Personal Finance Week in Review

Jim does a summary of his Devil’s Advocate series to date and asks readers for more topics.

Looking for fast and easy ways to save some money? You’re in luck! The Simple Dollar has started a series called Five Minute Finances that covers simple things you can do save some money. The latest is Make a Sandwich (or Something Else).

Henry causes an uproar in Arkansas when he points out that there may be a reason why the cost of living is lower in some cities. Maybe they’re just boring?

I was dismayed to check out the Sun’s article on Morningstar’s best and worst 529 plans and discovered mine was in the bottom 5. Go see how yours stacks up

Ever wonder what those rich celebrities do with all their money. Lazyman talks about some celebrities attitudes towards money.

Jeremy started a great series this week called 24 Signs That You Could be in Financial Trouble. He’s already given the first 4, go check out the list.

How many days have you come home from work swearing you’ll never go back to that #*@% job again! The Silicon Valley Blogger gives us a how-to guide with A Job Quitter’s Primer: 25 Reasons To Leave Your Job and A Quitters Primer – 15 Ways to Resign

Ever have questions about your credit history? Take a look at a comprehensive article by Golbguru about credit scores.

JD at Get Rich Slowly shares a list of his favorite personal finance books.

Written by Ben · Filed Under Personal Finance >Comments (0) 

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Festival of Under 30 Finances – Money & Love Edition

Welcome to the Festival of Love, otherwise known as the Festival of Under 30 Finances. We had some interesting questions to this week’s question, “What is the worst money move you’ve made either because of or in spite of LOVE?”

Wanda, “I spent $550 on cell phone bills over a span of 2 months. I was in a long-distance relationship at that time, and when my parents found out they were quite displeased. I paid the bills and didn’t feel really sorry. But now that I think about it, it’s ALOT of money. Still, it’s water under the bridge now, and I think I’ve learned my lession: LDRs are expensive.”

Nina, “Lessons learned: always have a financial exit strategy in relationships.”

Aridni, “I bought my first property with my husband out of love for him… now I’m addicted.”

Living Almost Large, “My best and worse money moves were predicated for love”

ISPF, “I turned down a very lucrative job offer so that the better half and I could stay close by. Financially, it was a bad move. Emotionally and relationship wise, the best one! Money, just cant compete with love (boy, that sounds cheesy even to me, but it had to be said ”

Wenchypoo, “Worst money move: letting my new husband drive my 1967 Camaro in the snow–he wrapped it around a guard rail and that was the end of an asset that is probably worth $25k today. That’s what happens when you get married, are all giddy in love and hormones, and find out later that neither one of you are capable of balancing the checkbook…except on your nose! We rode the bus for awhile until we saved up to buy another car at auction–we also went to an all-cash lifestyle. GEICO would probably thank me for losing the Camaro, gaining a cash-paid Buick, and paying the annual insurance in advance.”

English Major, “I managed the process of moving in with my boyfriend from across the country. It was kind of unavoidable (his existing lease would run out just as I was getting back to New York from school), but it still meant that I didn’t always have the most up-to-date information or hands-on control of the financial process. Because of some vagaries of the apartment-hunting process, he still owes me about $1,000 that’s (still) tied up in his last apartment’s deposit.”

There were a wide variety of entries in the Festival, here they are listed by categories: Love & Money, Investing, Taxes, Saving Money, Credit Cards, Real Estate, & Other

Love & Money

Nina Smith presents Sleeping with Money: Safeguard Finances Before The Break-Up posted at Queercents

living almost large presents My Best and Worse Money Moves posted at Living Almost Large

John presents Sleeping with Money: Lessons Not Learned from Sex and the City posted at Queercents

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InvestingWilson Ng presents Profits Straight to the Bottom Line posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife, saying, “Understanding the financial cost structure of the company, in optimizing the profit bottom line.”

H.S. Ayoub presents Sirius Buys XM Radio: What Should Investors Do Now? posted at SciTech Investor.

Larry Russell presents The Solution – ONLY follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog, saying, “In general, individuals will benefit greatly, if they decide ONLY to follow financial and investment strategies that are: a) scientifically grounded, b) completely passive, c) thoroughly diversified, d) savings focused, e) risk adjusted, f) cost effective, and g) tax efficient.”

Ybother presents Top 10 Reasons Wall Street Gives for the Stock Market Correction posted at TodaysTen.com: Daily Top Ten List to jumpstart your knowledge, saying, “Why did the stock market fall so suddenly and by so much? Wall street tries to explain”

John1212 presents Hedge fund investing guide 101 posted at OhCash.com.

Wanda presents 401(k) choices: Vanguard vs. T. Rowe Price? posted at Wanda, saying, “I spent $550 on cell phone bills over a span of 2 months. I was in a long-distance relationship at that time, and when my parents found out they were quite displeased. I paid the bills and didn’t feel really sorry. But now that I think about it, it’s ALOT of money. Still, it’s water under the bridge now, and I think I’ve learned my lession: LDRs are expensive.”

English Major presents Ouch: Experiencing Volatility posted at An English Major’s Money

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TaxesBill presents Saving On Taxes posted at Ask Uncle Bill, saying, “It’s not brain surgery.”

Bill presents Taxes and the Three Martini Lunch posted at Ask Uncle Bill, saying, “it’s that time of year.”

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Saving MoneyMatthew Paulson presents 25 Realistic Ways to Spend Less and Save Money in College. posted at Getting Green.

Ybother presents Top 10 Money Tips For Almost Everyone posted at TodaysTen.com: Daily Top Ten List to jumpstart your knowledge, saying, “10 tips for almost anyone. Motivates you to get interested in your money!”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Are Mail-In Rebates Worth The Hassle? posted at The Digerati Life.

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Credit CardsSagar Satapathy presents Little Known Facts about Credit Cards posted at Credit Card Lowdown.Mr Credit Card presents Joint or Seperate Credit Card Account? posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog

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Real EstateAlex at The RE Forum presents Refuting “Facts” at RealtyTimes.com posted at The RE Forum, saying, “Real estate myth-busters, real estate news and trends for first-time home buyers and first-time home sellers, financial incentives”

Super Saver presents Is It Time To Buy Real Estate? posted at My Wealth Builder

Michael Cook presents How to Find the Right Mortgage posted at Suite101: Buying/Selling a Home articles.

Michelle presents How to purchase a rental property posted at Aridni

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OtherWenchypoo presents How I Create (and Re-Create) My Own Kitchen Convenience posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket

FrugalTrader presents Reader Comment: Newborn Baby Expenses! posted at Million Dollar Journey.

Nenad Ristic presents Money Conciousness » What is Money? posted at Money Conciousness.

Thanks for reading, be sure to check out the next edition of the festival over at Money Crashers. Have a great weekenend!

Written by Ben · Filed Under Finance Friends, Personal Finance >Comments (3) 

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Selective Self Control Can Lead to a Thick Wallet but an Even Thicker Waist

Have you ever been accused of having a selective memory? Only remembering the things that you want to? Well I think I have something even worse, selective self-control.

Using Money Responsibly
I like to think of myself as the Stonewall Jackson of frugality, no offer or ad can get past my staunch defense. I hate spending money and I thoroughly enjoy accumulating and growing it. Thanks to my parents’ upbringing, I have a talent that many people in our country do not. I can spend less than I make without breaking a sweat. Credit cards balances, home equity loans, 90-day same as cash, and tech gadgets galore stand no chance against my will to grow our net worth. Unfortunately, this iron-clad self control doesn’t exhibit itself in all areas of my life.

Eating in Moderation
My teens and early twenties were a smorgasbord of eating. Thanks to regular exercise and healthy food choices, I could eat, and eat, and eat while maintaining a trim figure. My friends still give me a hard time for a legendary seafood buffet experience in Fort Lauderdale. I epitomize the ad that says, you can’t have just one. Unfortunately for me I think the party is over. Career circumstances and the arrival of a new baby have led to a drastic reduction in exercise and a surprising increase in garbage food intake.

Practicing What I Preach
Self-control, consistency, and patience have been the secret to my success thus far with personal finance. Anyone could follow the same formula; it’s mostly a matter of willing your way to constant growth. However, I ask myself, how can I expect my readers to follow suit financially, when I am practicing selective self-control? If I can’t throttle back on the eat-o-meter, why should I expect them to scale down the spend-o-meter and up the save-o-meter?

My Commitment
I’ll keep on writing about smart personal finances as long as I can maintain smart personal health. If my health habits slide, I’ll stop writing until they bounce back. I very much enjoy maintaining this site so that should be good motivation for me to strive to be both healthy and wealthy. As far as being wise, I’ll have to leave that for another day.

Written by Ben · Filed Under Health, Personal Finance >Comments (4) 

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Review – EarnMyDegree.com

I haven’t participated in ReviewMe offers to date because they’ve all been credit card and pay day loan sites. I recently received a request to review a site that catalogs online degree programs, EarnMyDegree.com, and took them up on their offer because I’m down with continuing education.

Investing in My Future
During the latest IT outsourcing craze I looked ahead at the future of software development in the US and decided it was wise to hedge my bets. I went back to school to earn a Masters degree in Project Management with an emphasis in Information Technology so if my company does outsource their software development someday I can always stick around and manage the projects.

Finding the Right School
When I was looking for a masters program several years ago I started off by asking for referrals then checking out their programs on the school websites. Once I narrowed it down to several schools, I talked with someone from each institution to gauge how it would suit me. Obviously getting the degree was a big time commitment so I wanted to pick the right school. After several weeks of comparison and thought, I finally found a school that had the things I was looking for: close proximity, a good reputation, online courses, and had a practicioner’s approach (focusing on the practical rather than the theoretical).

EarnMyDegree.com
The website is described as “Helping connect prospective students with online colleges and universities.” After looking it over, it seems the way they connect students and colleges is by providing a directory of schools. This is all information you could obtain from a quick Google search, however, they do organize it several different ways.

Site Features
The site allows you to browse its featured schools by degree level, degree subject, online colleges, and campus programs. It also breaks the schools down by the various types of programs offered such as Associates, Bachelors, Masters, PhD, and Certificates. There is also a “Learning center” that covers online education topics, financial aid tips, and career information, such as the fastest growing jobs.

My Opinion
This is probably not a site I would have used when looking for a school because I already knew which industry I wanted a degree in, which type of program I was looking for, and wanted to stay local so my set of potential schools was already pretty well defined.

If someone was looking for a career change and wanted to browse the variety of degrees available this might be one place to look. As I mentioned, the organization of the site does lend itself to a good categorization of the different options. However, there are many degree programs available so I wouldn’t limit myself only to the ones found at EarnMyDegree.com. It could be one resource you might use in researching your options.

Summary
If you found this review while searching for online degree programs, then congratulations, you’re on the right track. Investing in your future with continuing education is a wise move. Make sure you research your schools thoroughly; earning a degree takes time and commitment so you want to choose the right place to study. Good luck!

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March Madness Bracket Busters

The competition is heating up over at Free Money Finance March Madness. I have two articles in the field of 64 and one of them is up for votes right now, 10 Ways to Cut Your Restaurant Bill Big Time. If you enjoyed this article, why not head over to the contest and give it a thumbs up!

Written by Ben · Filed Under Personal Finance >Comments (0) 

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Entrepreneurship Week Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my entrepreneur kick over the last week. As you might have gathered from some of my posts, having or finding an entrepreneurial spirit is important to me. I think that even though it may be hard work, the ability to earn money for yourself can give you a little more freedom in life.

Entrepreneur Interviews
My favorite part of the last week was interacting with and learning from a variety of different entrepreneurs. I’ve actually only published two of the interviews so far, Generation X Finance and John T Unger so stay tuned as I continue to roll them out.

Resources & Guest Articles
I pointed you towards some resources for starting a business with in Do You Have What it Takes to Start a Business and 10 Steps to Starting a Business and featured a guest article about how college students can get started, Great Small Business Ideas for College Students.

My Thoughts on Being an Entrepreneur
I highlighted some pros, Ten Reasons Why You Should Become an Entrepreneur Today, and cons, Ten Reasons Why It’s Tough to be an Entrepreneur, of entrepreneurship and finished it up with a discussion of being a Full Time vs. Part Time entrepreneur.

I learned a lot this past week and hope you picked something up as well. I have some new ideas as a result of some of my research and am excited to share them with you in the future!

Written by Ben · Filed Under Entrepreneur >Comments (1) 

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Payback Time for Payday Loans – Contest Winner

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Payday Loan Payback contest! I’ve listed the two stories that were submitted below and have bolded some key points.

Charles Rady
I’ve used one in Florida…..right after hurricane “Charley” came through and wrecked my house. I needed the fast cash to do some immediate repairs, but ended up in a cycle due to the high interest and payed them over and over again until I could catch up a year later. The interest was just below 25% and you had to pay on time or you stood a chance of not getting another one or paying more.

Emm
I am currently trying to pay off a payday loan. It started in October 06 when I went to visit my mom down south. I ended up going out with my brother and his family to more places than originally planned (more $), went to the mall and bought some clothes because it was too hot to wear the ones I brought down with me, my mom needed a couple of things repaired in her apartment, she’s on a fixed income and I paid for them. When I got home and tallied everything up, I had less money than I thought. I spent more than I should have. I took out a $400 payday loan to ease the pain. The biweekly “interest” on a $400 loan is $88. So, you have to either pay $488 to pay the loan off completely or pay $88 interest to “roll over”. After that my car broke down and I had to roll over the loan a few times. Then it was Christmas and I had no money, so of course, I ADDED to the loan – another $400 to cover the shortage. Now the interest payments are $176 every two weeks. I can’t afford to pay down the loan because the interest payments are eating up all my available money.

I’ve been saving a bit of money every day for the last couple of months, 3 dollars a day exactly, as suggested by Brian Flemming’s blog – the Million Dollar Club. About 3 weeks ago I put in overtime at work. Between the overtime and part of my little savings pile, I paid down half the loan. Last pay period I paid down an additional $100 towards the loan. Next pay period I will be paying off the rest of the loan even if it means $25 left for groceries!

The interest rates for these things are too high! If you need the loan, you will not be able to pay it back. At least not until you roll it over a bunch of times and pay a huge amount of interest. I didn’t have any money put aside for savings before this, I didn’t save enough for my trip, and I didn’t plan ahead for an unexpected expense and for Christmas. It was my lack of planning that caused me to pay all these fees. HOWEVER, the loan companies charge a huge interest rate. These companies are rolling in huge profits. And they even make you sign a paper stating the clerk has told you how much you are approved for. I don’t remember exactly, but I was approved for almost $1000 loan. Much more than I could ever pay back with those types of rollover fees/interest.

I’m now saving every day. I wish I would have saved the $176 every two weeks towards an emergency fund instead. My outlook and discipline has definitely changed. I’ve discovered personal finance blogs as a result. But it was a costly experience. Sorry, long post…

Winner
I’m flipping a coin, Emm heads, Charles tails. The winner is ….. Emm. Congratulations, I’ll email you to find out your PayPal email. Thank you Charles and Emm for sharing your stories, hopefully someone will learn from your experience.

Written by Ben · Filed Under Debt >Comments (6) 

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Are Colleges Creating a Legacy of Credit Card Debt for Students and Alumni?

If you don’t graduate with credit card debt your alma mater may try and help you accumulate some once you’re gone.

Not only are some schools allowing credit card marketing to students on campus, selling their students’ personal information to credit card issuers, and failing to provide student education on the proper use of credit cards but now they’re peddling credit cards to their alumni. I recently received the offer below from the school where I earned my undergraduate degree.

I don’t know whether the school gave my information to credit card vendors while I was in school but obviously they feel comfortable doing so after graduation. They lead off the ad encouraging their alumni to carry more than one credit card. Many people graduating today already leave college with student loans and some credit card debt, why are schools pushing us to accumulate more?

The motivation behind the campaign is obvious, you can “support your alma mater” every time you swipe the card. In my opinion, most of us already helped support our school by paying thousands of dollars of tuition for four years. Why would we be interested in supporting them by giving them a cut of all credit card debt we acquire? Of course, used responsibly, alumni cards could be a simple way to support your school. However, statistics show that most of us don’t use credit cards responsibly. In light of this it seems a valid question to ask, what kind of legacy are schools leaving with their credit card policies?

Written by Ben · Filed Under Credit Cards, Debt >Comments (4) 

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How to Spend Zero Dollars While Shopping With Your Spouse – The Shopping Cart Slalom

Have you ever gone shopping just to keep your spouse company then ended up buying more than they did? I hate to shop but my wife thoroughly enjoys it. Before we had a baby, some weekends she’d head out shopping and I’d do my own thing at home but now we make it a family affair.

Accidental Shopping
The problem for me is that I’ll go along to keep her company but end up buying things myself. Typically it’s something I buy on sale to resell online but occasionally it’s something I intend to keep.

Shopping Cart Slalom
This weekend we hit my “favorite place”, the mall. It never ceases to amaze me the crazed mix of cars and people streaming into these shopping centers hell-bent on consumption and debt creation. As we moved from Old Navy, to the Gap, to some baby stores I stumbled across the perfect weapon against accidental shopping.

In an effort to keep my son entertained I began weaving the stroller in and out of the clothing stands in the store. As we went along I realized that not only was he laughing and smiling but I was enjoying it as well. You may never notice when shopping but all the racks and displays make for some really neat slalom courses for carts or strollers. The fact that I had my headphones in helped to block out the noise of shopping bustle and somehow gave me immunity from the store employees’ dirty looks.

Total Savings
My son and I slalomed our way through every store we entered and I didn’t spend a single cent. Last time I visited Old Navy with my wife I left with 20 messenger bags to resell on eBay, most of which I still have. I also purchased a shirt on sale for myself that I’m sure I didn’t really need. The shopping slalom proved to be a great way to get exercise, have fun, and save money. You should try it sometime.

Written by Ben · Filed Under Frugality, Saving >Comments (1) 

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How to Reach Thousands of Readers with Just Six Words

March Madness reminds us how college students can reach the entire ESPN audience simply with the right message on a hand painted sign. Part of being an entrepreneur is learning to leverage marketing techniques such as these.

One of the things I’ve learned about marketing from Jeremy Schoemaker, Seth Godin, Darren Rowse, John Chow, and Brian Clark is the power of linkbaiting. Here’s how to reach thousands of readers with just six words.

Written by Ben · Filed Under Entrepreneur >Comments (5) 

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