Archive for the 'Roundups' Category


Pay with Miles, Investing, and Credit Cards

We’re planning a big family vacation for next summer. Scott, me, the kids, and my parents are all headed to Seattle for a friend’s wedding. We decided to make a week out of it and make it a vacation.
Gone are the days when Scott and I could book 2 tickets on Northwest with our [...]


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IRS Enrolled Agents, Investing, and Housing

To satisfy one of my crazy tax desires, I’ve decided to become an enrolled agent. Not exactly your typical free time hobby, but something I find intriguing. I’ve completed taxes for years and volunteered for VITA, so it’s really the next logical step.
As an enrolled agent, you can practice and represent taxpayers before the [...]


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Joining Pentagon Federal, Real Estate, and Investing

I recently highlighted our mortgage refinance with Pentagon Federal Credit Union. A reader, Vic, wanted to know more about joining the credit union.
Not only do they have some incredibly good mortgage rates, but they also have good balance transfer rates from time to time (which we used on our rental property), and decent car [...]


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Dow Breaks 10,000, Investing, and Credit

Wouldn’t you know it, the day the Dow decides to cross 10,000, I have a chunk of money sitting on the sidelines. It wasn’t intentional, as I don’t believe in timing the market; it was the result of moving some money around.
I was moving our solo 401k from Fidelity to Vanguard. At the same time, [...]


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DirecTV at Two Houses, Real Estate, and Investing

Did you know you can get DirecTV at two houses on the same account? Crazy.
I took the two little kids for a weekend visit to Michigan. My grandma used to live there; after she passed away last year, my extended family now uses it for vacations.
My uncle, who was visiting from California, had DirecTV [...]


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