Archive for May, 2008

Top Commentators and Traffic Sources for May 2008

Another month has rolled around and I’d like to once more remind (okay….encourage… ) new readers to receive a convenient and automatic dose of articles from this site by clicking on this orange button:
It’s easy!
Or you can achieve the same thing by adding us to your reader or email [...]

International Stock Investing – Are You Diversifying Your Portfolio Globally?

How much of your money is in domestic stocks? What percentage of your portfolio is invested internationally?  If you’re like many average investors in the US the majority of your investments are in US companies.
Global Investing SeminarI attended a seminar on global investing yesterday and it really made me think a little harder about our [...]

TransUnion Settlement to Let You Get Free Credit Score

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
According to a MarketWatch report yesterday, TransUnion, one of the three major credit report agencies, has settled a class action lawsuit which could mean free credit score and credit monitoring service for up to 9 months for millions. The lawsuit accused that TransUnion sold customer information to third parties [...]

More Weekend Reading – May 31, 2008

Lazy Man and Money announces Two Years of Lazy Man and Money. Within the announcement, he confesses that he’s had thoughts of calling it quits. I think that a lot of consistent bloggers face burnout at one point or another.
The Digerati Life writes about a family friend who purchased an extremely risky $1 [...]

Friday Finance Findings For May 30th

I love music, and I often take it for granted, but I realized how much I enjoy it earlier this week. I love high quality sound, and for about the last five years, I’ve always enjoyed the sound that comes from my Klipsch Promedia 5.1 computer sound system. It is fantastic, but on Tuesday when [...]

From Bad Investing Habits To Investing Sins: Many Unhappy Returns

Wondering why you’re short on your investment returns?

There’s no shortage of bad habits that investors keep committing in order to assure themselves years of mediocre long term results. For proof, just check out this post I wrote some time ago, explaining why most investors do not make money in the stock market. [...]

A New Look

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
If you get the contents of this blog via a feed reader, chances are you haven’t visited the site for some time (though I do have some related post links in my feed). If that’s the case, then I invite you to come back for a look because the [...]

Amazon Friday Sale: Hooded Towel Edition

Here are some interesting (not necessarily good purchases) that can be had on Amazon’s Friday Sale. If you want to take advantage you should act today.

Hooded Towel – I didn’t know that towels could come with hoods. Now all my towels have hood envy. Why is amazon suggesting that I buy this towel with a Betty Crocker double-sided non-stick griddle?
My Recommendation – Spot Bot Carpet Cleaner – We got one of these for our wedding. Our only complaint is that it works too well. The spot is so clean when it’s done that it doesn’t [...]

Free Magazines: Finance, Business, and More!

It’s everyone’s favorite day of the week! Friday! And around here, it’s time to celebrate Free Money Friday!
To change it up this week, instead of the common bank signup bonuses, this week it’s time for free magazines!
There’s a list of lots of magazines. I went through the list and found the following business and finance [...]

Economic Stimulus Rebate Payment in the Bank

I had been checking on our economic stimulus check status regularly at the beginning of this month but hadn’t looked for an update in a few weeks.
I was happy to see that our rebate check actually came through via direct deposit about a week and a half ago.  We’re using the check to help fund [...]

Change is Bad, Change is Good, Change is Coming!

Some people like change, other people don’t.  You could argue that change is distracting and slows you down but you can also argue that without change we’d all still be living in caves.
Personally change makes me nervous but I know that it’s necessary for growth.  I’ve been working on a few things related to this site [...]

linklings, jellyfishy edition

We spent a completely non-frugal day with Little Buddy and Pumpkin at the New York Aquarium today. I find it strange that a “semi-public” attraction requires $12 for parking, $10 per adult and $2.50 for a bottle of water. So be it – it was fun.  At the same time, I am also [...]

Another Giveaway, Cheap Books and Weekend Reading – May 30, 2008

$25 Amazon/Chapters Gift Card Giveaway
It seems to be a pattern as of late that we start off the weekend with a giveaway. No, it’s not a book this time, but a $25 Amazon or Chapters gift card/certificate.
What is this contest from? Readers who sign up for free online cash back discounts under my affiliate [...]

Join Focus Group, Get Paid

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
A couple of months ago I joined a online focus group, Focus Forward, hoping to make a few bucks in my spare time. I used to do a lot of online surveys, making a couple of hundreds a month. Not a big money, but nice to have. The [...]

Spam Sales on the Rise, Common Sense at an All-Time Low

There is no shortage of absurd measures people will take in hopes of saving a few dollars, but I think this one takes the cake. I first heard the story on NPR this morning, where the sales of Spam are rapidly increasing thanks to more people buying the food-like substance as a substitute for higher [...]

Musings On Car Loans, Credit Cards and Dave Ramsey @ The Carnivals

Naughty me, I wasn’t able to get around to joining the carnivals this week, but I did get a chance to find out what was cooking in the financial blogosphere anyway.
The Carnival of Personal Finance #154 was at Canadian Dream: Free At 45. Some great articles that jumped out at me :

Twelve Year [...]

Poll: Are Gas Prices Changing Your Driving Habits or Vacation Plans?

Gas prices are certainly one of the hottest topics right now, and for good reason. Many places are now seeing $4.00 a gallon or higher. This is certainly expensive, and it is also a psychological barrier. We had these same discussions when gas was expected to break $2 a gallon, and $3, so this time [...]

Two Years of Lazy Man and Money

Earlier this month, while you weren’t looking, Lazy Man and Money celebrated it’s two year birthday.
The Good and The Bad
The other day, I looked at some of my first posts and I laughed and cried about the roller coaster of good and bad ideas I’ve had when starting out. Two years ago, I was seriously considering buying a condo hotel in Las Vegas. Good thing I didn’t because a year later the W in Las Vegas was canceled. I rationalized my decision this way:
In the end, I feel that it’s probably pure speculation. Something that you buy [...]

How to Talk about Money in any Stage in a Relationship

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
The following is a guest post from Dr. Bonnie Eaker Weil, author of the book, Financial Infidelity: Seven Steps to Conquering the #1 Relationship Wrecker. Dr. Weil has been an internationally acclaimed relationship therapist for thirty years. New York magazine named her one of the city’s top therapists [...]

Create Your Own Dollar Plan: Step 5

Now that you’ve aligned your goals and your values it’s time to fit them in with the rest of your monthly budget. This piece is actually easier than you would think since you’ve put so much thought into the work you’ve done up to this point.
If you’re joining us in progress, here’s the work [...]

Save Money on Gas By Learning How to Ride the Bus

If you could save a lot of money on gas by trying something new would the hassle of learning a new system be worth the cost savings to you?  I imagine several years ago most people would have answered no but with the high price of fuel everyone is looking for tips on how to [...]

invest in what you know

Imagine you have $500,000 in cash and a mortgage of $400,000 – and no other debt of any sort. Your mortgage is at a low rate and fixed for 30 years. Should you pay it off? This subject is debated endlessly – whether paying off your mortgage early is a good [...]

May 2008 Net Worth Update (+3.12%)

It’s the end of month financial checkup! Lets see, where do we start?
On the income front, my wife finally started getting her maternity benefits along with the monthly UCCB payments. Even though the benefits are much less than her regular paycheck, they help take some of the pressure off.
On the expense side of [...]

ShareBuilder $25 Promotion Code

Original post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Got this offer from MyPoints.
If you want to open a ShareBuilder account, then use promo code SBMP25 to receive a $25 bonus plus 550 points from MyPoints. To get the bonus, a new account must be opened and at least one security must be purchased. Once these conditions are [...]

Bad Investment? Losing The Million Dollar House, Literally

Last weekend, we got a chance to catch up with some family friends (Mr. and Mrs. B.) during a nice sit down dinner with our family. We got to swapping stories on real estate and business for a little bit, and it was as invigorating as we always expect it to be. The [...]

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