Personal Finance Advice

Electronic IRS Debuts Today Beginning today, taxpayers may file their 2005 tax returns electronically. This marks the 20th anniversary of being able to file taxes electronically. Electronic filing began as a pilot project in three cities: Cincinnati, Ohio, Phoenix, Ariz., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. with 25,000 tax returns filed electronically that year. The e-file program expanded [...]

Welcome to the fourth installment of the funny money – this week has a decidedly “criminals without a clue” feel to it – for all those aspiring to join the criminal ranks, here are a few good lessons on what not to do : Counterfeiters Clog Toilet – Use baggies to relieve themselves for a [...]

The United States Mint launched the New nickel today which is the first circulating coin that features the image of a United States President facing forward. The coins used in circulation have depicted the profiles of presidents in the past. This new image of President Thomas Jefferson is based on a Rembrandt Peale portrait of [...]

I know little about the oil sector, but I do remember watching gas prices spike after Hurricane Katrina and an influx of people to the site looking for information on how to save money on gas. That’s why I read a story at usatoday titled Has Citgo Become A Political Tool For Hugo Chávez? – [...]

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Had a great time (where else but in Japan can you get a squid on a stick?) and delivered the prayers to Ebisuten (the God of Wealth). squid on a stick Half the fun is the walk to the shrine and back. The streets are lined with booths for all types of food and games. [...]

Tomorrow I’m off to ebessan (actually later this evening for all of you in the US). This is an annual festival at the beginning of the New Year dedicated to bring good money luck. It’s a three day festival and the news has been showing people throwing piles of money and praying for good monetary [...]

I cringe every time I see surveys with results like this. In a survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association, people were asked what was the most practical way to accumulate several hundred thousand dollars. While over half (55%) said saving a little each month over many years was [...]

I’m going to go through a number of tax changes that have taken place for 2006 over the next week and this will be part 1 in that series. The Gift of Money The amount that you are allowed to give away to an idividual in 2006 increased $1,000 from $11,000 to $12,000 without having [...]

It’s Monday so that means that there are plenty of carnivals with a lot of good content around. Of course, the Carnival of Debt Reduction is being held here. Other carnivals of note where I have articles submitted: The Social Consumer Manifesto is hosting the Carnival of the Capitalists Free Money Finance is hosting the [...]

Welcome to the 17th installment of the Carnival of Debt Reduction. For more information about this carnival, you can go to Mighty Bargain Hunter to see the complete schedule with Frugal For Life (who always does an excellent job!) hosting the carnival next week. And onto this week’s carnival: One of the best ways to [...]

As soon as I saw the post about Lazy Borrowers it reminded me of an experience I had in a store out here. There was a couple shopping for a huge flat screen TV at the same time I was looking for a much more reasonably priced unit. The salesman said that it would be [...]

In continuation with my opinion that saving money is the best investment that most people can make, it makes sense to spend your time saving the greatest amount of money you can with the least amount of time and effort involved. That means knowing what type of savings will have the biggest payoff. While you [...]

“Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and just give her a house.” – Steven Seagal

An interesting article on msn by the Christian Science Monitor titled Poverty Now Comes With A Color TV. Well worth the read: “In terms of the items people have … it amazes me the number of people who are at or near the poverty line that have color TVs, cable, washer, dryer, microwave,” says Michael [...]

I just stopped by the Million Dollar Homepage to see that he is merely $1000 away from his million dollar goal (I do this every once in awhile to beat myself over the head for not thinking of it myself). That means he’s made his million in about 6 months – pretty damn impressive. Not [...]

I’ve always loved finding money ever since I was a kid (in reality, I just love to find “things” – it’s one of the reasons I’ve done well with ebay out here – I genuinely love going into old run down antique stores and rummaging through all their boxes to see if I can find [...]

If you were smart, you have already refinanced your home loan to a lower rate (and if you haven’t, then it’s time to get on the ball and do so), but with interest rates now rising, it’s not likely that refinancing is going to bring the savings that it has in the past. That is, [...]

We’ve made it to the third week of “funny money” – a list of strange stories found in the news with a money theme of some kind that make you lean your head to the side and say “what???” If you know of other stories that I have missed, feel free to list them in [...]

I was visiting over at All Things Financial when in the comments it came to my attention the the original All Things Financial hosted at blogger was no longer in his possession. Someone else was using it and put up a financial site in its place. I asked JLP why he had done this and [...]