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50 Leading Women to Watch in 2007...
2006-11-21 00:07:00
Today the Wall Street Journal Online reports on something very interesting, the new breed of women moving up the ranks to the top of the worlds biggest companies. They find that women held 16.4% of the Fortune 500 corporate-officer job in 2005. These jobs include positions of vice president or higher that require board approval. That was a 0.7 percentage higher since 2002. The same survey found that woman made up 6.4% of the top five earners among officers which is a rise of 1.2% in the same period. Women of color -- African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans -- held just 1.7% of corporate-officer positions in 2005, and were 1% of the top five earners at Fortune 500 companies. All these people have one thing in common: They're breaking stereotypes about what women can and can't do well, and opening up new opportunities for women who will follow them. Melinda Gates tops the list of the top 50 women to watch next year.
More About: Watch , Men , Leading , Lead

FESTIVAL OF UNDER 30 FINANCES: # 10
2006-11-17 16:52:00
Today's super fun "festival of under 30 finances" will be @ Tired But Happy. Today's submissions cover subjects ranging from issues with room mates to spam that saves you money. From credit cards teaching youth about personal finance to 5 lessons that a millionaire taught me. So be there or be square!
More About: Finance , Finances , Festival , Fest , Finan

Moving the power cord out of the wall, and into our wallet...
2006-11-14 20:54:00
Well, it's that time of the month again. Time to see how we did with saving on electric. Well, only a little, but that's better that having to shell out more this year than last year. Since the wifey is pregnant, we've been using more heat so far this year. I'm guessing that's going to be a big factor in our electric bill in the next several months. More heat, more stove usage to due to the increase of cravings, and eventually air conditioning. We're starting to take a few more steps to help energy efficiency around the house. We're going to replace our patio door within the next few weeks, and that'll help a lot. Something like 20-30% of savings on energy use a year We've been told. Luckily we have friends who have contracting businesses, so it'll cost less then using someone else. The money we save on electricity, is helping power our savings!
More About: Power , Moving , Wall , Ving , Wallet

Exercise Your Right To Vote...
2006-11-07 21:14:00
Vote now, and vote often...
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Thanks E-Loan, That Was Fast And Easy...
2006-11-02 22:44:00
On Monday I mentioned that I decided to open another savings account, this time @ E-Loan . I logged in today to find that the very next day my $5,000 initial deposit was already transferred and in the new account! I also noticed that the verification deposits had already been deposited and debited, the next day. I've already initiated the money transfer only two days after opening the account, not bad. This is probably the easiest online savings account opening I've had...
More About: Hat , Fast , That , Easy

November Net Worth Snapshot...
2006-11-01 23:20:00
Not a bad month, I'll take it. This month we find that our net worth has increased by $4,862.26 or 4.05%. And by the looks of it we probably could've done better if we tried. We spent more than the average on dining out. Not much out of the ordinary on this one. I noticed that our debt to load ratio is down almost 10% for the year. According to some experts, the debt-load ratio should be around 35%, and most of it should consist of the mortgage. Looks like it'll be a couple of years before we're there. The emergency fund is growing nicely, that'll come in handy with a baby on the way (due date April 25th). This is the another month with our net worth increasing over 4%, which is pretty nice. Climbing the ladder, slowly but surely...
More About: Snap , Net worth , Shot , Snaps , Worth

I Couldn't Resist...
2006-10-31 23:11:00
...opening up a savings account @ E-Loan.com. I've been debating it ever since I heard their interest rate was boosted to 5.50% last month. That rate is better than many of the CD's out there. We have several online bank accounts already, so I didn't want the hassel of opening another one. Plus I've been thinking about testing the waters with T-bills. But calculating the rate and dollar difference between a possible E-loan account and our exsisting Emigrant account, I couldn't resist. That's a .45% difference between 5.05% Emigrant and 5.50% E-loan, or $180 annually. And seeing that we save every month, that figure will only rise. The only thing I'm worried about now is what the Federal Reserve will do with the interest rates in the coming months. With the past several decisions pause on the interest rate, and word of inflation on the rise, I'm not sure where they're heading. And whatever happens, will E-loan stay ahead of the pack? We'll just have to wait and see....

Wages & Benefits Racing Upwards...
2006-10-31 15:38:00
The Associated Press reports that wages and benefits paid to American workers are up in the July to September period. It's the fastest pace in more than two years. Here are the juicy bits... The Labor Department reported that its Employment Cost Index was up 1 percent in the third quarter, compared to a 0.9 percent rise in the April-June period. It was the biggest quarterly increase since a similar 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2004. The increase, which was above the 0.9 percent rise that economists had been expecting, was led by a big jump in the cost of employee benefits such as health insurance and pensions. For the third quarter, benefit costs rose by 1.1 percent, up from a 0.8 percent gain in the second quarter. Wages and salaries were up 0.9 percent, matching the increase in the second quarter. Officials at the Federal Reserve are watching closely to see whether wage pressures are beginning to accelerate, a development that wo...
More About: Racing , War , Bene , Benefits

Suggestions for minimizing your drug costs...
2006-10-23 23:37:00
For those of you who have medicare prescription drug coverage, or know someone who does, this one's for you. http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/ask/arch ive/2006/q1023.htm answers a question from a reader who states she's reached the "doughnut hole" (the first threshold for medicare part D which is $2,250) and would like to know how to keep costs down after that. Medicare part D covers most of your drug costs up to $2,250. That includes deductibles, your co-pay, and the insurer's share of the cost. After that, you hit the "doughnut hole" or the coverage gap. After that you'll have to pay 100% of the cost of your drug bills until your total out of pocket goes to $3,600. Then the plan will cover 95% of your bills. The "doughnut hole" thresholds will be $2,400 and $3,850 by next year. To help minimize your out of pocket money between the thresholds.... Ask your doctor about generics. You can save money in the doughnut hole and get better coverage within your plan beforehand. Many p...
More About: Cost , Your , Mini , Suggestion , Drug

Blog Monetization...
2006-10-23 03:24:00
I've recently been doing a little research on blog monetization and have found some interesting discussions on it... Darren @ Problogger.net: How Blog gers Make Money From Blogs Money Blog network: Blog Monetization Washington Post: Make Money Off Your Blog Know More Media: When Does Blog Monetization Become Excessive? Bloggers Forum: Blog Monetization
More About: Fakta , Doof , The Lover

Every little bit adds up...
2006-10-15 17:38:00
The electric bill recently arrived and I was pleasantly surprised to find a $43.61 savings for the Month of October. With the average temperature down by 5 degrees, we only used 261 kwh. That's 365 kwh less than last year. That brings our total savings for the year to $223.05, see image on left. At this point of the year, our average electric bill is $89.41 as opposed to $104.02 last year. Ever y little bit adds up...
More About: Little , Litt

The New Richest Self Made Woman In The World...
2006-10-11 21:31:00
Is a paper recylcling tycoon from China named Zhang Yin. The 49 year old is the founder of the "Nine Dragons Paper Co." Her self made fortune of 3.4 Billion US dollars, puts her ahead of Oprah Winfrey and J.K. Rowling. The company buys scrap paper from the US for use in China.
More About: World , Rich , Self , The N , Woman

Sometimes saving is the best investment...
2006-10-05 23:39:00
I just received a letter from my credit union (mortgage lender) with my new escrow schedule for the next year. It turns out our payments will be about $40 less each month! That's comes out to a savings of about $480 a year! This will be the 4th thing that we will be saving on this year. First it was my car being paid off in June, savings per month $242.47, and for this year $1454.82. Then the electric bills, about $20 bucks a month, $156.00 so far this year. My wifes cell phone bill, about $40 a month, estimated $240.00 for the rest of this year. Now with the escrow adjustment, it'll be approximately $1950.00 saved this year. That's not including all of the other little things we've been doing to save like bringing lunch from home, coupon cutting when food shopping, shopping around for a better deal, etc. It seems like saving could be one of the best investments...
More About: Investment , Time , Men , Best , Vest

October Net Worth Snapshot...
2006-10-03 17:16:00
It seems as though all of the "financial" moons have aligned to make this one of our best net worth increases to date. Our net worth has increased by a record 5.57% or $6,332.56 for a total of $119,927.21. To tell you the truth, at first thought, I don't really know how we did it. It's probably several factors that happen to fit well together at this point in time. First off, I've started to add all of the small stuff into our net worth, like any cash we may have in our wallets, money in the change jar, uncashed checks, etc. It may not be much, but every little bit counts. Ah, now I remember, how can I forget? I busted my butt working some overtime this month, and it looks like that really helped. Hm, let's see, we finally received our "New Jersey FAIR home owner rebate" just in time to be calculated. Received a little extra chunk of change from selling on half.com and some ad space on the blog. There's also been a slight increase in the retiremtent accounts due to the market...
More About: Snap , Net worth , Shot , Snaps , Worth

Health Insurance Costs Outpacing Inflation...
2006-09-26 22:07:00
The associated press is reporting that health care costs will be going up this year by 7.7%, twice the rate of inflation. That's the smallest increase since 1999. Since 2000 health insurance premiums have been raised by 87%, while wages are only up 20%. A survey done by "The Kaiser Family Foundation" finds that more that 155 million American's obtain their health insurance through they're employer. On average those employers pick up 84% of the cost for individuals, and 73% for families. employers pick up 84% of the cost for individuals, and 73% for families. I guess it's not a surprise that since 2000, the percentage of companies providing health insurance has gone from 69% to 61%. But they also find that number has been slowing as of late with the smaller businesses. The average cost of health insurance for an individual is $4,242, while families are paying $11,480. It's estimated that 2.7 million workers are enrolled in high-deductible plans with a savings account. employers...
More About: Health , Insurance , Inflation , Cost , Health Insurance

If only I had a dollar for every name in this book...
2006-09-26 19:41:00
Currently reading... This complete baby naming resource includes more names and more helpful features than any other book on the market: Over 100,000 baby names and their meanings, derivations and famous namesakes 5,000 Hispanic names. Icons to identify names used for both genders, and to indicate whether they're used evenly, more for boys, or more for girls. Updated lists ranking the 100 most popular names for boys and girls in 2004 Top-hundred ranked names are starred in the main text of the book. A new introductory chapter by Bruce Lansky: "How to Pick A Name for Your Baby" 300 helpful lists of names to consider, including famous authors, actors, athletes, artists, scientists as well as lists of names that convey an image: attractive, smart, competent, friendly, wimpy, etc.
More About: Dollar , Book , Ever

Wedding day...
2006-09-23 18:51:00
Today my wife and I will be attending a co-workers wedding and reception. It'll be one of three we will be going to in the next several months. And two of them we'll actually be participating in! Needless to say the frugal angel on my shoulder is wondering how much this is going to cost. We typically give about $200 bucks from the both of us. That's normally the approximate cost of a plate nowa days. And in my friends case, his future in laws will be paying for it, so that's 100% profit. How much do you typically give at weddings?
More About: Wedding

You're Fired...
2006-09-19 20:26:00
That's what a former co-worker heard last week. It's not often that some one is fired from our department, but it does happen. That's what happens when you frequently call out sick, and come in late. The good and bad of this for me is more overtime, one of the reasons I haven't been posting as much recently. I'm actually hitting an all time high this year in overtime. With a baby on the way, we need all the help we can get...
More About: Fire , Fired

Wallet cooling down as the summer heats up...
2006-09-12 00:13:00
...Well, at least for our electric bill. We saved $23.40 for the month of September from last year on our electric bill. That translates into using 226 kilowatts per hour less for the month. Since January it's a total savings of $179.44. That's very surprising since the average temperature for last month was 98 degrees! According to electric company that's up 18 degrees over last years temp.
More About: Summer , Cool , Wall , Heat , Down

Top 10 Investing Books...
2006-05-04 01:08:00
In an attempt to become a better investor, I set out on a search to find a few, good solid books about investing. I sometimes roam around in the investment catagory @ Amazon, or just google it. I was feelin' a little lazy, so I googled it and found a top 10 list from Joshua Kennon @ About.com. Here are the books he believes are the top 10 investment books... The Intelligent Invest or One Up on Wall Street The Essays of Warren Buffett Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits & Other Writings Security Analysis How to be a Billionaire The Interpretation of Financial Statements 9 Steps to Financial Freedom Use the News Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks and Fraud Hm, I haven't heard of most of these, but they're worth a shot. Has anyone reading this post read any of these books? If so, any reviews or recommendations? I've also come across Amazon's Investing top sellers.
More About: Books , Sting

Net Worth Update...
2006-05-02 03:22:00
Looks like we've reached the 100k mark in the month of May. Our net worth increased by $2905.99, for a 2.98% increase. Not our best month, but it's progress. A couple of factors made a big difference. I'm in the process of moving my Roth IRA from my current brokerage to Vanguard, so my funds had to be sold. Unfortunately they were back loaded funds, something like 4.00%. I'm looking foward to Vanguards low cost funds and ETF's. We also purchased a new computer a few days ago, half price from Dell. Climbing the ladder, slowly but surely...
More About: Update , Net worth , Worth , Wort

Personal Finance...Vlogger?
2006-04-28 15:44:00
Yeah, I said "vlogger." That wasn't a typo. It's short for the brand new and upcoming medium "Video Blogger." I don't know about any of you, but this is the first I'm hearing about it. Apparently it's starting to become a booming form of internet media. There are now approximately 6,500 vlogs out there, and growing fast. That's more than 6,200 from the year before! Good news for any vlogger out there, advertisers like the online video spots. Internet video ads reeled in $225 million dollars last year, and are expected to break the $1 billion mark by 2008! The overhead for producing a vlog is low, and the potential for getting advertisers is good for this new and hip Internet medium. The most popluar vlog on the net is a satirical news show named Rocketboom. They report to have over 250,000 visitors a day, and growing. They've recently auctioned off ads for their vlog on Ebay, the winning bid was $40,000. In October I-tunes offered vlogs for download as video podcasts giving t...
More About: Personal , Personal Finance , Finance , Person , Logger

April Net Worth...
2006-04-03 22:54:00
Is it that time of month already? Oh no, I'm afraid to look. Concert tickets, birthday gifts, taxes, extra pay periods, a family loan, oh my! It was a busy month financially. But it looks ok, (4.85%) we're making progress....
More About: April , Net worth , Worth , Wort

March Net Worth...
2006-03-06 20:13:00
Looks like it's that time of the month. Time to calculate our net worth and do a little analyzation. I keep track of our net worth in a excel document..Marc h _Net_Wort h .xls (15kb) Not a bad increase for 27 days. I was thinking about waiting until the 30 day mark which would be more of a round figure to represent an average month...and have an extra paycheck by then. But I was a bit too anxious since I've never consistantly compiled a net worth monthly before. The figures might've been a bit higher, but we had a nice vacation this month with out of town relatives, which equals more spending than usual. I think we can do better taking into account our net income for the month, and the small unnecessary expenditures. Bankrate.com has some very informative articles on net worth. I think they're worth a look.
More About: Net worth

February Networth...
2006-02-07 22:36:00
Our net worth for the month of February networth.xls (13 KB) Do you know what your net worth is? CNN Money Net Wort h Calculator
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First post, first step...
2006-02-07 18:47:00
The name I've chosen for my blog is a metaphor that represents our finacial progress in a climbing , upward moving motion...hopefully. I'll use it to record and measure the finances of me and my wife. I've come accross so many interesting and impressive blogs recently, that it's inspired me to create one of my own. I suppose I'll consider this post, the first step on "The Financial Ladder!"
More About: Post , First , First Post , Step