It was really difficult to decide on a title for this article. My other thoughts were “Surprise Honey, I Decided to Postpone Our Retirement” or the much more boring, “I Still Don’t Like Lexus’ Holiday Commercials.”
Last year I wrote about how I will boycott Lexus for likely the rest of my life. I [...]
Now that I have some spare time, I’ve been trying to get a few projects off the ground. One of those projects is launching a Carnival of Peer-to-Peer Lending. Today, I can finally say that I’ve made some headway. I’d like to announce the Carnival of Peer-to-Peer Lending. The website currently [...]
Today I’m happy to direct you to a post I made over at the Prosper Blog that has a few quick tips for helping you get out of debt. From time to time I will be posting over there in addition to my regular schedule here as well as my financial planning column [...]
[In this series, I’m reviewing some of my better posts of 2007. If you started reading this blog in the middle of the year, this is a good time to catch up.]
I started last year with $50 of alternative income for the month. I’m amazed to realize that I’ve made $1800 for the [...]
There is no shortage of investment information available, so with that I thought it would be interesting to see where most people go when researching stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs. I have to admit, I am a Morningstar fan when it comes to getting detailed information, but for just getting a quick quote or [...]
From time to time, I chat with other readers and bloggers. The other day, I had an interesting chat with Steve from Brip Blap. While we chatted about a number of topics, two really stuck through in my mind… blogging and retirement.
For the last two and half months, I have not worked a [...]
A few days ago, I was watching a reality television program showing video footage of Black Friday shoppers in action. At first, I thought I was going to have to switch channels or turn off the set. As I watched in shock and disbelief people literally trampled each other to obtain a limited sale [...]
From time to time, my wife and I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner. In the summer we tend to drink white wines, but in the winter we lean towards reds. It’s very relaxing and studies show that it’s healthy in moderation. However, there’s no escaping the fact that wine [...]
On Tuesday the Fed moved one step in the right direction towards reducing the shady lending practices that have put this country in a difficult situation. If you haven’t heard, the real estate market and financial sector has been in a lot of trouble recently due to some questionable lending practices combined with consumer [...]
I doubt anyone would contest the idea that Christmas is becoming more commercialized than in the past. Christmas decorations adorn the stores before Halloween has come and gone.
For many people, the rush to start the holiday season did not bring warm feelings of holiday cheer. Instead, the mental cash register starts ringing [...]
[The article below is from Dollar Guides. Dollar Guides is a paid directory of financial resources. I haven’t looked at or used many of those resources and can not recommend them one way or the other.]
As most of us know, your 401(k) is a retirement plan that many employers offer. Simply, part [...]
About a month ago I had posted an announcement regarding the first of six podcasts (actually just individual MP3 files) that I put together finally went live as part of the About.com and Charles Schwab special that addresses some financial concerns for Generation X. Today you can find three additional audio segments that I [...]
Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I used to, until I realized I usually blew it within the first 2-3 weeks. I hate making promises I cannot keep, even if the vows are only to me.
However, I definitely need to do something, if I want to budget for a better 2008. A self-employed [...]
It’s the middle of the month, so it’s time to review my net worth - or lack there of. Fortunately, despite not having a day job anymore, I was very pleased to see some gains in the bottom line. Last month I finished with $214K. This month, my net worth is $219K.
Here [...]
If you take a drive up in the mountains, a frequent sign you will see says something like, “Caution. Deer crossing.” Do you ignore the sign? Of course not! You have been warned to keep alert, to avoid an accident. You know that if you hit a deer, it will be very costly [...]
The clock is ticking and you only have about a week left to find those perfect gifts for Christmas. While it may seem impossible to get everything you want, you don’t have to resort to giving gift cards or cash this year. There are plenty of ideas out there that can help you find [...]
If something needs maintenance or repair in your home or apartment do you hire someone to do the work or do it yourself? A lot of it probably depends on what your skills are and how much time you have. As Trent observes, if your time is valuable and you’re looking to maximize it then [...]
I opened up this month’s Money Magazine and found a surprise. On page 68, there’s a mention to two of my favorite blogs: Get Rich Slowly and Consumerism Commentary. If you’ve been reading this site for some time, it should be no surprise that the magazine singled them out.
Money Magazine didn’t particularly have [...]
If you have seen/read The Christmas Carol, you already know that Scrooge is the Bad guy. Well, I contend that Scrooge is not all bad, and here is why:
Yes, Scrooge could have put a little extra coal on the fire; he could have allowed Mr. Crachit a little more time off, and been more [...]
As anticipated, this past week was about as bad as it gets. Between driving through the ice storm, waking up at 4am every morning, and staying at a crappy hotel, I’m glad to be home. I can’t wait for the weekend so I can catch up on sleep and finally regain some energy. But [...]
Over the last 18 months, I’ve spent more than a few words on peer-to-peer lending. Most of that has been about the first to market Prosper. Occasionally, readers have asked me what I thought about Lending Club. I couldn’t give a good opinion for a few reasons. First, they launched the [...]
Asset allocation is simply creating a portfolio with holdings among a number of different assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, or cash. The goal of asset allocation is to create a portfolio in a way that meets your particular needs, minimize risk, and meets investment objectives.
The three major asset allocation strategies are:
Strategic asset [...]
The holidays are quickly approaching and that means shopping season is in high gear. Good luck going to a mall. It’s too crowded for my taste. I’ll be getting almost all of my gifts on Amazon and Ebay. For the rest, I’ll pick up gift cards from the local drugstore. [...]
If you have a video camera, you can earn some extra money this holiday season, and it has nothing to do with YouTube’s recent announcement. I was looking for some video product reviews while Christmas shopping online last night and ran across a site named ExpoTV. They will pay you to review a product on [...]
[The following is a guest post from Matt Wolfe. He authors the How I Will Be Rich. I encourage you to subscribe to his RSS feed.]
Spend some time alone.
How often do you really get a chance to get away and be alone in silence? If you are like most people, [...]
