Archive for September, 2008


Gaming the Grocery System

Posted by Madison on September 16, 2008

Grocery Game finally has my local supermarket! I joined a couple weeks ago and have saved about $70 already! What is Grocery Game? The Grocery Game website creates a shopping list for your supermarket each week. It calculates the sale price and any coupons out there that will work for the product. The list identifies […]

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What Am I Supposed to Buy at Costco?

Posted by Madison on September 15, 2008

Our brand new Costco just opened last month. There’s a lot of hype, and I heard through a rumor that they’ve already had 14,000 people sign up since they opened. (No idea if that’s true or not.) Maybe all those people know something that I don’t. So what is it exactly that I’m supposed to […]

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TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express

Posted by Madison on September 12, 2008

UPDATE: The $25 bonus is no longer available for this card but it’s still one of the best cash rewards credit cards out there! I keep the Best Cash Rewards Credit Cards updated regularly. One of the cards added after it was first published was the TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express. Costco Membership […]

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A Penny Saved is… $6,977.03!

Posted by Madison on September 10, 2008

My favorite article this week is Every Penny Counts at The Dollar Stretcher. (Found on StumbleUpon early this morning when I couldn’t sleep.) Whenever my friends and family downplay the results of saving a little money here or there, I almost always respond with “What if you invested that money for 40 or 50 years?” […]

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August 2008 Net Worth Update: -2.4%

Posted by Madison on September 9, 2008

Our portfolio decreased -2.4% in August, bringing us to 919% total increase since the beginning of our dollar plan. In addition, our year-to-date total decrease is -11.9%. Reflections on my portfolio this month August was a critical point for our portfolio. In the future, it will be the month that I draw an arrow to […]

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My Advice for Sarah Palin

Posted by Madison on September 8, 2008

Photography:Sarah Palin in Kuwait 2 by asecondhandconjecture Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt been inundated with the buzz about the new Republican VP nominee, Sarah Palin. Regardless of what political party you belong to, there are financial lessons that you can take away from the Palin family. Financial Advice for the […]

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When I came up with the Unconventional Roth IRA Strategy to Lower Tax Bill I realized that to be successful I needed to track my Roth IRA money more closely. Once I dug a little deeper, I found that even if you are using the Roth IRA in a more traditional way, you still need […]

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Preschool, Investing, Credit Cards, and Weddings!

Posted by Madison on September 3, 2008

My Back to School Savings Challenge was a success! (The challenge was to save more than you spent this year getting ready for back to school.) I saved $25 from Etrade, $5 from Revolution Money Exchange, and $12 hitting a sale for a free lunch box. Total saved: $42; total spent: $37; dropping my 2-year-old […]

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UPDATE: $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit possible! Congress passed an $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit for 2009. The $7,500 tax credit outlined below will still apply to homes purchased in 2008. UPDATE 2: The $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended the deadline until June 30, 2010. In addition, it will now […]

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