Personal Finance Advice

“I’d like to live like a poor man with lots of money.” – Pablo Picasso

There is a piece over at smartmoney.com on how to get your magazine subscriptions at a discount. The piece lays out three basic strategies: 1. Check the mail-in subscription inserts that for a benchmark for evaluating other offers 2. Visit the well-known sellers of discounted magazine subscriptions such as Publishers Clearing House and Amazon.com. 3. [...]

“The darkest hour of any man’s life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it.” – Horace Greely

You may not be a Bill Gates, but where exactly do you rank in the world when it comes to your income? The Global Rich List gives you a chance to find out. You may be surprised to find out how well off you really are. I came well within the top 1% of the [...]

I dropped over to money.com to see that they had finally written an article that most of you reading this blog already know: Online banks pay much higher interest rates. I began reading the article and through the first 3/4 of it there was nothing exciting or new, but when I reached the last section, [...]

After talking it over with Nate (my partner on these sites) we have decided to take the plunge. In an attempt to increase traffic and profit to our websites, I’m going to take the next few months and work virtually full time on them. It’s a big step and we’re not sure how it will [...]

I wrote a few days back about lending money to friends and the approach I take. I came across a fairly straight forward article about how you should approach this issue if you are on the other side: ie if need to borrow money. I especially liked this advice: Make an appointment to discuss your [...]

“When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion.” – Voltaire

Just saw the news that Google has made a bid to offer free wi-fi service throughout the city of San Francisco. As part of its 100-page bid, Google said it could install a Wi-Fi network without cost to the city. Users with Wi-Fi-enabled computers could then log on to basic service, without paying, no matter [...]

Had a conversation with a friend about the money jar trap. You probably keep a change jar of some type and by doing so, there is a good chance you’re losing money rather than saving money by doing so. This is because it’s getting harder and harder to exchange coins without paying a fee to [...]

The post office is saying that postage stamps will likely increase again in 2007 (they are already set to increase to $0.39 next year) because in increased operating costs from gasoline price increases. The truth is that I rarely use the mail anymore except for when selling items on eBay. 99% of my correspondences with [...]

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.” – Woody Allen

For those who follow best selling authors and their financial teachings, Yahoo! Finance has put together a quality line-up of these authors who will be writing future columns. The ranks now include David Bach (The Automatic Millionaire), Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D. (Reinventing Retirement), Robert Kiyosaki (Why the Rich Get Richer), Suze Orman (Money Matters), Daniel Pink [...]

Bargain hunters beware! Running across town to save a few cents is probably costing you more money that you’re saving. This is a classic trap that bargain hunters run into: wasting money when they think they are saving money. The problem is that the bargain hunter only factors in the price of the item (product [...]

I found this article quite interesting and promising. The Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has come up with detailed specifications for a $100 windup-powered laptop which would be targeted at children in developing nations. The proposed design of the machines calls for a 500MHz processor, 1GB of memory and an innovative dual-mode [...]

The Federal Drug Administration has an extensive article on how to save money on prescription drugs in their latest issue of FDA Consumer magazine. The article has a number of good points that can save you a significant amount of money and suggests these basic tips: Tell your doctor whether paying for prescription drugs is [...]

Fortune.com has a list of what Fortune 500 companies gave in charitable contributions in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Some of the donations were quite large including Exxon giving $7 million to the American Red Cross> general Electric pledge $6 million in cash in addition to $10 million in medical supplies and equipment. UnitedHealth has [...]

If you have felt the pinch with rising gas prices, you’re going to get another one come this winter. It’s going to be an expensive winter keeping your house warm and it’s worth the time to get your house in shape for the coming winter. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, heating a [...]

“Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell.” – Frank Borman, former CEO of bankrupt Eastern Airlines

A million dollar home isn’t what it used to be according to an article at usatoday.com: The surge in high-end prices has happened quickly. The Census Bureau’s 2004 American Community Survey found 1,034,386 homes worth at least $1 million in 2004, compared to 595,441 in 2002 and only 394,878 in 2000. I know this is [...]