The Money Writers

Last week while on an airplane, I finally caught up on some reading. I brought three books with me… Millionaire By Thirty, You’re Broke Because You Want To Be, and 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self Employed Individuals.
While reading You’re Broke Because You Want To Be, Larry Winget wrote something that stuck with me.  Loosely paraphrased it was “if you want to be rich, you need to make the decision to be rich.” I thought that it sounded pretty obvious, perhaps a little too obvious for the average person to think about. I tried to think […]

I’m the assistant to the travelling secretary. I’m going on the road trips with them! I’ll be on the plane… I’m working in Yankee Stadium! This is a dream, I’m busting, Jerry, I’m busting! — George Costanza
I’m excited… like George I’m busting. A friend and I have a business idea that we think simply can’t fail. Like of the best ideas out there, it just fell into our lap. We’ve sat down and crunched the numbers about 30 different ways and each time, it’s profitable… very profitable. Our costs could potentially be low. The value […]

The recently expired merger offer from Microsoft to Yahoo got me thinking about two things: what went wrong and what can we learn from it. On a lot of levels the merger makes a lot of sense. Microsoft needs to ramp up their search capabilities to compete with Google. Acquiring Yahoo would give them a boost in the right direction. There are a lot of other parts to Yahoo’s business that would also help Microsoft’s cause. So why isn’t Microhoo up and battling against Google today?
Corporate Culture Clash
Nearly ten years ago, I worked for an […]

Chrysler is touting a new promotion that promises to make $2.99 gas available to Americans who buy a new car from them. The timing couldn’t be better. With gas averaging over $4.00 in my area of San Francisco, I can personally say that I’ve witnessed some concerned people. So is Chrysler’s promotion a good deal?
Chrysler’s Offer in Detail
Chrysler is offering a gas credit card. Use the card where you buy gas and your statement will reflect the $2.99 rate (Chrysler pays the difference so the gas station still gets their money). The offer is only […]

[This particular article is a little lacking on personal finance. Sometimes the personal is more important than the finance - this is one of those days. Please give me the benefit of the doubt for a day or two to bring it back to personal finance.]
A few months back I bought a used iPod Nano off of Craigslist. It’s a first generation 2GB version and it cost me $60. I filled it up with some of my favorite albums and listen to it for a couple of hours a day. A couple of minutes ago, […]

Think back to a shopping trip where you almost made a purchase but wisely walked away because you couldn’t afford it.  Bad news, the marketing gurus have found a way to stop that from happening!  When your better judgment screams NO, they use the “Buy Now, Pay Later” sales tactic to ease you into a big […]

Have you ever bought something in haste simply because you were afraid it would be too late if you didn’t pull the trigger immediately? If so, then you’ve been bitten by the first tactic in the Sales Tactic Revealed series, “Don’t Miss Out”.  Sellers use this strategy to spring you into action by creating the illusion you’re […]