The Happy RockThe Happy RockChange Your Self, Change Your Wealth - A personal finance and development blog dedicated to personal and financial growth. Articles
Your Debt Makes Decisions For You
2008-05-16 14:59:00 The thing about debt is that our financial systems are setup to make it as easy as possible to spend money you don’t have. Your mailbox is littered with credit applications, and if you sign up at a store they give 15% and you are approved in about 3 minutes. At a car ... More About: Spending , Debt
Cheaper Than Cheap Tip Of The Week #5 : Save Money On Gas The Creative Way
2008-05-15 12:22:00 ?Cheap er Than Cheap? is a recurring tip series about frugality. The idea is to provide potentially helpful frugality tips that border on fanaticaor fictitious to the point of being humorous. Love them or hate them, let?s hear what you think. Tip #4 was on Earn Free Money By Reusing Bags At Grocery Stores. This tip is ... More About: Week , Frugality , Save
Free Iced Coffee - Dunkin Donuts - May 15th 10am - 10pm
2008-05-15 11:38:00 For those that like their coffee and caffeine, check out the advertisment on Dunkin Donuts. Free Iced Coffee on May 15th from 10am - 10pm. Related PostsFind Out The Delivery Date Of Your IRS Stimulus PackagePrinciples in Action #2 : Accountability and Friends Can Save Your FinancesThe Library Isn’t Free When You Pay $17 In FeesDoes TurboTax, ... More About: Food
What Exactly Is The Stimulus Check? Not A Rebate?
2008-05-14 13:05:00 As I discussed whether it’s our patriotic duty to consume our rebate checks, I started thinking that I didn’t fully understand what the ‘rebate’ check is anymore. Everyone calls it a tax rebate check, but it seems to have morphed into a handout or something else along the lines. Originally, it seemed ... More About: Taxes , Check , Spending
To Stimulate Or Not To Stimulate?
2008-05-12 06:07:00 The Happy Rockette mentioned something about our stimulus check that got me thinking. We already have a plan to spend the money on some improvements to the condo. We can enjoy then for the next year our and they will help our house sell when the time comes. I mentioned ... More About: Taxes , Spending
Demystifying The Budget - Don?t Be Afraid
2008-05-10 06:23:00 I am not sure many other finance terms inspire more fear than the word ‘BUDGET’. Ok, well maybe bankruptcy, foreclosure, and a few others, but you get the point. Some people even will physically squirm when they think about having to adhere to a budget. I am here to squelch some of those fears ... More About: Planning , Budget
The Library Isn?t Free When You Pay $17 In Fees
2008-05-08 06:16:00 Just got back from getting another round of books for The Pebble, but I had to pay $16.95 in back fines/fees just to checkout. Being a couple days late when you have 2-3 books out isn’t too bad, but ever since The Pebble hit reading age we have been getting out 10 books ... More About: Library , Free , Fees , The Library
Vacation and Perspective - Simplify Your Finances
2008-05-07 05:38:00 The Rock Garden went vacationing this past weekend to Pocono Mountains of Pensylvania just outside of Jim Thorpe, PA. We got a great a good deal on a modern three bedroom house with a scenic view that I will post about later. Despite a wash out on Saturday and some allergies, it was ... More About: Finances , Vacation , Perspective
Community In Action - Pursue Your Dreams Edition
2008-05-02 05:18:00 First was an article on Life Hack called Personal Development, Canine-Style. It is a long read, but well worth the time. It is written from the perspective of a man’s dog while the owner’s life and finances grow over the years. It shares some of the potential dangers that come with chasing ... More About: Dreams , Action , Community , Links , Bloggers
The $400 Phil and Ted?s Stroller - Dissecting The Purchase
2008-04-29 05:42:00 Sticker shock. That is probably your first thought, I know it was mine when The Happy Rockette first told me about the stroller. A little more than 3 months later, we own one! See the picture below for a quick look or click here for an in depth look at Phil andTeds.com. Here ... More About: Spending , Cash , Purchase , Stroller
Sleep Your Way To Better Finances
2008-04-26 05:21:00 With the car breaking down on Sunday and still having a ton of work to do for the 149th Carnival of PF, I ended up only getting 8 hours of sleep on Sunday night. I can survive, and ten years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. The thing I noticed for ... More About: Health , Marriage , Finances , Careers , Happiness
Breakdown - Is Triple A(AAA) Worth The Money?
2008-04-25 05:18:00 As we were driving home from watching some of our nieces and nephews for the weekend, I realized that pushing on the gas pedal of our Nissan Murano was not doing ANYTHING! I quickly pulled over and coasted to a stop. I figured I would try a restart and see if that fixes ... More About: Cars , Money , Worth , Triple
149th Carnival of Personal Finance - Chasing Dreams Edition
2008-04-21 14:42:00 If this is your first time visiting, feel free to look around. You can join the others by subscribing to my RSS feed or you can receive updates via email so that you don’t miss The Happy Rock’s articles! Welcome to the 149th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance ! Below are 86 personal finance ... More About: Dreams , Personal Finance
Hosting The 149th Carnival Personal Finance On Monday
2008-04-19 07:39:00 Just a reminder that The Happy Rock is hosting the 149th Carnival of Personal Finance . Come back on Monday to view a collection of 100 or so of the best personal finance articles from the last week. The guidelines for submission can be found here. Use this form to submit your articles. I ... More About: Hosting , Personal Finance
Find Out The Delivery Date Of Your IRS Stimulus Package
2008-04-16 14:34:00 The IRS lists the schedule of the stimulus package checks for tax returns processed by April 15th. The dates are determined by the last two digits of you Social Security Number and whether you are using direct deposit or paper check. According to the schedule our $1500 rebate should be direct deposited on May 9th. ... More About: Taxes , Find , Package , Delivery
Check The Status Of Your Federal IRS Tax Refund
2008-04-16 04:33:00 I thought this was a useful little page provided by the IRS. With you Social Security Number, Tax filing status, and the refund amount you can find out the status of your 2008 Federal Government taxes. I got this message: We have received your tax return and it is being processed. Unless we find mistakes ... More About: Taxes , Check , Status
Just Ordered My $15 Entertainment Book
2008-04-15 05:46:00 Just $15 for a plethora of great coupons. For those that don’t know, the Entertainment book is a local book of coupons for everything from fast food to casual dining to theme parks and golf courses. It is $35 dollars when it first comes out, but gradually drops throughout the year. ... More About: Book , Frugality
Debt Is The Symptom - Fix The Problem
2008-04-13 20:06:00 “Symptom - A characteristic sign or indication of the existence of something else” Source Picture yourself driving down a familiar street. Out of the corner of your eye you see a huge nail in the road. You swerve, but only enough to drive directly over the nail with your tire. Arghhhh! ... More About: Debt , Problem
Don?t Let Verizon Wireless Take Your Money When Canceling Service
2008-04-11 06:33:00 I have never had any love for Verizon Wireless , and I was quite relieved when my two year contract was up. They hadn?t done anything really bad, but they certainly didn?t ever do anything earn my respect. Nothing had really been post worthy until the last stunt they tried to pull as I closed ... More About: Money , Cell Phones , Service
The Happy Rock Is Looking For Feedback
2008-04-09 05:40:00 The Happy Rock is coming up on its one year anniversary, and I am ready to make some changes. I have learned a lot in the last year, both personally and with regards to business and running a website. It has been a great journey. With my MBA complete, I have some more time ... More About: Misc , Feedback
Professional Tax Preperation Saved Me Over $5,000
2008-04-08 05:52:00 Well, the results are in from the CPA vs. Turbo Tax and other DYI tax programs fight. The winner is………quality professional tax preparation by a landslide. Here is the break down: My CPA isn’t responsible for all of the savings, but the service was definitely worth the cost. First, we tuck away 40% of ... More About: Taxes , Professional
The Myth Of The Bi-Monthly Mortgage
2008-04-06 05:32:00 First things first, making bi-monthly payments on your mortgage WILL cut your mortgage repayment time down significantly. Using bi-monthly payments on a $200,000 mortgage at 6.0% you will have the mortgage paid off 6 years early and save about $50,000 in interest. What happens is that you are paying 26 bi-monthly payments which ... More About: Real Estate , Mortgage , Myth
Virgin Mobile Deal: $60 For One Year Of Prepaid Virgin Mobile Service
2008-04-03 05:33:00 Our two your Verizon cell phone contract finally ran out on the 25th of March! It feels great to break free form those chains of a long contract. I haven’t yet canceled the phone, but I did order and activate a new Virgin Mobile prepaid phone for the Rockette, since the she is ... More About: Cell Phones , Service , Deal
The Best Cash Back Credit Card Analysis For The Happy Rock
2008-04-01 05:45:00 About a month ago, I switched my only credit card from my Sunoco Mastercard which I have had since college to the Chase Freedom card. Why? Because I was leaving money on the table since I wasn’t taking advantage of the new breed of cash back cards that have come out in the ... More About: Credit Cards , Card , Credit , Analysis , Rock
How Much House Can You Afford?
2008-03-30 06:54:00 Or maybe how large a car payment can I handle? Every were you turn online calculators and salesman are always telling us the maximum we can spend on any given purchase. It’s the wrong question! So you can afford a $200,000 house that has the extra big yard that, but it is 50% of your take home pay. ... More About: House , Spending , Materialism
Why APY Matters And The APR Lies
2008-03-28 05:32:00 APR and APY. I know that I have had to look up the difference more than once in my life. It is one of those facts that is easy to understand, but they easy to forget. The numbers are usually similar, but the subtle difference can cost you a lot of money. ... More About: Banks , Financial , Productivity , Matters , Lies
Frugality Gone To Far : Home Contents Stolen In A Craigslist Hoax
2008-03-26 05:11:00 I have seen people on Slick Deals do things that skirt the line of honesty and legality in order to get a great deal. I can even relate to getting caught up in the hype of certain deal or the possibility of free stuff. I have even contemplated doing something that I wouldn’t have ... More About: Home , Stolen , Contents , Frugality , Hoax
Easter Spending Without A Plan
2008-03-24 22:39:00 I have a small confession that I need to make. We spent almost $50 this month on Easter supplies and candy. That was just for our 2 year old, since the 2 month old isn?t old enough to partake. Some of you may laugh, saying ?I spent way more?, but to me ... More About: Planning , Spending , Plan
Forget About Buying Stuff, People Matter
2008-03-21 04:38:00 Think back. What are your fondest memories in life? One of my best was a 9 day white water rafting, hiking, and outdoor adventure down the Grand Canyon with my mom. A few other that come to mind are building snow forts with my Mom and friends, a little-league no-hitter, and the ... More About: People , Buying , Stuff , Matter , Materialism
MBA Complete - Was It Worth It?
More articles from this author:2008-03-19 04:50:00 This past Sunday I handed in my final paper for my MBA degree with a Marketing concentration at Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business. The finality is so fresh that end of my long two and half year journey hasn’t sunk in. It is starting though…Tuesday is my normal class night ... More About: Worth , Salary , Complete 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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