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Posted
Sep 28 2009, 04:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The first car owned by Paul Van Lierop, the FiscalGeek, was a 1977 AMC Gremlin, presented to him for his 16th birthday. The year was 1989. If cars are a personal statement, it was a disaster.
"'Wayne's World' had not come out," Paul wrote. "AMC Gremlins, Pacers or Hornets were definitely not cool. I was actually laughed at by scores of kids the day I drove it into the parking lot of our high school."
Why would he now insist that his own kids' first cars will be equally used and unhip? He listed seven good reasons in a post called "Why my kids will drive a piece of crap." It's a fun read and also prompted many readers to reminisce about their first vehicles.
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Posted
Sep 28 2009, 09:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from David Weliver at Money Under 30.
For today's information workers, offices don't make sense. Why commute in rush-hour traffic to sit in a cube and write, research, and make phone calls -- all things you could do anywhere? For many workers, ending -- or at least reducing -- daily treks to the office may be as simple as asking their employer. Especially in challenging economic times when employers can't always offer raises, companies may actually see telecommuting as an affordable way to keep employees happy.
If you have ever considered telecommuting but don't know how to approach your manager about working from home, here's a look at things to consider before requesting a telecommuting arrangement and a way to propose working remotely to your manager in the best possible way.
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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 07:13 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
I can still remember my first ATM card. I was a teenager in high school when ATM and debit cards first arrived on the scene. I had a passbook savings account with our local bank, and they issued a debit card that I could use to make deposits and withdrawals to and from my account.
Taking money out of my account when the bank was closed was nothing short of amazing. But my ATM card of the 1980s was a lot different from debit and prepaid cards for teens today.
The most important difference was that it was not part of the Visa or MasterCard debit network. When ATM cards first came out, they could be used only at a bank automatic teller machine. I couldn't use the card at a store. And of course there was no Internet, so we couldn't check our account online, either. On top of that, the debit card didn't work with all ATM machines. You had to make sure that the ATM was on the same network as your bank, or the card wouldn't work.
With the advent of the Internet and the Visa and MasterCard debit networks, a whole new generation of financial products was born. And recently, companies have begun using those tools to market debit and prepaid cards and other financial products to teens.
Let's look at a few of those new financial products (some recently reviewed by Smart Money), and then I'd like to hear your view on these products.
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Posted
Jun 16 2009, 09:16 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Outdoor gear retailer REI wants kids to explore the outdoors and it’s providing incentives with its Passport to Adventure program. Kids ages 5-12 can win prizes (and not just some trinkets -- we’re talking cool REI kids’ gear) when they keep an adventure journal, documenting hikes, biking and other outdoor adventures.
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Posted
Jun 09 2009, 11:07 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
With summer months stretching into the horizon, it may be a good time to plan a few home projects. Here’s a suggestion: Use photos to create your own calendars and learning tools. What better way to teach the alphabet than to create your own with photos and text? Project Alphabet gives plenty of examples of how people have personalized this learning experience.
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Posted
Jun 01 2009, 05:35 PM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
You and your family may be ready for swimming, baseball and relaxing in the yard, but there comes a time when the mind wants its own treat. How about spending a lazy summer day at a museum? There are lots of opportunities for free museum tickets if you’re willing to do a little research.
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Posted
May 29 2009, 10:22 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Summer offers time for learning adventures -- and what better way to teach your children the value of frugality than to introduce them to the free fun and learning opportunities online? A good place to start is Free Things for Kids. This site is brimming with links to freebies ranging from washable tattoos to endangered species coloring books.
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Posted
May 07 2009, 04:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The five friends of "That One Caveman" who are expecting must not know he's an ace personal-finance blogger because not one has asked him how to raise a new baby in an affordable fashion.
The father of two is ready with some answers in case they do. Speaking of fashion, he says no to designer burp cloths, at $7 a pop. (We didn't know such things existed.) "Seven dollars for a 27-square-inch piece of colored material on which your child will be depositing various bodily fluids? That's a big waste of money," he says.
In a post at One Caveman's Financial Journey, he lists eight pricey things new parents can do without. Being a good blogger, he also provides less expensive alternatives.
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Posted
May 04 2009, 11:34 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
With the lazy days of summer just around the corner, many parents are plotting to create educational opportunities for their kids that don’t appear as such. Barnes & Noble has risen to the challenge with a summer reading program that promises a free book for kids in grades 1-6 who read eight books and record their reactions to the stories in a reading journal. The bookstore giant has gone to a bit of trouble to create this summer program. Graphics and text in the downloadable reading journal feature Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and a free autographed copy of Jackson’s “The Last Olympian” will be given out as a sweepstakes prize. But, as you might surmise, it’s always good to read the small print.
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Posted
Apr 28 2009, 02:18 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
How much did the tooth fairy pay for your baby teeth? We recall a dime or perhaps a quarter.
Lisa Spinelli at Greener Pastures: Personal Finance investigated and discovered shocking inflation: WebMD reported $2.09 per tooth last year -- a 22% increase from the previous year's average. Most parents still paid $1 per tooth, but the average ballooned because a growing number were shelling out a generous $5.
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