I had lunch with some old coworkers last week and it became apparent, that I live in a bubble. Of course, I still see the news, but I don’t have the day-to-day discussions with people about how the economy is impacting individuals. I’m aware of job cuts, the stock market hitting 12 year lows, and […]
I got an email from an old business associate this week. It’s always nice to hear what people have been up to… and even more interesting when they have a personal finance idea to share. He’s a real estate investor, and it turns out he is looking to expand. I’ve been interested in real estate, […]
I’m very intrigued by everything going on with the housing market right now. We were out of town visiting friends this past weekend and had a lengthy discussion about the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, downsizing houses, and foreclosures. We’ve been fortunate to be in an area that is not seeing plummeting house prices, but […]
My dad has been sick this week, and I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time with him at the hospital. Since he’s a successful small business owner for 30 years, we’ve spent some time discussing his plans for the future. It reminded me of many of the self-employed readers that I have. What’s Your […]
Zecco Price Changes Just as I was exploring my options for a new brokerage, including TradeKing and Sharebuilder, Zecco changed the rules. I was excited to try out Zecco because they used to offer free trades. However, I got this email from Zecco last week: As of March 1st, 2009, we’re increasing the minimum level […]
Ouch! We just got our gas and electric bill for December. It was $470! It’s usually around $180, but the highest it has ever been is about $220. And the freezing cold days we’ve had in the last few weeks weren’t even included. I’m going to have to do some digging to find out what […]
I’m always looking at monthly services that we have and finding ways to pay a little less. My favorite article this week is how to Save Money on Your Landline Phone. Lazy compares various phone options including Vonage (what we use), Skype, and MagicJack. It’s nice to pay less than $20 per month for something […]
We’re back! Our imaginary vacation was great. It was fun to take some time off from writing and enjoy the holidays. I hope you had a great holiday season! Now that it’s January, it’s time to buckle down and get going on retirement plans, taxes, and more! Check out the 2009 Roth 401k and Roth […]
I’m officially on vacation this week and next… although I’m not exactly sure what that looks like when you don’t have a 9-5 job anymore! Since preschool is on winter break, I decided that I will take some time off and not write for these two weeks. However, you’ll still see articles that I wrote […]
I’m deep in the holiday spirit! Of course it helps that Amazon.com had some markdowns on some toys and games I wanted. I had a quick heart-to-heart with Santa and scored some great deals this weekend: Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Bounce & Spin Zebra Balderdash Game The best part was that […]
