Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
More Disturbing Facts on Banks
When the FDIC released its second quarter bank profile (PDF file) last week, the number of problem banks jumping from 90 a quarter ago to 117 isn’t the only fact that causes concerns. Digging a little deeper into the report, you will find there are [...]
More about blogging for money… and fun!
I’d like the chance to acknowledge the awesome coverage we’ve received lately from some great sources. The Digerati Life got mentioned in a few articles and threads, where I had the chance to spill a few “secrets” (stuff I don’t normally discuss on this blog).
More On [...]
Do you often wonder where you money goes? Do you struggle to save money after all of your bills are paid? The problem is your budget, or lack of a budget. Less than 5% of the households in the United States keep a consistent household budget, and that is why 95% of [...]
Happy Labour Day Weekend! Since it’s a long weekend, I have compiled a large list of great personal finance reads to catch up on. I’m going to take a break and enjoy the rest of the weekend. So no post Monday but back to regular programming on Tuesday with a book giveaway!
Consumerism [...]
I’m heading on an extended vacation in Sydney, Australia and Phuket, Thailand for a few weeks… or at least that’s the plan. It appears that I need Hurricane Gustav to cooperate a little. My wife, being in the military is on notice that she may be necessary for the relief work. I [...]
One of the first things on the minds of newlyweds is buying a house. This is ironic, because most young newlywed couples aren’t in a good financial position to buy a house. Buying a house is a huge endeavor, and you must have SOME cash to buy it. The days of getting [...]
About six months ago I started putting together a “Be a Blogger” series of posts that recorded some of my thoughts on starting a blog, writing for the web, etc. As I said in the inaugural post, I’m certainly no expert, but felt perhaps others interested in blogging could learn from my mistakes. In the [...]
I didn’t get around posting on Friday due a massive and almost unbearable frustration bordering on fury. New furniture - finally purchased to replace our sagging, stained and old living room set - was promised for Thursday evening. In anticipation, we gave away and hauled to the dumpster our current set. Guess what [...]
Tired of your old shoebox? Here’s a simple system to keep financial records in order.
Like many small business owners out there, I’m always much more enthusiastic about the actual service I provide than in the back-end, record-keeping tasks I have to do to keep my business humming along smoothly. But over time, I [...]
I first want to apologize for the lack of updates in the past week. I knew it was going to be a busy week, but I never expected all of this to happen at once. First, the good news. It looks like our first child is on the way. It has been an incredibly exciting [...]
Have you ever shopped at Amazon and wished you could get your item right away? Usually the price of shipping kills the deal and by the time you wait for it, you might not need it anymore.
That’s where Amazon Prime comes in. Free 2 day shipping. Although unless you buy a lot from Amazon, [...]
Our Honda CRV had the compressor rod in the air conditioner shatter two days ago. We took it into the dealer and apparently it’s a frequent problem with 2003 and 2004 CRV’s and will cost around $2100 to fix.
Paying for QualityThe reason we spend more to buy Honda’s is because they’re known for their quality [...]
Pressed for time, so just a few favorites from the past week. More to follow later in the weekend.
5 Ways to Take Time Off Work. I’m always amazed at the number of people who have maxed out vacation accrual, or are even at risk of losing vacation time at their jobs. Get out of the [...]
Welcome to the recurring monthly net worth update - The August 2008 edition.
This summer is turning out to be a little expensive. As predicted a few months back, now that my wife is back on her feet and settled into the baby routine, she is now in home decorating mode! Of course with [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Authorized Users Will Be Allowed in FICO Score Calculation
This is a good news for people with poor credit score or just started building their own credit history.
Last year, when Fair Issac, the creator of FICO credit score, announced that it no longer considers authorized user accounts when calculating FICO [...]
A Carnival Hopping We Will Go
You’ll find the highlights of the Beijing 2008 Olympics interspersed with great entries from the Carnival of Personal Finance over at Broke Grad Student this week. Here’s a taste of the latest from the financial blogosphere:
What is Your Number? @ Retired at 47
How To Save Money on Prescriptions @ [...]
Since I announced that I quit my job and plan to leave the workforce at 29, you have been very encouraging! So it’s only natural that you have lots of questions about how it is going to work.
I would like to hear more about your cash flow situation. Has your side income grown to [...]
Although many people realize that smoking is bad for your health, few realize just how big of an impact it can have on your wallet. If you are finding it difficult to quit smoking the following information may just change your mind. Let’s take a look at just how expensive smoking can be.
The actual cost [...]
With all the money spent on your wedding the last thing you want to do is break the bank on your honeymoon. You still want it to be a beautiful, romantic trip to remember though! Here are a seven ways to get the most out of your honeymoon without spending a fortune:
Make a budget first [...]
Our old, original thermostat
I’ve always wanted to install a programmable thermostat, but have been a little intimidated by the thought of any DIY project that involves wires. What can I say, I’m a chicken when it comes to anything electrical. After reading a few “How-to” articles online I summoned the courage to check out a [...]
At work today, a fellow consultant expressed amazement that I was planning to take Thursday off after having taken Monday off. He couldn’t understand how I was able to afford to take two days off in an average week - let alone two weeks before I plan on going on vacation.
photo credit: Jay Dugger
The [...]
For those of you just joining us, this is my portfolio that is leveraged with money borrowed from my home equity line of credit (HELOC). As the money borrowed is used to invest, the interest charged is tax deductible. For more detail, check out the modified smith manoeuvre strategy.
Onto the business at hand. [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Reminder: $70 TradeKing Bonus Still Available
Just a quick reminder. There are a few more days left to take advantage of this $50+$20 bonus offer.
Tonight, I was about to send out the first batch of bonuses I received from TradeKing to those who used my referrals to get a TradeKing [...]
Do you know how much you can save with the right gas credit card? Should you care? Maybe so, especially if you realize that different cards can pay out varying amounts of rewards and bonuses based on your spending patterns. I reviewed this gas credit card survey by CreditCardClients.com and was struck [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
FDIC Problem Banks List Grew to 117 Last Quarter
When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) released its second quarter Quarterly Bank Profile yesterday, it didn’t have a lot of good news to offer. In fact, the news is pretty bad if you are concerned about the financial soundness of [...]
