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Posted
Oct 22 2007, 05:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We thought we'd said our last word on gardening as the season ends for many people. But Frugal Panda's excellent tips are too good not to share. Did you know you can use vinegar or boiling water to control weeds? Vinegar, egg shells and dish detergent are alternatives to chemical pesticides. Favor perennials over annuals, Panda advises, and start plants from seed. Just about any container will do. (Is there no end of uses for vinegar? Another blog we found lists 64 , including this handy nugget: keeping chickens from pecking each other.)
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Posted
Nov 05 2007, 02:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
JLP chimes in about news of casualties of the subprime mortgage debacle in a short but sweet post at AllFinancialMatters called "I don't understand severance pay." He notes the huge compensation of Stan O'Neal, the ousted CEO at Merrill Lynch ($161.5 million in restricted stock, options and retirement benefits) and Charles Prince, who quit as head of Citigroup Inc. (and "appears to be eligible to depart with cash and equity valued at roughly $31 million," said The Wall Street Journal). "When most people get fired from a job, they walk out with a box full of their stuff, not a nice monetary gift. Why is it not the same for a CEO?" JLP asks.
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Posted
Nov 16 2007, 03:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
LifeEdit.net provides some very sound advice to people in their 20s about managing money: Save for retirement, pay off student loans as soon as you can, budget and keep your credit score high. But there's more than one way to skin this cat. The Retirement Hobo is 24 years old, and he's already retired.
He's aware that some readers might be incredulous. "At a first glance, you might think my blog about (extremely) early retirement is about a lazy guy trying to find a loophole in the system so he can keep on being lazy. I assure you, that is not the case," he writes in his first post, called, appropriately, "Newly retired."
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Posted
Jan 07 2008, 05:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We admire wellheeled, who blogs at Well-Heeled, With A Mission. This 20-something has decided a little self-improvement can be fun, reasonably priced, and can even contribute to the greater good. Her goals are as ambitious as volunteering at the museum (cost: $50 membership fee, if her application is accepted) and as simple as making her own bed every morning (cost: free), something her mom always nagged her to do.
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Posted
Jan 08 2008, 11:56 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Do you have the urge to confess your financial blunders but don't have an audience? Will it make you feel better to read that others spend more recklessly or have less for retirement than you do? Geezeo makes it possible with a handy site to post money confessions. We thank The Consumerist for pointing out this service and listing some favorites, including: "I just paid for a pay-per-view movie that I know I have but just didn't feel like looking for it," and "My 6-year-old daughter this morning: 'Why can't I have a credit card like mom's?' Yikes!"
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Posted
Jan 08 2008, 04:07 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Much has been written about the widening income gap in the U.S. and elsewhere. More needs to be said about the narrowing consumption gap and its first cousin -- massive consumer debt, writes Dong at AskDong. Paraphrasing an article in The Economist, Dong says you can think about it like this: In the early 1900s, the Vanderbilts had German sports cars and electric refrigerators. Regular folks walked and might have had a block of ice. Today's rich people live in huge mansions and fly in private jets; regular folks live in McMansions and fly in jets. This, Dong says, comes at a tremendous cost, one he says The Economist article didn't adequately explore.
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Posted
Jan 09 2008, 02:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Plenty of people have paid big bucks to live in gated communities, thinking they've insulated themselves from some of life's problems. Author Barbara Ehrenreich, in a post at Barbara's Blog and AlterNet, said that isn't necessarily so. "There are studies indicating that there are no differences in the crime in gated communities and non-gated communities," she wrote. They also aren't immune to the recent wave of foreclosures. She correctly observes that "there's no fence high enough to keep out the repo man."
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Posted
Jan 09 2008, 05:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Have you seen this episode of "The Office"? Michael, worried about his money (or lack thereof), tells officemates he's declaring bankruptcy. Oscar schools Michael on money, using a three-column spreadsheet to illustrate Michael's spending. One column is for necessities, one is for wants, and the third and largest is what he has spent on things he doesn't need. We can learn a lot from this, writes RacerX of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money. "In other words," RacerX writes, "a trip to Europe is a desire, contributing to my IRA so I don't eat dog food when I am 70 is a want, much less making sure I have my own shelter (a need)."
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Posted
Jan 10 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ana's thoughts upon reaching her 35th birthday will sound familiar to many people: "Looking back, I've been a bit of a wild child. I shudder to think of how much money I have spent over the years on alcohol, cigarettes and assorted junk that has long been thrown out," she writes at DebtFree-Revolution. She also has a mere $391 in her retirement account.
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Posted
Jan 10 2008, 04:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Earlier today we almost bought blogger Ana's line that she needs "Investing for Complete and Utter Idiots." That is until we came across The Great Credit Card Debate between Ana, of DebtFree-Revolution fame, and Madison of My Dollar Plan. If you need a solid education about the slick ways of credit card companies, read Ana's first post in the debate. You'll learn all about double-cycle billing, rate jacking and universal default, plus the "move-the-due-date game." Little Ms. Clueless she's not. And neither is Madison, who counters with "25 reasons to love credit cards."
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