August has come and gone in what feels like record time, but since this Friday Finance Findings comes at the very end of the month I’d like to take the time to highlight and thank the top five readers who submitted comments throughout the month:
Brad (8)
Steve Austin (8)
Webomatica (5)
Chief Family Officer (5)
MoneyNing (5)
I’m [...]
Having worked at a total of ten jobs throughout the last couple of decades, I’ve happily collected some friends, fun workplace memories along with a few 401K accounts. What I can’t believe is that even after all these years, I’ve held on to these 401K accounts as if they were special souvenirs of each [...]
A couple of days ago, I received an email from Mike regarding my credit card arbitrage:
I was just wondering how you were able to get 100 K onto your credit cards (cash advances??) … I transfer every $ from my credit card bills (i buy everything i can with credit) to a 0% card then [...]
I often wonder about the irony of subprime lending – whether it’s made available through mortgage or through credit cards or through any other source of credit. I mean, people with bad credit are the very people who should be staying away from subprime borrowing. These people are already in the subprime category [...]
Are people wasting their money when they pay a company to repair their credit? This question came up today when I discovered a coworker had previously worked at a credit repair company.
Credit Repair Services ProvidedBased on what my co-worker learned in his time with the credit restoration company they did not provide a service that [...]
With the beginning of the September just a day away, I thought I’d push the monthly alternative income update up one day rather than back 3 or 4 for the long weekend and my Save Money Monday. Last month, the magic word was “perspective” as most of the gains just offset the emergency [...]
I intended to publish this earlier, but simply forgot about it (.. yeah, just forgot). So, I am just going to stick with the “midweek” in the title and you can assume that I published this on Wednesday.
Upgrading My Living Room Entertainment, Part 2: Extended Warranty by Flexo @ Consumerism Commentary. Flexo [...]
I was at my local bank the other day and picked up a copy of their quarterly investment newsletter to see what they had to say. The latest was the “Summer” issue which comes out sometime in May. The newsletters usually some decent information regarding latest tax laws and portfolio diversification reminders, but at [...]
This is what you call: “really loving where you live.”
This photo tells the story of how some residents felt about giving up their home. When approached by big business or big developers or the government, they make a stance and refuse to give up where they live.
It all started [...]
Yesterday, I posted an entry on credit score with a couple of items that I feel are important in getting a good score from my own experience. Last night at home, I went through several credit reports with credit score I obtained in the past few years, trying to find out what I have done [...]
If a wealthy retired corporate executive gave you retirement advice would be thankful or feel like they were rubbing your nose it in?
Executive PrivilegeOur most recent company newsletter featured several former corporate executives that have retired from the business to pursue their life’s ambitions. I had mixed feelings as I read the article in my [...]
Money articles I like:
Saving Explained has 7 tips to keep you motivation no savings on track. It’s always easy to get started. What’s difficult is doing it day after day, year after year.
Online Savings Blogs posted 11 online banking features you want to have. When I choose an online bank, no feature is attractive if [...]
The FREE Schick Quattro shaver that I posted a while ago appears to be still available as I received another email regarding the event this morning. If you can use one, try this link to claim yours. The offer will end on October 8, 2007, but they may run out of free shavers much earlier.
Sponsored [...]
Earlier on this blog, I have actively supported the concept of assigning higher priorities to bigger expenses in your life to improve your financial situation. However, every now and then, it helps to look at the smaller things that might be steadily leaking money from wallet.
Occasional indulgences are perfectly fine, but if you are [...]
When I checked my credit score early this month, I was very happy to see it inch toward the 800 mark, despite the huge balance and the large number of accounts on file. I don’t know if it could help push my score from 788 to over 800 if I pay off all the balance [...]
The Carnival of Personal Finance rolled into Free Money Finance’s doorstep a few days ago. Here are a few submissions I enjoyed:
7 Helpful Tips When Moving @ Gather Little By Little
Very Happy With Illinois 529 Savings Plan @ Financial Dominance
A Reader Asks #6 @ Art Dinkin’s Moment On Money
Ah… The Joys of Home Ownership [...]
If you are a regular reader you know I don’t usually write reviews of other sites. I also don’t accept payment for reviews, so this is review is completely “unsponsored.” I’ve never corresponded with the site’s owner, Brian Lee and he has no knowledge that I am writing this review.
The site I’d [...]
Having someone steal your identity is bad enough, it really sucks when you loan it out to someone else and they do something stupid with it. A username and password are often all that’s needed to assume someone’s identity on the Internet, lending yours out can turn out to be an expensive or embarrassing mistake.
Rouge [...]
It’s BRIC, not BRICK!
For investors looking for growth outside US and other developed economies, emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) offer great opportunities. With 2007 estimated real GDP growth at 3.7%, 6.7%, 9.2%, and 10.7%, respectively (according to indexmundi.com), these countries just can’t be ignored. There are many options for US [...]
When times are tough and you can’t find the money to pay all of your expenses, where do you turn and how do you decide who gets paid? Of course, in a perfect world we would all have sufficient emergency funds to cover these types of situations, but many people are faced with this [...]
So you think it’s hot?
It’s my favorite time of year but in some parts of the country, it’s sweltering. Some heat waves have arrived in some cities and it’s not been pleasant. You may be desperate enough to try something like this, but resist the urge.
Let me make it clear: [...]
… Then you probably have been through more than a dozen panic attacks and at least one major heart attack within the last 10 years.
Here is why. Look at how the S&P 500 index (SPY Exchange Traded Fund) has performed during the last 10 years:
It certainly doesn’t look like a place to [...]
Recently, Trent from The Simple Dollar, one of the best personal finance bloggers I read wrote, Basic Investing In A Down Market (Or Any Time You Feel Nervous). In it he too a question from a reader, Lila, who was nervous about her 401K investments in this market. Trent suggested that she [...]
We have some junk in our portfolio, junk bonds that is. About 5% of our portfolio is invested in junk bonds and today I’m taking a closer look at them due to their poor performance this year.
What Makes Them Junky?When a company wants to sell bonds to raise money but their debt isn’t deemed “investment-grade” [...]
Have you ever heard a co-worker complain about their job then follow it up with something about quitting once they win the lottery? I feel bad for these people and would love to crawl into their head to read their thoughts. Do they really think they’ll win the lottery? If their life plan is based [...]
