re done. If I made two extra monthly payments per year, it’d be shaved down to 20 years, which has the house paid off at age 50. Lots of other considerations, but I’m strongly leaning towards it.
Remarks
I know that you could easily roll up “housing” costs into Part 1 above, but I didn’t for a few reasons. For one, housing is one of the few expense areas where you can essentially “buy” all future costs. For example, you can’t pay a lump sum in exchange for all the electricity you’ll consume in your lifetime. Same thing for your grocery bill, or even a car since you’ll have to replace it. But if you own your house, you’ve basically cut out rent forever (just left with maintenance and property taxes). It also reduces the danger of inflation eating up your spending power.The second reason is lower taxes. Owning your own house not only saves you from have to pay a housing payment, but also keeps you from having to earn the gross income needed to generate that after-tax amount. Ignoring house, I saw above that I only need to generate $24,000 of income per year total. The income taxes on that amount is very, very small. Using current numbers it might be less than 5% overall, with my marginal tax bracket at a mere 10% after taking out the personal exemptions and standard deductions.
But if I need to generate another $24,000 of income to cover housing ($2k per month in rent), then that additional $24k would be taxed at much higher rate of 15%. With state tax, the difference might be another 5%.
Try out this method with your own numbers, and see what happens. When I run the numbers like this, I know that I could retire much earlier if I moved to a cheaper place upon retirement. But is it worth it? It’s all about priorities…
File an Extension to Lower or Hedge Your Tax Bill
Think filing an extension is only if you haven’t finished your taxes? Think again! An extension is actually a powerful tool to lower your tax bill, or place a hedge against your taxable income next year. Tax Extension Taxes are due on April 15, but an extension will get you an extra six months to file. [...]
Podcast: Writing a Will by Ong Eu Jin
Here’s an audio interview with Ong Eu Jin on the things you should know when writing up your will. Enjoy! Source: Recorded from BFM.my
The Ways and Means of Coping with Emergencies
This is a guest post from Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a Canadian financial writer and host of the television series ‘Til Debt Do Us Part. Experts have been touting the importance of having an emergency fund since Moses was a lad. So why is it that so many people still don?t have enough (or any?) money set aside [...]
The Complexity of the Avocado
So during my time off, I’ve been heavily vested in my home garden. I decided I would take some avocado seeds from a few avocados I purchased recently and plant them to create a couple of fruit bearing trees. After a few weeks and no budding plants I decided to do [...]
Why You Should Put 20% Down When Buying a Home
The following is a guest post from the Virtual Money Coach. Here is a very good reason to try and save 20% of the purchase price as a downpayment on your next house. Most everyone is aware that if you...
Brochure and Business Card Giveaway
This week’s giveaway will be 1,000 free standard business cards for one reader and 500 standard sized brochures for another reader from Uprinting.com. They are an online printer and do business card printing and many other types of printing. Since there will be two winners this week you have double the chances of winning. To [...]
trade MONSTER Becomes First Stock Broker to Integrate Twitter
trade MONSTER has added a new feature to its stock broker trading platform giving users one-click access to tweeting any trade or stock pick they desire with ease.
The Costs of a Car Crash
While many were eating dinner on this Easter holiday, I spent Good Friday eating an airbag. My “better half” and I were driving along the highway past a big farm when an oncoming truck unleashed it’s rear dual wheels in our direction. Flying wheels are not something you want to see heading towards you on [...]
Dell Shares Look Excessively Cheap
It has been a long time since I can recall seeing a blue chip company like Dell (DELL) carry such a meager stock market valuation. It is true that Hewlett Packard (HPQ) has been stealing market share from Dell in recent years, and even overtook them as the world’s leading computer maker, but investors seem [...]
Earn Extra Money by Selling on Amazon
Over the last ten years, I amassed a sizable DVD collection. I collected everything from TV series to classic movies. But after these years of pointless purchases, I realized that what I’m sitting on is not a collection of DVDs, but of worthless dust. In the last three years, we haven’t watched a single DVD [...]
Spring Cleaning without Cleaning out the Bank Account
Spring cleaning is one of my favorite parts of spring. There is nothing quite like opening up the windows in our house and giving our house a good cleaning. A freshly cleaned home is so satisfying and it seems like it wouldn’t quite be Spring without my annual spring cleaning ritual. What [...]
The Marvel of New Technology - iPod As An Example
5 years ago, in 2004, I bought my first iPod (I’m a big spender - I’ve bought two over the years - one for me and one for my wife). I got a really great deal - the photo/video iPod I bought was the newest model with 60GB of storage, and regularly retailed for $499 [...]
Free Tax Deadline Extensions for Military Members
Did Tax Day come a little quickly for you this year? If so, you can file for a free extension on your taxes. Anyone can file for a tax extension, but it’s important to note that if you will owe taxes to the government, your taxes are due on April 15th, even if you filed [...]
Spring Break Equals (Almost) No Spending
We had Spring Break a couple of weeks ago and since I decided to stay at home I had a wonderful days of no spending. I ate a lot of cold meals (sandwiches and stuff like that) and did not drive or have to iron. This translated into no items being put on my credit [...]
Haven?t Tried Swagbucks Yet? Today Is Your Lucky Day!
A few months ago, I read about the Swagbucks search engine on another blog, and I thought about trying it, but I wasn’t convinced. I had tried “Search and Win” type search engines before, and they had always been spammy and given me all completely sponsored and irrelevant results. However, I kept seeing Swagbucks mentioned [...]
A Virus Ate My Computer
Literally. I’ve been internet-banned for several days just to clean it out and not spread it to others. But my spouse (the IT guy lol) certifies my computer as virus free now, so I can return largely unscathed. I think computer viruses are mean. Shame on you if you are a creator of them. I have a [...]
Netflix Review - online movie rental
I signed up for Netflix online movie rental a few weeks ago. So far we love it and are very happy with our decision and their service. I thought I’d share some details about Netflix with you and offer it up as a great way to potentially save money. We’re looking at it as one [...]
Don?t Let Money Ruin Your Marriage!
You found that perfect person who completes you that you want to spend the rest of your life with. Now you are getting married! It’s a big step and will be one of the biggest days of your life. Sharing your life with someone is a wonderful, intimate experience. But are you intimate enough? Have [...]Copyright © Free From Broke - A Personal Finance Blog Please visit for more great content!
Festival of Stocks at Stock Market Prognosticator
Kick off your week with this morning’s edition of the Festival of Stocks at Stock Market Prognosticator. This Festival featured my recent article on the Special Situations Real Money Portfolio. Of this week’s Festival of Stocks articles, I enjoyed reading Cheap Graham Stock Ideas at Old School Value best of all. After you polish off the Festival [...]
how to get rich by choosing the right house
In The Millionaire Next Door - one of my favorite personal finance books - the authors point out that most millionaires live in nice homes in modest neighborhoods. “It’s easier to accumulate wealth if you don’t live in a high-status neighborhood. … Perhaps you aren’t as wealthy as you should be because you traded much [...]
Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
People Are Hoping To Avoid Foreclosure Through Loan Modification This post series started a few days ago with a look at the “Making Home Affordable” program that the Obama administration passed earlier this year. In that post I gave an overview of the program, what it is designed to do, and who will qualify for help [...]Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Program Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ
Pertuity Direct Review
There is now another option in the peer-to-peer lending market besides Lending Club. Pertuity Direct is an online social finance company that brings lenders and borrowers together, taking expensive banks out of the middle, to deliver great rates. They offer competitive products in an easy, straightforward online process. Borrowers get low, fixed interest rates that are [...]
Helping Your Parents With Their Finances
About the author: Jeff Rose is a Certified Financial Planner™ and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, having served in the National Guard. His blog, Good Financial Cents, covers financial planning and investment related topics. As a kid, there’s no greater comfort in having your parents there to [...]Receive exclusive articles, tips and chances in future giveaways by signing up for the weekly Consumerism Commentary email newsletter.
Congrats to Allan Roth for Getting His Book Reviewed in the NY Times!
Allan Roth’s book, How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street*, was reviewed in Sunday’s New York Times! That’s pretty sweet if you ask me. Anyway, you can read the review here: Off the Shelf - Advice in Two New Books, but Not From Talking Heads. My friend Ron over at the Wisdom Journal also [...]
Goldman Sachs (GS) Hits The Cover Off The Ball
Were Wells Fargo (WFC) Earnings Worse Than They Seemed?
Melco Crown Raising Cash (MPEL, WYNN, LVS)
Investors Taking the Cuba Bet (CUBA)
Is Take-Two (TTWO) A Takeover Target Again
Did Someone Leak Gannett?s (GCI) Earnings?
Abercrombie & Fitch Loses Its Cool
Refiners and Oil Prices, Conundrum and Quagmire (VLO, MRO, TSO, WNR, XOM, CVX)
Genworth?s Worth? (GNW)
Citi Adds Microsoft (MSFT) to the Recommended List
Help! I Can?t Stick to My Trading Plan
Here’s a question I received over the weekend that I know is one a great many traders have. It’s about trading discipline. John Hi. My question is as follows: I have a couple of systems that have made good money on a stand alone basis over the past 6months or so. Long may it continue Yet, I continually throw [...]
Goldman Sachs Reports $1.8 Billion Profit
Oregon Unemployment Rate Ties Record High in 60+ Years
Another Story of Falling Apartment Rents
Mortgage Fraud: RICO Charges Filed Against Straw Buyers
Mortgage Fraud in 2008
Roubini and the Stress Test Scenarios
Biggest Changes in EPS Estimates Heading Into Earnings Season
Emerging Markets on a Tear?
Percentage of Stocks Above 50-Day Moving Averages
Mixed Signals on March Short Interest Report
Ever wonder how microcredit works under Islamic law?
How does finance work when falling Islamic law (Shariah)?A longstanding problem in the adoption of microfinance in the Arab world is adapting the programs to work for followers of Islam. Muslim Law (also called Shariah) has several tenets that contrad...
Life in Nimasac Guatemala
So, warning, this has NOTHING to do with microfinance. But, here are two videos that give a definite flavor of life here in Nimasac, Guatemala where I have spent the last two months as a Kiva Fellow with ASDIR, Kiva’s field partner in Totonicapan, Guatemala. K’iche is the predominant language spoken here. Many people have asked me [...]
US Taxpayers Collectively Free From 2009 Taxes on April 13th
Today, April 13th 2009, is the day in when working Americans have collectively earned enough income to pay their annual federal, state and local tax obligations. The calculation is performed each year by The Tax Foundation, which published its findings under its trademark name, Tax Freedom Day®. The date is of little importance to the [...]
Buy?em, Sell?em: The Food Market
Living in Bamenda, Cameroon is relatively inexpensive. Taking a taxi from one end of the city to the other can cost you a maximum of 250 CFAs (50 cents). Granted, with everything else, you have to sacrifice some luxuries. Using the taxi as an example, the driver, at times, will fit 7 passengers with him [...]
Things to Have Removed from your Credit Report
If you want to repair your credit quickly, there are a number of things that you can do to fix up your credit report. In general, there are some things on your credit report that really drag your credit score down. This is a look at the seven worst possible things that you can have [...]
Online Dating ? Part 3
When you join some of the expensive online dating sites you have to fill out a fairly extensive questionnaire. That would lead you to believe that they would match you pretty accurately with suitable candidates. This does not appear to be the case according to friends and colleagues who have discussed their experiences. As these [...]
In The Rally We Trust
Equities focus on the positive Wall Street preps for earnings news Is that recovery we see? Is the rally on sound footing? There are still plenty of shadows looming over the stockmarket As stocks rally and Feds circle, short sellers...
Free Song Downloads at Amazon MP3Here is a link that lists all of the free song downloads on Amazon MP3. Sort by category on the left sidebar. You’re not going to find the latest Kanye West song there, but take a look and try some out. Via FW.
Free 60-Day Membership to BJ?s Wholesale Club
If you visit this page and print out the coupon, you can get a free 60-day trial membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club. There appears to be no surcharge as they say you get “full member benefits”. BJ’s also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their memberships, but this might be less hassle. Via FW.
One trial membership per household. In-club only, so no online shopping. Click here for locations, mostly in the Eastern US.
New And Improved Chinese Poisons?
Did you buy a house during the housing boom? The drywall in your boom home may contain poisonous Chinese drywall. Did you furnish that home with new furniture? That furniture may contain Chinese chemicals that harm your skin! It looks like the Chinese poison train continues to chug along the United States from coast to coast. [...]
4/13/09 Stock Position Update - Down during an Up Market
Stock Options Basics, Part 2
In this series I’m covering the absolute basics of options. Note that I am not recommending the use of options is any way. I am simply trying to make you aware of how options work to increase your knowledge it the area of investing. Part 1 of this series covered basic terminology and a couple of [...]
What is Personal Finance?
If you think that’s a dumb question, you’re partly right. Partly wrong too, because I see a lot of people who do not understand that all too well. Whenever I tell acquaintances that I have a website on personal finance, the first and last question I get is, “Now, you can tell me where to INVEST” By [...]
CNN Money- Get the best college financial aid
Accepted to college and applying for financial aid? Gerri Willis from CNN Money assists you with comparing your financial aid offers in his recent article “Get the best college financial aid” The first item to look for according to Willis is the “Expected Family contribution.” This label outlines the dollar amount your family will be expected [...]
Why Consumer Confidence Is King
If there?s one thing the last 12 months have shown us, it?s that consumer confidence is king. Without it, everything tends to fall apart. Need an example? Consider the accounting rule known as mark?to?market. If you haven?t heard this phrase before, you?re not alone. Mark?to?market is one of those obscure ?banking terms? you?d probably never come [...]
The Boy Who Cried ?Bottom?
It seems that for the last two years I have heard one phrase uttered repeatedly. At real estate club meetings, by the spin-doctors of the Government or the spokespersons for various real estate groups it seems to be a constant refrain: “we are at the bottom of the market.” It has certainly been a long [...]This Article is Copyright © 2004-2009 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CVS 4/12 to 4/18
0 This is a great week to start CVS-ing if you have been standing in the sidelines. There are two free (after extra care bucks) items that we all can use: body wash and toothpaste. Both of the items also have coupons available allowing you to make a profit off your purchase. Here is my [...]
Ponzi Schemes by our Government (SS)
Where to Search for Homes Online
Zillow.com says they have 3,382,696 listings on