Received a message from UPromise today that they are currently running a promotion program which will give new members who join the program before the end $25 bonus after making an online purchase through their online shopping center.
I have been using UPromise and the UPromise credit card from Citi since 2004 and have earned [...]
It has now been a month and a half since I resigned from my job. Last Friday, I stopped to think, what I have accomplished with all this time? I can sum it up in just a two words: “not much.” This may surprise some of my regular readers who have realized [...]
Now that the season is turning and we’re entering into what most will say is the busiest time of the year, I’m finding myself pretty short on time with a whole lot of work ahead at the home front. For the most part, I’ve been doing some Christmas shopping, playing hostess to some international [...]
Well, this is it. The last day of November, and we’re only one short month away from 2008. I don’t know about you, but this year has gone by incredibly fast. This time of year is always a bit hectic, from holidays, family gatherings, to making those last minute financial adjustments before the new [...]
With college expenses on the rise, along with the interest rates on student loans, many individuals are looking for ways to reduce college debt. From personal experience, I have come up with three easy ways to reduce college debt:
1. Pay Quarterly Interest
The availability of scholarships is declining; so many people are depending on student loans [...]
A reader sent in the following question about managing taxes on personal donations. I’ve never been on the receiving end of donations so I don’t know the tax implications or the best strategy to reduce taxes on the money.
It sounds like an awfully sad situation; I can definitely see why they would want to [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I described a particularly interesting interview that I faced during my ongoing job hunt. Throughout the entire job search process, I had several other interesting learning experiences and thought it may be appropriate to condense some of them in this blog post.
Below is a compilation of some salient points [...]
When I was 8 years old, my parents bought the family an IBM PCjr. It was a great computer and one that I’ll always remember fondly. My brother showed me how to get to the BASIC interpreter and my parents bought programming books. And boy did I program. You name it, [...]
I’m personally not that big on gifts, but lots of people enjoy giving and receiving stuff from each other during various events throughout the year, so I thought to offer a few thoughts on the subject of reciprocal gifting.
The time for giving is coming up and we’ll soon all be finding ourselves wondering about what [...]
Investors who look for incomes from diversified international equities have one more option to choose from.
Early last week, First Trust launched a new global dividend ETF, the Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index Fund, joining other international dividend-paying ETFs. The fund started trading on November 27th under ticker symbol FGD. The underlying index of [...]
Zopa, a peer-to-peer lending company with a long history across the Atlantic, has sent me (and probably countless others) an e-mail saying that they are going live with their service “within a few days.” I haven’t been keeping track, but it’s probably been more than a year since they announced it was coming to [...]
Being a self-employed single mom of two, I have no guarantee of a certain monthly income, especially during the holidays. After all, my clients are also feeling the budget crunch of Christmas, so they are less likely to require my services.
Unfortunately for my children, it also means that Mama’s Christmas list has to be [...]
If you read the title and were a little confused about when I ran a contest, I don’t blame you. Many months ago I ran a contest. I’ve been waiting until the prizes were given out to announce the winners. I had hoped to include another mention of the book, so that [...]
I encountered some interesting facts and trivia about the business and stock trading world:
1st Truth: Bill Gates makes over $30 million each night while he sleeps.
2nd Truth: The most expensive stock in the world is Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA). The stock as of today trades for $134,215 per share.
3rd Truth: On an average day, over $6.6 [...]
It is hard to ignore all of the news surrounding real estate, subprime mortgages, and foreclosure rates, but even with such bad news, is there a bright spot to it all? You can’t deny the fact that this situation is having a significant impact on our economy and many homeowners, but as with everything, [...]
This is the third part of the 2007 Consumer Reports Ultimate Money Guide. The first two parts discussed shopping & spending and borrowing & debt. This part focuses on investing related issues.
Steps to a golden financial future
Mind your spending: Create a spending plan to track monthly spending. If spending exceeds income, find ways to cut [...]
Do not shoot the messenger! Although I intellectually understand the necessity of paying my share of income tax, I too would rather not have the expense. As soon as the holidays are over, income tax information is deposited in my mailbox. Even though taxes are not due until April 15th, I [...]
With Abu Dhabi investing 7.5 billion of his oil money in Citigroup, it’s time to ask the question… is it time to buy? Rumors are circulating that this isn’t the only deal in the works. CNBC open speculated that someone might invest significant amounts in homebuilders in the coming weeks. I believe [...]
Here’s an update on my plan to retire from my day job — crossing my fingers that I’ll be making it happen!
A couple of months ago, I was contemplating a change in our lives and it was then only a seed of thought. Then something happened a few weeks after that, which made me [...]
First of all, what are defensive stocks? According to Investorwords.com:
A stock that tends to remain stable under difficult economic conditions. Defensive stocks include food, tobacco, oil, and utilities. These stocks hold up in hard times because demand does not decrease as dramatically as it may in other sectors. Defensive stocks tend to lag behind the [...]
We spent our Thanksgiving weekend in New Orleans and did what people are supposed to do in New Orleans - eat jambalaya, eat beignets, travel in trams streetcars (see Lauren’s comment below), walk on Bourbon Street, watch alligators, and just take it easy.
There were a few interesting episodes regarding our stay - [...]
Is your credit card your friend or foe? Is your mailbox inundated with tempting offers, from competing financial institutions, for additional credit? Are you tempted to check out the offer, or do you drop the envelop straight into the shredder?
Have you noticed that the more credit card debt you experience, more offers flood the [...]
While I was away on vacation I missed the huge announcement from J.D. of Get Rich Slowly. He’s quitting his day job to pursue his dreams of writing. If that sounds a little familiar perhaps it should. He’s also launching a health site called Get Fit Slowly, which might not seem too [...]
Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life talked about ways to increase your income so you can get ahead.
Are Americans saving too much for retirement? Jeremy at Generation X Finance had a post that Yes, at least according to one man’s account.
Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money shared his experience on how to [...]
With the current volatility in the market, it causes people to begin questioning their investments and wondering where we’re headed. In my profession, I have to work with uneasy clients daily, and it can be difficult to remind them that the stock market is constantly moving and generally goes through cycles. The market can’t [...]
