Secured credit cards and secured loans are an alternative to signing up for a regular credit card in order to build your credit history. I recently received the email below from a reader who is a recent college graduate and is looking to build up her credit history so she can buy a home in the [...]
In the next couple of hours, my Sitemeter visitor tracking will show that I’ll have my 500,000 visitor to Lazy Man and Money. Google Analytics shows there have been visitors from 197 countries – many that I’ve never heard of. Sadly, unlike the guy in the Bud Dry commercial, the Congo is one [...]
A look at people living outside our financial system.
Photo by diaper
We already know that we have between 10 and 15 million people who work in the U.S. illegally. Do they have a bank account? Very few do. Most fear without reason that banks will report them to the authorities. Many don’t speak English and don’t [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
Google 2008 Beijing Olympic Logos: How Google Celebrated the Event
So the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are over!
The past two weeks were pretty exciting, with all the sport events happening 6000 miles away. Right after the opening ceremony on 08/08/08, checking all the actions and scores and, of course, the [...]
Hopefully you are enjoying the last bit of summer! If you are stuck indoors for a bit, here are some great personal finance articles for you to browse through:
My Dollar Plan has continued with her early retirement announcement in “Leaving the Workforce at 29: Where Do I Go From Here?”
Frugal Dad explains Why You [...]
I neglected my blog reading this week, so it’s a more-sparse-than-usual roundup. I was busy at work, hurriedly assembling memos and spreadsheets for urgent meetings which resulted in the formation of committees to consider creating memos about spreadsheets tracking meetings… you get the picture.
Combine that with a big political week (Obama-Biden: change, backed up by [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
WaMu Promotion: 5.00% APY for 12-Month Online CD
I am not a fan of Certificate of Deposit (CD). In fact, the only CD I ever had was a 1-year $5,000 CD about 10 years ago with my local Summit Bank (which later became Fleet Bank, then Bank of America). Back [...]
If you’ve got a good amount of savings built up, a WTDirect Savings Account is one high yield savings option.
WTDirect is the new online division of the publicly traded bank and trust that is Wilmington Trust. It’s a new online bank that’s offering a high yield savings account with an APY of 3.31%.
The rate [...]
You don’t see this every day! We played “chicken” with both zebras.
Sometimes you just need to get away. A change of scenery, a different routine, and some quality, uninterrupted time with loved ones can work wonders when you are feeling stressed. Unfortunately, the demands of work and school often interrupt the best laid plans for [...]
What’s your favorite digital camera? Ours walked away while my wife and son were at the State Fair last week.
We don’t know if someone snatched it or if it just fell out of the stroller, either way we no longer have a camera.
The worst part was we had pictures from both a visit [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
WTDirect Promotion: Up to $250 Sign-On Bonus
WTDirect, an online bank that I covered a couple of times in the past, is now offering up to $250 sign-on bonus for new accounts. From now till September 5th, if you open a WTDirect Savings Account and keep your balance for at [...]
It is finally here. The long-awaited fantasy football draft for the 2008 season is this Sunday. After last season, I have a little revenge I need to take care of, so it will be fun. Of course, this is just the first draft of many in the coming week, but this one is the most [...]
As I tend to do, I’m going to throw out a few statistics from memory and not back them up with links. As part of my 6-posts-in-one-day project, this is post #3. Today one of my coworkers asked me about my high-yield savings account, since he was keeping his cash in one of those [...]
I got the September issue of Money magazine yesterday and, as always, there are a few eye-opening articles. Every time I feel like I know everything about personal finance, I find that there’s so much I have left to learn. One particular article, on page 24 is titled, “Why You Can’t Teach Money.”
The [...]
Awhile back we took advantage of the free money offer from Revolution Money Exchange. They were offering a $25 signup bonus. Even though that promotion has apparently ended, they are now offering another $15 in free money!
$15 Bonus to Use RevolutionCard
Last weekend their “RevolutionCard” arrived in the mail with an offer for a free $15! [...]
Jetting off to an exotic location surrounded by your closest friends and family may not sound like a cheap way to tie the knot, but the truth is it can actually cost far less than a traditional wedding.
If you are interested in planning a destination wedding, then here are eight tips to save you [...]
I was tagged for a six word memoir a while back and I didn’t respond, but now I’m all in. I’m going to get disgusting here, people – if you are faint of heart, don’t read further. Here’s my six word memoir, padded a bit:
Things were better OUT than IN.
Over the last two [...]
Photo courtesy of laffy4k
Things are getting soggy here in the south with Fay deciding to take up residency in the state of Florida. We badly needed the rain, but this is a little excessive. The worst thing about the rain is that I didn’t get our grass mowed in time, so our yard will be [...]
Cheap Banking and Books
A little birdie has told me that PC Financial is about to have some serious competition. In the fall, Citizens Bank will be offering a no fee chequing account with no minimum balanace! Including in the no fee account are free cheques, interac and ATM transactions. You can find [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
American Eagle Gold Coin in Short Supply?
Did you buy any gold coin recently? I didn’t, but it looks like there’s some kind of shortage of gold coins.
Gold has gone through a volatile period lately as the U.S. dollar rebounded strongly against the Euro and commodities, including oil and precious [...]
Profiling the best company in the world.
I’ve had the fortune to work at some great companies, which offered perks that were almost as good as the salaries they gave out. What’s it like at these places? For successful, top-notch companies, rewards abound (to keep employees loyal); and here are some of the extras that [...]
Money is one of the leading causes for martial problems and ultimately for divorce. Although money can’t make you happy, it can certainly make you miserable, especially when you have to manage it along with your spouse.
Couples that can learn how to manage their money together have a much better chance for a successful and enjoyable [...]
I love replying to each and every one of you. Although, as some of you noticed, and I admitted recently on twitter, I really suck at email! I’m not sure why, but I often like to think about a topic for awhile before I respond.
And then I find that after I finally reply with [...]
Follow these tips to save some big money at restaurants
I thought I’d compile a few tips for saving money at restaurants. Before I get started I’d like to recognize a couple of things. First, one of the best way to save money at restaurants is to avoid them. Cooking at home is [...]
Photo courtesy of pleasantpointinn
The following is a guest post from Sara of OnSimplicity.net, one of my personal favorites in the simple living genre. Be sure to visit her site, and sign up for free updates via feed or email while you are there.
So you’ve been working incredibly hard at being frugal, but your bank account looks no better [...]
