Archive for September, 2006
Posted in September 30th, 2006
Dawn over at Frugal for Life started a great discussion on 25 Ways I Save Money. Here’s my list (including a few that I could do a better job at):
Pay myself first (have my savings direct deposited from my paycheck into a bank other where my checking account is located).
Invest through low-cost index funds.
Live [...]
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Posted in September 29th, 2006
I used to be (twice, in fact) a member of Netflix. I really liked it and I thought the service level was very good. My main problem was that I didn’t really watch DVD’s often enough to justify it. I’d end up getting a DVD and keeping it for weeks before finally [...]
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Posted in September 28th, 2006
I recently was reminded that sometimes you can get a better rate just by asking. On Get Rich Slowly, a recent post on that tip prompted me to give it a try today.
I currently pay $42.95 for broadband internet access through my cable company. Recently, Verizon installed fiber (they call their service FiOS) [...]
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Posted in September 26th, 2006
E-Loan started offering high-yield online savings accounts today. They’re offering 5.5% APY on savings ($5,000 minimum) and 5.7% on 1 year CD’s ($10,000 minimum). In comparison, today Emigrant Direct is offering 5.15% APY on savings (no minimum) and ING Direct is offering only 4.4% with no minimum.
I’ve had an ING Direct account for [...]
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Posted in September 25th, 2006
Posted in September 24th, 2006
Getting To Enough participated in the Carnival of Investing this week, hosted by Free Money Finance. Take a look at the post No Guts, No Glory as well as a lot of other great posts.
Also check out this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Canadian Capitalist, where I’ve submitted Would you lose 10 [...]
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Posted in September 22nd, 2006
Starbucks announced that they’re raising prices for the first time in two years, by 5 cents a drink. Doesn’t really sound like too much, but maybe it’s a good time to evaluate how much your Starbucks habit is really costing you.
The average price of a Starbucks Tall Latte is now $2.80, going to be [...]
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Posted in September 22nd, 2006
You probably already know that you usually get a tax deduction for most charitable donations if you itemize your deductions. What you may not have considered is the additional advantage of donating appreciated securities (like a stock that you’ve had for years but haven’t sold because of the capital gains taxes) to charity through [...]
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Posted in September 20th, 2006
In a way, that’s the situation I face. I was recently shopping for term life insurance. For me, on a 20-year term life insurance policy the difference between the Preferred1 (cheapest rate) and Preferred2 rates was $100 a year. When I clicked on the underwriting guidelines for the policy, it spelled out [...]
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Posted in September 19th, 2006
While hedge funds have been in the news a lot lately as one of the “hot” investment choices, Amaranth hedge funds’ recent meltdown serves as a reminder that there’s no such thing as a sure bet–even among the “smart money” which had invested over $9 billion as of the beginning of September. It seems [...]
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