The Money Writers

I had to rearrange my schedule today. I subscribe to the rate watch at Pentagon Federal and they sent me an email that the 5/5 ARM rate had dropped to 4.0% with no points. And it’s a jumbo!

Are you kidding? Is it April Fool’s Day? Whatever the reason, I had to drop everything and apply for a refinance.

I’ve been considering refinancing lately, and I’ve been debating between the Easy Orange mortgage at ING Direct and the Pentagon Federal product. They’re two places that you can get a jumbo mortgage at conforming rates with reasonable closing costs. But there’s no more debate; the rate today at Penfed sealed the deal.

I’ve highlighted in the past the 5/5 ARM and how it’s the perfect ten year mortgage since the break even point for the 5/5 ARM versus a fixed 30 year loan is just after 10 years.

We locked in the 4.0% rate (I didn’t bother with paying any points) and we’ll save $350 each month from our old 5.125% rate. After about $1200 in closing costs we’ll break even in 4 months.

I’m still in shock! I’ve been a subscriber to the rate watch for years, and I don’t ever remember seeing a lower rate. Have we finally hit bottom? I don’t know, but I do know I had to have that rate when I saw it!

Want to shop around and see how the Penfed rates compare? You can get multiple quotes from to see how it stacks up.

Normally, this article wouldn’t go out until tomorrow morning, but I wanted to get it out tonight in case anyone else wants to lock in the rate before the night is over. Who knows what the rates will be in the morning…

Don’t forget, if you are a first time home buyer, you can combine it with the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit for a fantastic deal!

Investing

• Paying for College or Saving for Retirement: The Generation X Balancing Act
• Asset Allocation of Our Mutual Fund Investments
• One Year Investment Performance: Why Dollar Cost Averaging Works
• Pay Off Debt or Invest?

Taxes

• Federal Income Tax Withholding Too Low This Year?
• Making Tax Installment Payments
• Tax Diversification — Why It Pays To Tax Diversify

By the Numbers

• How to Lower Your Cable Bill in 10 Minutes
• 10 Ways to Save Money on Car Ownership
• 22 Tools You Should Keep in Your Car
• 5 Ways To Rescue Your Rotten Resume

And More!

• How to Poison Attitudes Towards Work in Young Children
• Starting An Opportunity Fund
• How Bankruptcy Affects Your Financial Reputation
• Carnival of Personal Finance

Written by Madison

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Make the best move for your retirement plan: why you should rollover to an IRA right away.
I felt a little guilty when I realized I still had to get moving on consolidating my various 401K accounts into a rollover IRA. You see, I was once a former independent technical consultant (one of those “traveling” [...]

Saving For Retirement? Best Move For Your Retirement Plan

Or should I say “useless”?
I wrote a lengthy review of CreditKarma back in March. At that time, I thought I could use the free service to monitor my credit score because, though it isn’t really the FICO score, I can still use the relative changes to have an idea on how my credit score moves. [...]

Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• Citi Forward Card 11,000 Bonus ThankYou Points
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in August

Is CreditKarma Useful?

According to Yahoo News yesterday, book retailer Borders will offer free Wi-Fi connection in nearly 500 stores across the nation in an effort to attract more potential customers to its stores.
Coffee shop chain Starbucks already has free wireless service for its in-store customers. However, to use their free wireless network, you have to register your [...]

Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• Citi Forward Card 11,000 Bonus ThankYou Points
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in August

Borders to Offer Free Wi-Fi Connection in Its Stores

Career planning may be the only thing between you and total insanity! Take my word for it, planning your career can help you find a new job that you’ll enjoy more than the one you have now. 
Career planning can help you get a better job that pays more, teaches you new skills, requires you [...]

Life is full of moments that leave a bad taste in our mouths; just turn on the news and you are met with daily tales of cruelty and weird happenings. But life is also about wonderful, precious moments and when these beautiful moments come around, we want to celebrate them.

The union of two people in love, the birth of a new family member, the birthday of a person we hold dear to us; these are the times when we want to show our appreciation and gratitude for having these people in our lives.

What we wish to express is priceless, but we like to express it through purchasing gifts at costs that can bust our budgets. Fortunately, there is a way to generously express our emotions while keeping inside the realms of our budgets.

Anticipate Purchasing Needs

Some events are predictable, such as your best friend’s birthday, your anniversary, or Christmas. Take a moment to sit down and write a list of all of the predictable special occasions over the next year that will occur.

Chances are you’ve seen something while shopping that you thought might be perfect for “so-and-so”. Start filling in this list with the gifts you have seen already that would be perfect for a person and an occasion. Keep your occasion list around to refresh your memory before heading to stores.

Build Gift-Purchasing into Your Budget

One reason why special occasions can be budget busters is because they appear as unpredictable expenses in our budgets. You can get around this by building them into your monthly budget.

It is helpful to know an approximate amount you want to spend on occasions throughout the year, so sit down and come up with a rough estimate. Then divide this by 12, and you have the amount of money each month that you have designated towards making gift purchases.

Time is on Your Side

By knowing what gifts you want to purchase and for whom (from the list you made in the first step), and by designating an amount you can spend each month (from step two), you can now shop at the most opportune times throughout the year.

This puts you at a huge advantage. Not only can you spend longer picking out the perfect gift for that special someone, but you now have built-in time to wait for the item to go on sale! There are always large sales and deep discounts at the end of a season. For example, purchase camping equipment at the end of summer, or sweaters at the end of winter.

Designate a Space for Your Gifts

Now that you will be shopping year round for gifts (how fun!), you will need to designate an area to hide your gifts so that loved ones will not find them and ruin their surprise! Try an attic, box in the basement, pushing them under the bed, or any other forgotten area in your home.

Using these steps should take the stress out of shopping for special occasions and holidays because you have given yourself the gift of time and an allocated budget. This will allow you to freely enjoy giving of yourself, which is the true idea behind giving gifts.

Written by Amanda

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Welcome to the Million Dollar Journey Sept 2009 Net Worth Update – The Pension Buy Back Edition.
As I’ve mentioned in passing before, my wife has a defined benefit pension plan that she contributes to through her work with the government.  As she was on maternity leave last year, her work recently gave her the opportunity [...]

The other day I had problems with the old van I drive to and from work. A friend saw me struggling to get it started in my employer’s parking lot, and the next day said, “Man, I felt bad watching try to get the old van running. When do you think you’ll be able to [...]

Post by Frugal Dad

Have you seen what Bernie Madoff has been up to lately? Apparently on the wrong end of a bull! Got this from the BBC News where it describes this photo as follows:

Chinese artist Chen Wenling critiques the global financial crisis in What You See Might Not Be Real, on display at a [...]

Bernard Madoff and The Bull, A Sculpture

Fall is upon us and that means cooler weather is setting in. With this colder weather comes higher energy costs when heating your home, additional chores to take care of around the house, and the potential for damage to your home thanks to the weather. So, before the really cold weather arrives you should use [...]

About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.

Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home That Can Save You Money and Protect Your Family

Did you get an allowance from your parents when you were young? I remember my first allowance, a whopping $2 a week! The amount went up over the years as I aged, but the allowance was always mine to spend or save as I pleased.

Fast forward to adulthood. At one time my spending got out of control. No matter how much I earned, I spent more, so I used credit cards to make up the shortfall. Credit cards charged interest, which led to more debt, which meant I had to borrow more…  Sound familiar?

If you are having trouble controlling your spending you might want to consider giving yourself an allowance. This worked wonders because it taught me to control my spending and build up my savings. Painlessly.

Give Yourself an Allowance

Here is how it can work for you:

1. Give yourself a set amount each week. In my case I withdrew $50 in cash every week. I arrived at that amount by tracking my incidental spending over a period of two weeks. Whatever the amount, it should be reasonable and an absolute limit.
2. Use your allowance for all incidental spending. Incidental spending might include any meals or snacks out of the house, movies, books, unplanned purchases, etc. Don’t include items that are already budgeted for such as groceries, gas, etc.
3. At the end of the week save what is left over. Deposit any excess into a savings account. This could be your emergency account or just a “fun” account you set up for this purpose. If there is nothing left over that is OK too!
4. Make it a game. At first it was tough to control my spending and keep it under the limit. Over time I rose to the challenge by making it a game of sorts. Every week my goal was to save as much of the allowance as I could. The reward was that at the end of the year I could use what I had saved for anything I wanted. At the end of the first year I had over $600 in the savings account (which I applied towards my debt).

Advantages of an Allowance

The advantages of putting yourself on a weekly allowance are:

1. Freedom to spend within reason. One of the best aspects of having a weekly allowance is it eliminates the need to micro-budget every aspect of your financial life. Budgets often fail because people feel they are too constraining and don’t allow for any flexibility. An allowance gives you some flexibility with a limit attached.
2. Teaches you to control spending. Habits are a huge factor in the way humans behave. By getting into the habit of only spending so much a week you set yourself up to maintain this habit even if you eliminate the allowance later.
3. Reinforces the habit of saving. Saving the leftover allowance is a way of teaching yourself that saving money is just as easy as spending it. Once you start saving on a regular basis it becomes another habit that is difficult to stop.

Allowance Tips and Tricks

Don’t Cheat! The only way an allowance will work is if you are 100% honest as you use it. If you cheat, you are cheating yourself of the opportunity to relinquish bad habits for good ones.

Save even more! Do you have a budget for other types of spending, like for groceries or gas each month? Treat it the same way and deposit any leftover amount into a savings account. Make it a game and reward yourself in some way. My guess is that seeing the amount you saved over the course of the year will be reward enough!

After the allowance. Now that I am out of debt I no longer have an allowance because it isn’t necessary. Interestingly, I still spend $50 or less a week on incidentals. Having an allowance taught me that I don’t need to spend, and that saving is something fun and worthwhile to do.

Have you tried giving yourself an allowance to control your spending? How did it work out for you?

Written by Brian

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The plight of Hansel and Gretel is known to many but have you ever heard the sad story of Gansel and Hetel?
Two middle class kids “adrift” in the consumerist shopping mall culture take a bath in debt and almost ruin their lives… can they be saved?
Bad Health & Bad Luck
Gansel and Hetel had it rough [...]

As I have done a good few credit card reviews in the past, I’ve received several emails regarding the Scotia Momentum cash back Visa (link). Usually when so many readers ask about the same product, there has to be something of value there. So off I went to dig up some information to [...]

The following guest post is from Neal Frankle of Wealth Pilgrim. Wealth Pilgrim is on my short list of daily reads. After reading the post, head over to Neal’s site and sign up to receive his posts.
You probably don’t suck at anything….but your mind tells you that you do.
I just finished reading Adam Baker’s great post on [...]

Post by Frugal Dad

As a contract consultant for the past five years, I’ve been amazed at the common perception that I must spend 90% of my time marketing. I do have some help – the staffing firms I work with identify some clients.  But if you’ve ever thought about being a consultant, don’t assume it means hours and [...]

how to market contract consulting services is an original article from the website brip blap.

Does it always seem that your money never goes as far as it should? One of the main culprits are the slow money leaks that we all have. These are generally recurring monthly expenses for a subscription or service that by itself appears quite small, but when you factor in dozens of these potential leaks [...]

About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.

Plug Your Money Leaks and Save Hundreds of Dollars Painlessly

Every year, we hear about yet another place that has suffered some kind of disaster or another: from terrorist attacks to tornadoes, wild hurricanes and earthquakes, we face the wrath of both nature and man, and accept this as part of our existence. For me, I worry about dry summers and the possibility [...]

Do You Have An Emergency Plan When Disaster Strikes?

If you are a frequent reader of personal finance articles, you are familiar with some of the most commonly cited ways to save money – bring your lunch to work, install a programmable thermostat, cancel your cable, etc. In general, choosing the most frugal option is good for your bottom line. But sometimes, spending a little more might still help you out.

When I make less-than-frugal choices, I consider what my other options are. If I pay a little more for something when the cheaper option was easy, available, and a good substitute, paying more was a bad choice. But if I pay more for something when it saves me more in the long run or stops me from spending even more, the extra money is worth it. I’ve compiled a list of my five favorite things to “splurge” on.

Things Worth the Extra Expense

1. Frozen Dinners: Frozen meals are more expensive per-serving than anything you can make yourself from scratch. But I don’t use frozen meals as a substitute for cooking – I keep them in the freezer for those days when I get home late from work or am feeling a little under the weather. In the past, I would have ordered in. Instead, I pop a frozen meal in the microwave or oven to save me a few dollars on takeout.
2. Cable TV: Many people view cable as an unnecessary expense, and it probably is. But I frequently curl up at home to watch my favorite shows, and like having access to news whenever I want it. I also really enjoy watching free on-demand movies – and even on those rare occasions when I pay $5 for a movie it’s much cheaper than a night at the theater. Without cable, I think I would be bored at home and find myself going out for entertainment (including movies…and candy…and popcorn…) far more often. If cable keeps you from spending elsewhere, think twice before you cancel it.
3. Magazine Subscriptions: The best way to read magazine articles is online, in the library, or using free subscriptions – all these options are free! I enjoy reading magazines in print and am always tempted to purchase my favorites after browsing in the grocery-store checkout line. Since I would buy them anyway, a subscription is cheaper. You can only read so many magazines per week or month, so think twice about how many you subscribe to. But don’t be afraid to order a few of your very favorites, especially if you might find coupons or other savings within.
4. Annual fees/Entertainment Books/Discount Cards: This is kind of three things in one, but the bottom line is the same – annual fees on rewards credit cards, entertainment books, and store/website discount cards are all examples of paying to earn/save money. In general, you should be wary of paying someone else to save you money. There are lots of money-saving programs (such as accelerated mortgage programs) that charge you to do what you can do yourself for free. But sometimes, spending a little to save a lot is worth it.

   If you travel frequently on a particular airline, a branded credit card for that airline can get you to a free flight pretty quickly – but you have to be willing to pay an annual fee. An Entertainment Book will give you coupons for everything from oil changes to your favorite restaurant – look through one before you purchase it and see if it provides coupons for places you go anyway. As far as discount cards, many businesses will allow you to pay a flat amount for the right to get a certain percentage off of each purchase for the next year. Again, if it’s a place you go often, this could be worth it. The bottom line with these kinds of offers is that if what you will pay exceeds what you will earn or save, the initial outlay is a smart one.

5. Small Home Enhancements: In general, things like candles or decorative pillows may not be the best use of your money. But if these or similar items will help you view your home as a haven, you’re more likely to find reasons to stay home – and therefore avoid going out and spending money. Warm blankets or even a bottle of wine can fall in this same category. Don’t view this as free reign to buy anything you’ve ever wanted for your house or apartment – but recognize that small comforts can pay big dividends.

What are some areas in your life where you can look past the most frugal choice to save more in the long run?

Written by Jill

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As a parent, you are responsible for teaching your kids how to manage money. No matter what their age, children should start learning how to manage money throughout their childhood. Children taught these lesson turn tend to turn into financially responsible adults instead of jobless and in debt adults sitting on their parents’ couches watching [...]

Back in August 2008, I designed a diversified, all-ETF portfolio before the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the huge sell-off of the stock market. The goal I had in my mind when I built the portfolio was to have a portfolio that covers a wide range of asset classes such that it gives me the [...]

Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• Citi Forward Card 11,000 Bonus ThankYou Points
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in August

All ETF Portfolio Performance – The Power of Dollar Cost Averaging

Yes, leasing a car is frowned upon in the personal finance realm from a purely financial perspective, but there are those that swear by leasing a car despite the numbers.  Leases generally have higher interest rates, restrictions on the vehicle (limited kms, tire wear, scratches etc), not to mention a perpetual car payment. On the [...]

One could probably build a small library for the books written on the subject of financial independence. It’s a subject many of us like to fantasize about, but few of us will see materialize in our lifetimes. Why? Mostly because we allow competing priorities, egos and financial peer pressure dictate how we spend, and save, [...]

Post by Frugal Dad

This week, my wife and I are enjoying a vacation in Aruba. We’ve already implemented a few basic ways to save money in Aruba. One tip that I’d add is that you can give Texas de Brazil your e-mail address and get 50% discounts on your entire bill. That tip works at [...]

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Image from moneygoddesstips.com

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I’ve had a busy week, with the in-laws visiting and the external Big 4 auditors a-peckin’ away at work, but I did make a little bit of time for a walk around the blog world. I read a lot of blogs and articles, and I’d divide all of what I read into three categories:  [...]

linklings, around the blogworld edition is an original article from the website brip blap.