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Posted
Jun 25 2008, 06:40 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Driving his pickup is now out of the question since $75 didn't even buy three-quarters of a tank -- and his plan to limit his driving to locations downhill from home has a serious flaw. So Kyle at Rather Be Shopping came up with "Frugality in practice (sorta): 5 great new uses for my truck." No. 1 on the list is "storage, baby!" His pickup has a shell, which makes it perfect for storing the lawn mower and other things you'd normally keep in a shed. Bonus: The gas tank serves as a storage tank for fuel for the mower. (Honestly, folks, complaining about gas prices gets us nowhere, so we might as well have a few laughs.)
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Financial news can be dangerous to the health of your investment portfolio. I spent some time recently reading articles about the stock market. What I found was mostly hysterical hype ("Gasp! Dow Jones Industrials tumble 400 points!"). All the financial stories seemed to be written as if our investment horizons were days, not years. No wonder people panic when the stock market hits a rocky patch. But do daily market movements -- even 400-point drops -- really matter? How important is up-to-date financial news to the average investor?
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 12:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Cash is great, but consider other gifts to start the new graduate on a path to financial health that aren't so easy come, easy go. So says Money Smart Life. "The problem, as I remember it, is that cash is a hard thing to hold on to once you're out of school and thrust into the job hunt or working world," he writes in a post called "Gift ideas for college grads for a financial head start." We particularly liked his suggestion to set up an investment matching program.
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Posted
May 21 2008, 05:58 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. Mistakes are a part of life. We all make them. But like turning lemons into lemonade, we can benefit from our mistakes and make the most of them, or we can run from them and pretend they don't exist. This hit home for me recently in an e-mail exchange I had with a reader. In a recent post about peer-to-peer lending, I made a mistake.
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Posted
May 08 2008, 08:32 PM
by
Karen Datko
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The cost of a first-class stamp is going up yet again on May 12, by one penny to be exact. The smart shopper will lock in the soon-to-be-departed 41-cent rate for a standard letter  by stocking up on the forever stamp. The U.S. Postal Service introduced the stamp about a year ago so people can avoid having to buy those annoying 1- or 2-cent stamps every time the rates go up. The forever stamps you buy now for 41 cents will cover the postage for a letter weighing no more than an ounce no matter how high the first-class rate climbs. Love may not be forever, but this stamp is.
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Posted
May 06 2008, 07:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Having grown up on Long Island, I didn't have many opportunities to watch NASCAR on television, so I never truly understood the intricacies of the sport. Since college, I've come to appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR and the skill it requires. Last weekend I was watching a few laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and I finally understood why NASCAR fans love the sport.
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Posted
May 05 2008, 04:08 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. "Saving is the key to wealth," I wrote recently while trumpeting the extraordinary power of compound interest. "If you do not spend less than you earn, and if you do not save the difference, you cannot build the wealth you desire." The younger you are when you begin saving, the more time compounding has to work in your favor, and the wealthier you can become. "The next best thing to starting early," I wrote, "is starting now." Other options A few readers noted that while the mathematics of compounding makes sense, it's not motivational for those too old to take advantage of its full force. "This is pretty depressing for those of us who spent our 20s with practically no income thanks to universities," wrote one reader. Her sentiments were echoed by several others.
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Posted
May 01 2008, 09:11 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. As I sit down to write about the value of investing in self-confidence, I keep picturing one of my closest friends. She's got a lot going for her, but she often finds reasons to think that she's a bad or unworthy person. She often doesn't have the self-confidence to step up and grab the ring, even though her talents have entitled her to it.
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Posted
Apr 25 2008, 08:04 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. My big, overarching dream is to achieve true financial independence. By that, I mean that I have enough money saved and invested that I can live off the interest and investment income -- a point that I've discussed before as the crossover point. This is a huge goal, one that I won't achieve for many years no matter what path I choose. I dream about achieving this goal about the time my final child graduates from high school -- roughly 25 years from now.
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Posted
Apr 14 2008, 01:10 PM
by
Karen Datko
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A new survey shows that only 48.3% of high school seniors could correctly answer basic questions about personal finance. That's the worst score in the six times the survey has been conducted. For instance, 48% realize that a person who pays only the minimum due on a credit card each month will end up paying more in finance charges than those who pay more than the minimum. In fact, 18% thought the person who pays off the entire balance each month will pay the most finance charges. Actually, Steve at brip blap, who posted about the survey results (to read the post, click here) made public by the Federal Reserve last week, thinks there is reason for optimism in these answers. He goes on a little political rant to make his point.
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