Money, Matter, and More MusingsMoney, Matter, and More MusingsDiscussions on money making, money management, personal finance, debt, credit cards, interest rates, and other financial matters. The blog focuses on financial issues related to youth. Articles
Best Buy Gives Awesome Tips On Academic Success To College Students And The
2007-08-10 15:40:00 Did I say “academic success”? Sorry, I meant “shoving consumerist lifestyles down the already-choked-by-debt throats of Americans.” I was visiting a local Best Buy store to pick up some blank CDs, when I saw this “Back to School Tech List” displayed near the customer service desk. It starts with a nice Lifehacker-style title: “Top 15 ... More About: Academic , College , Students , Tips , Awesome
Top Posts From The Month Of July
2007-08-09 19:48:00 Here are some of the top posts from the month of July that generated interest. Buying A Car With Cash: Smart Or Not? (36 comments) Think About Your Finances Before Having (More) Children (35 comments) Life After Spending A Ton Of Money On A Car (35 comments) 10 Simple Steps To Becoming Wealthy (27 ... More About: Posts , Month , Mont
More, More, More, More ? And Then Some More
2007-08-08 20:44:00 We never seem to have enough money… ever. At least two other blogger friends recently addressed this issue, with reference to this New York Times article about millionaires who don’t feel *rich*, and expressed somewhat similar thoughts. Lazy @ Lazy Man and Money says: It?s human nature to want to live in the style of those in ... More About: Some , Then
I Am Happy When The Market Goes Down
2007-08-07 23:40:00 I am not a fancy stock market trader and my current practical knowledge about stock trading does not extend much beyond the “buy and hold” strategy of investing. A few months ago, I mentioned about my almost-all-cash portfolio. Slowly, but surely, I am trying to move some of the cash into the stock market. Because ... More About: Market , Happy , The Mark , Goes
How Mad Can Jim Cramer Get?
2007-08-07 14:40:00 For those who missed the action, here is a piece of it. He is either faking it (not uncommon on American television) or he is pretty near to having a heart attack. We should probably put Jim Cram er , Bill Poole, and Ben Bernanke on The Jerry Springer Show someday. interest rates, odds and ends, personal finance, stuff
An Elephant For A Dollar Down And Easy Weekly Payments
2007-08-06 15:28:00 Think over this statement for a while: The only reason a great many American families don?t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments. - Mad Magazine Probably, people don’t realize it, but one such elephant is already being sold to a ... More About: Dollar , Weekly , Easy , Elephant , Doll
Fill In The Blanks - Only If You Are An Adult
2007-08-05 16:00:00 Here is an interesting exercise for those who are more than 18 years old. All of the incomplete statements below are taken either from PBS.org or from certain articles in New York Times [stuff published between 2000 and 2004]. Fill the blanks to the best of your knowledge. On the Internet, ______ is one of the ... More About: Adult
The Sunday Review #32: Mini Carnival Edition
2007-08-05 14:34:00 This one almost turned out to be a carnival in itself. Consider the large number of links in this post as a reflection on the growing size of the personal finance blogging community. Tips, remarks, experiences, and observations The New Person At Work Is Getting Paid More Than I Am! How Can I Handle ... More About: Carnival , Review , Sunday , Mini , Edition
Bought Steering Wheel Lock - Crap Or Not?
2007-08-04 22:30:00 Technically, a title like this belongs to Cap @ Stop Buying Crap . However, I am going to borrow it for the time being to address the issue of “The Club” - a steering wheel locking device. I had been toying with the idea of reinforcing (I say “reinforcing” because the car already has an ... More About: Wheel , Lock , Heel , Erin
What Is Gap Insurance? Who Needs It And Who Does Not? - A Graphical Interpr
2007-08-03 13:29:00 I have had many questions on the issue of gap insurance in the past and never really found a satisfactory answer. The most common answer to the question: “What is gap insurance?” - something that a car salesman or a website will give you - is this: Gap insurance closes the gap between what your ... More About: Insurance , Graphical , Graph , Needs
Interesting Facts And Confusing Thoughts About The American Poor
2007-08-01 16:00:00 Just came across some interesting numbers on American poverty, through this report: “Understanding Poverty in America“. In the write-up below, I am presenting some interesting highlights from the 2004 report (which is based on the Census data from 2002). To better appreciate the facts, it is important to view them in light of the poverty ... More About: Interesting , Facts , Thoughts , Poor
Are You Spending More On Stuff Than Millionaires?
2007-07-31 15:46:00 The other day, I came across some interesting data on spending habits of millionaires from the book “The Millionaire Next Door” by Stanley and Danko. It was about how much money millionaires spend on items like suit clothing, shoes, watches, and cars. I am presenting this data in a tabular form below - “typical” ... More About: Stuff , Spending , Aires
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 6: Lease Or Buy?
2007-07-30 15:45:00 Technically, this is not a “used car” topic, but I will still present it as a part of the series because it’s one of the common questions faced by people who are looking for a car - used or new. Even if they are in the market for used cars, they will spend a ... More About: Buying , Tips , Car Buying , Part , Lease
The Sunday Review #31: The Great Diamond Hype Edition
2007-07-30 01:01:00 In one of the articles linked below, Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity talks about synthetic diamonds in rings. Synthetic diamonds are make-believe stones created in a laboratory - made to look (and feel) like real diamonds. They cost a fraction of what real diamonds cost and personally, I think they present a better ... More About: Review , Great , Sunday , Hype , Edition
10 Simple Steps To Becoming Wealthy
2007-07-27 17:29:00 Recently, Brian Clark at Copyblogger posted a simple, yet profound list of 10 steps to becoming a better writer. In the same spirit, I would like to propose 10 simple steps to becoming wealthy. 1. Save money. 2. Save more money. 3. Save even more money. 4. Save even more than that. 5. Save when you don’t ... More About: Simple , Wealthy , Ming , Steps
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 5: Certified Pre-owned Vehicles Make Sense?
2007-07-27 00:07:00 In response to part 3 of this guide (How to Inspect a Used Vehicle), a reader asked this question: Is taking the car to a mechanic necessary when you?re buying a ?Certified Used Vehicle?? Let’s start this post by answering that question with a resounding YES. You must get a certified used (”pre-owned” is the preferred ... More About: Sense , Buying , Tips , Car Buying , Vehicles
Life After Spending A Ton Of Money On A Car
2007-07-25 18:00:00 I mentioned earlier that we spent $12,200 cash on our new used car. Spending that kind of hard-earned money (all in one day and on a single, constantly depreciating object) has caused some subtle (mostly quirky) changes in our lifestyle. Here are a few quick observations on that. I realized that I love our money more ... More About: Life , Money
Cut Credit Cards In Style - Make Toy Boomerangs Out Of Them
2007-07-24 20:43:00 Dave Ramsey is going to be happy with me for writing this post. Normally, I don’t subscribe to Ramsey’s psychology and I don’t recommend cutting up credit cards (at least not valid, unexpired ones that can still be used). But, I was just re-reading one of my long-time favorite books “Physics for Entertainment” and suddenly ... More About: Credit Cards , Credit , Style , Make , Cards
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 4: How To Deal With Car Dealers
2007-07-23 20:55:00 Continuing with our series on buying used cars, today let us discuss some basic tips on how to deal with car dealers. If you missed the earlier parts, here is what we have covered so far : Part 1: Classic Confusions Part 2: Understanding Vehicle History Part 3: How to Inspect a Used Car Now, let us move ... More About: Buying , Tips , Car Buying , Deal
The Sunday Review #30: About Bad Advertisements And Debt
2007-07-22 15:00:00 Here are some interesting articles posted over the week. Before I mention the articles, let me share a few forethoughts on a couple of them ~ to get your thoughtful juices running before you click on those links. One of the articles below (by Lazy) is a rant about a violent Toyota advertisement that preceded the ... More About: Review , Sunday , Debt , Advertisements , Advertise
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 3: How To Inspect A Used Car
2007-07-20 15:30:00 The motivation for this series of posts comes from our recent car buying adventures. You can brush up some background material on this subject in Part 1: Classic Confusions and Part 2: Understanding Vehicle History Reports. At this time, I have a fair idea of how this series will proceed, so let me lay this ... More About: Buying , Tips , Car Buying , Part 3
Madagascar Day Gecko Saved Me A Bunch Of Money On My Car Insurance
2007-07-19 15:08:00 Yeah… Madagascar Day Gecko is the animal Geico uses in it’s commercials. And it saved me $156/six months ($312/year) on the 2005 Corolla’s insurance. [$59.89 per month doesn’t add up to $303.90 per six months. That’s because of the peculiar payment structure that I chose - not because geckos can’t do math] Earlier, I sort of ... More About: Insurance , Money , Car Insurance
Buying A Car With Cash: Smart Or Not?
2007-07-18 23:24:00 I am pushing my next post in the used car buying tips series (read part 1 and part 2 here) to tomorrow, in order to squeeze this one in. We recently bought a 2005 Toyota Corolla with 21 K miles on it. Earlier, I did not disclose the price, but it will be relevant here, ... More About: Buying , Smart , Cash
Midweek Money Links
2007-07-18 19:30:00 Debt Consolidation Care - Check this resource out. I have been speaking to James (one of the key members behind the website) for the last couple of weeks and have finally decided to write about them. No, they are not a “company” and no, this is not a paid post (this blog’s policy is ... More About: Money , Links
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 2: Understanding Vehicle History Reports
2007-07-17 19:33:00 Today, let us assume that you are through with yesterday’s classic confusions and have come to a decision regarding the amount of money you can afford and the type of car you want. The next thing to do is to start looking for cars, and pull up the vehicle history records for the ones ... More About: Buying , History , Tips , Car Buying , Vehicle
Used Car Buying Tips - Part 1: Classic Confusions
2007-07-16 15:30:00 I will be talking quite a bit about car buying in the following days. The posts will be generally derived from our experience during the past several days in this matter. I am hoping to cover all the material in my head in about 5 parts (probably even less). Although, this series of posts ... More About: Buying , Tips , Car Buying , Classic , Part
Made $650 On The Junk Car
2007-07-15 19:54:00 Earlier, on one of my recent car-whining post about my old Nissan, a reader (Chris) left this comment: Don?t tow it to a junkyard ? donate it. There are lots of charities that?ll want it, even if it?s not running. They?ll come tow it away and initiate all of the paperwork on your behalf. A ... More About: Made , Junk
The Sunday Review #29
2007-07-15 19:42:00 Here is some interesting Sunday reading for you. I hope to get back to adding my commentary to such links in the near future. Money Mistakes To Avoid - Misunderstanding Risk by Ben @ Money Smart Life. Managing Credit And Debt, My Credit Mistakes and Lessons by SVB @ The Digerati Life. Five Accounts You Absolutely Must ... More About: Review
Feels Like A Warrior Returning From A Battle - After A Truce
2007-07-13 21:31:00 After about 8 dealers and numerous salespeople, we finally got what we wanted - at the price we wanted. It was a very rich learning experience in the field of used-car buying; and hopefully I will summarize a few key points next week. Our final choice (war trophy) was a lease-returned 2005 Toyota Corolla CE with ... More About: Battle , Like , Feel , Turn , Eels
Car Hunt And Enterprise Rent-A-Headache
More articles from this author:2007-07-12 17:00:00 Since our Nissan broke down on a freeway a few days ago, we have been trying to zero in on some good deals on used Honda or Toyota vehicles. We located a few feasible deals far away from our town and decided to rent a car for a couple of days in order to ... More About: Rent , Rise , Enterprise , Hunt , Headache 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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