Owner: SingleGuyMoney URL:www.singleguymoney.com Join Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:22:25 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Personal finance blog of a 30 yr single male trying to get out of debt. Site statistics:Click here
Get Ready to Pay More..... 2008-02-15 23:03:00 If you live in Georgia, you may be paying up to an additional $1 for a pack of cigarettes. Currently, state lawmakers are looking at raising the tax on cigarettes by as much as $1 to provide additional revenue for the State. The additional revenue from the tax increase would go to fund healthcare programs in Georgia.Georgia ranks 43rd in the nation with a sales tax of 37 cents on tobacco. The last increase in the tax on tobacco was back in 2003.I, for one, hope they do increase the tax. Unfortunately, I have a nicotine habit that I have not been able to break. Increasing the price of cigarettes will certainly give me the additional encouragement I need to quit. I know about the negative health effects and that has not been enough to stop me yet. Hit me hard in the wallet; that will make m
Modern Day Bartering to Save Money 2008-02-14 15:40:00 Wikipedia describes bartering as a type of trade that does not use any medium of exchange (money), in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and services. Bartering dates back to times before there monetary currency. I was discussing with one of my friends and coworkers about how much I hated to iron my pants. No matter how I do it, I can never get them right. I can never get the creases like I want them and they are usually still wrinkled in some spots. Instead of trying to iron my pants, I would take them to the dry cleaners. The dry cleaner I use charges about $2 per pant with light starch. I only take my khaki's that I wear to work to the dry cleaners; my jeans I still try to iron or I just fold them up out of the dryer. My friend was talking about how much she hated Read more:Money
, Modern
No Longer Worried About My Home Value 2008-03-12 04:53:00 Every day that I watch the news, I never fail to hear a story about the struggling housing market. If I were to worry myself every time I heard the bad news, I would probably make myself sick. Every time I hear a report on the poor housing market, I used to start visiting different home valuation sites to see how my home value has changed. I would get stressed out every time I saw that the value had fallen.As the title says, I am no longer worried about my home value. I realized a lot of the problems going on in the housing industry has the most affect on current homebuyers and current sellers. If you are trying to buy a house right now, you have a great selection to choose from but you have to be more financially qualified to borrow the money for your purchase. If you are trying to sell a Read more:Value
Don't Forget to Vote 2008-03-15 10:50:00 If you haven't voted already, be sure to visit the Free Money Finance March Madness Competition. My post, I Want to Be Rich Like You, made it to the Sweet 16. The winner of the competition will get a $500 donation to their charity of their choice. I am playing for the Atlanta Community Food Bank because no one should have to be hungry. If you found SingleGuyMoney via the competition and/or this is your first time here, please be sure to subscribe for more great posts.Image Credit: hjl
The Dumbest Purchase I Ever Made 2008-03-15 00:03:00 This post is in response to a contest being run over at DebtKid. He wants you to share your dumbest purchase for a chance to win his dumbest purchase, a Nintendo DS Lite. Be sure to leave a comment on his blog for 1 entry. If you have a personal finance blog and write a post about your dumbest purchase, you get 25 entries. You will have until March 18th to share your story.My dumbest purchase is one that unfortunately, probably a lot of us have made. I bought a new car with no money down and rolled in negative equity.I went through a period of wanting a new car every two years. When I went to purchase my new car, my credit was good enough that I did not need a down payment. I was smart enough to do my research on a fair price for the car but I was dumb enough to finance the full purchase p Read more:Purchase
, Ever Made
Finished My Taxes - Finally 2008-03-14 05:14:00 The taxes are finally done and the damage was not nearly as bad as I thought. I’ve used TaxCut to prepare my taxes for the past few years and I’ve been pretty happy with it. I’ve also used TurboTax and I find that I prefer TaxCut for the ease of use. Since I used TaxCut last year, I was able to bring over my data from last year without having to dig out my tax returns from 2006. My income sources in 2007 were pretty much the same as 2006 so I only needed to update the dollar amount instead of typing in the information all over again.I won’t post the actual numbers but my income for 2007 was around $80k. That number was determined by adding up the salary from my job, rental income and interest income. I didn’t need to include blogging income because it wasn’t very much at all (l Read more:Taxes
, Finally
Avoid those Bank Fees 2008-03-18 05:30:00 As more and more banks continue to lose money as a result of the foreclosure crisis and the weakening economy, they are looking for more ways to make up for the lost revenue. I don’t know about you but I don’t have any extra money to give away to the banks. In this economy, it is important to watch and hold on to every penny. As my grandmother used to say, "Boy, you need to hold on to a dollar until you hear it holler."Here are a couple of fees to avoid:ATM Fees. Chase Bank has joined Bank of America by charging $3 for non-member ATM withdrawals. Avoid
these fees by using your own banks ATM when possible. If you find yourself frequently incurring ATM fees, consider changing banks. ING Direct offers an online checking account without the checks and a large network of free ATMs. Washingt
The Power of Advertising 2008-03-17 08:49:00 Advertising is a powerful thing. I’d known this before but this weekend, something happened that proved how powerful it really is. I’m sure most of you in the United States know of the automobile insurance company that uses a Gecko as its advertising icon. If someone asked you the name of the company and/or showed you a picture of a Gecko, you could probably spit out the company name in about 2 seconds. What if you asked a three year old? I received an advertisement from this company in my bank statement. I removed the advertisement and laid it on the table meaning to trash it a little later. My cousin picked it up and promptly said the name of the company loud and clear. I had to ask her again just to be sure I’d heard her correctly. Sure enough, she said the name of the company aga Read more:Advertising
The "Economic Stimulus" Check is in the Mail 2008-03-19 05:30:00 If you haven't received the letter yet or read it all over the web, the IRS has posted a calendar with the potential dates of when you should receive your economic stimulus payment. Don't worry when you receive the letter from the IRS, it clearly has "Economic
Stimulus Act of 2008" in red on the front of the letter above your name and address. If you have not yet calculated your potential payout, you can use this detailed calculator from the IRS. If you filed your taxes and selected the direct deposit option for your refund, you should check the direct deposit section of the calendar. If you did not select the direct deposit option, you should check the paper check section of the calendar to see when you will receive your check in the mail. Do you plan to help stimulate the economy? I have Read more:Check
Carnivals and Rate Cuts 2008-03-18 16:38:00 EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!In case you haven't heard it yet, the Feds cut rates an additional 3/4 of a percentage point today. As a result, the Dow had the 4th biggest one day gain with a surge of 420 points. Unfortunately, it going to take several more big "surges" to make up for the losses I've incurred in my investment accounts to date. In better news, the St Patrick's Day Edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by Lynnae at beingfrugal.net. My article, Trying to Keep My Good Tenant, was including among the huge list of other great articles. Image Credit: wili_hybrid
Read more:Carnivals
How to Buy a Reliable Used Car 2008-03-22 08:19:00 We all know that when you buy a brand new car, it can depreciate as much as 20% as soon as you drive it off the lot. Since we are all concerned about making the best financial decisions, we don't buy new cars...right?? If you are buying a new car, the best thing to do is pay for it in full from your savings and drive it until the wheels fall off. Meanwhile, you should be making "car payments" to yourself so when it is time to purchase another vehicle, you won't need a loan. If you are in the market to purchase a vehicle and are looking for a safe, reliable used car, you need to be sure you are taking the proper steps to protect yourself. Research. If you know what models you are interested in or if you need ideas on what your next car should be, start online. Edmunds.com has forums where o Read more:Reliable
This Day Sucked! 2008-03-20 17:35:00 You ever have one of those days where you just want to say to h*ll with it and just go home? Today was one of those days for me. It seems like everything just did not want to go right. My clients were getting on my nerves, my co-workers were getting on my nerves and on top of that, I was grumpy because I didn't sleep very well last night...Hmm, maybe that had something to do with it. It's days like this when I wish I was COMPLETELY debt free and my F.U. fund was fully funded. The good thing about this is that I'll think twice before I take on additional debt. The more debt I have, the longer I have to run the corporate rat race. Image Credit: The Marmot
Easy $25 ING Savings Referrals 2008-03-24 05:30:00 I've now made it a little easier for you to get a $25 referral for opening a new ING Orange savings account. All you need to do is click on one of the links below and then open your account with a minimum of $250 and you will get a $25 bonus referral. If you click on a link and get the following message, “We’re sorry, but the referral link within the email you received has expired and is no longer valid. We recommend that you contact the sender and ask them to re-send the referral email. Or click ‘Continue’ to proceed with the application process without the account opening bonus.” try the next link on the list. I’ll cross them off as they’re used. If all the links are used, email me and let me know. Orange Savings
Account - 3% APY as of 3/23/2008. No fees and no minimum bal
Sunday Link Love - Happy Easter Edition 2008-03-23 10:39:00 Happy Easter
Everyone! Today looks like it will be a beautiful day for the Atlanta area! I have family coming over this afternoon for dinner and I'll be hosting an easter egg hunt for the kids. Since I need to get ready for them, I'll be going back to the archives of SingleGuyMoney and highlighting some of my favorite posts from the past week from around the blogosphere. From the SingleGuyMoney Archives:When I Get Out of Debt, I Want ToBank of America wants to help me get out of debt. My Bad Habits are Costing MeQ&AFrom the M-Network: There's No Shame in Renting @ BeingFrugal.netHappy Birthday, Cash Money Life and a Giveaway!!! @ CashMoneyLifeExtravagant Spending, Is it ok? @ Gather Little by LittleHow Small a Transaction Before Plastic Seems Absurd @ Paid TwiceAre You Selling Your Cre Read more:Sunday
, Happy
, Edition
, Happy Easter
Six Links to Save Money and/or Get Free Money 2008-03-26 05:25:00 Here are just a few of the of deals and bonuses going on around the web right now to help you bring in extra money without much effort or save money on a purchase. Umpromise: Join Upromise by April 30,2008 and get $10 just for opening an account. ING Referrals: I've made it easy to get an ING referral without having to send an email. Simply click here and use one of the referral links I've setup. Be sure to open the account with at least $250 to ensure you receive the $25 bonus. Ebates - Where it pays to shop online! Get $5 when you sign up and make at least one purchase.Tracfone Prepaid Wireless: Motorola Phone and 120 minutes for $29.99(No Contract - Great for Teenagers) Quickbooks: Save up to 20% on Quickbooks Accounting Software. 1-800 Contacts: Save up to 50% and get free shipping on Read more:Money
March Budget with Leftover Money 2008-03-25 05:00:00 It's nearing the end of the month and most of the bills are paid. I still have to pay my homeowners association dues and the the trash bill. The total of both of those will come out to a little less than $200. How do the numbers add up for March
? Keep reading.............March Budget: Budgeted Income: $7590.00 (Composed of paychecks, rental income and Georgia Tax Refund) Total Income to Date: $5933.68 Budgeted Expenses: $5568.95; Total to Date: $4050.75Current Income - Expenses: $1882.63The only remaining income for this month is my last paycheck for March (I am paid bi-weekly). The only other expenses are the above mentioned bills, miscellaneous expenses and an additional $500 that I need to add to my Freedom Account. Thanks to my Georgia state tax refund this month, I added an additional Read more:Money
, Leftover
Free Gas Giveaway 2008-03-29 09:00:00 SingleGuyMoney readers - Welcome and thanks for visiting. To celebrate my 50,000th reader, I'm having a giveaway!!!! I sincerely appreciate everyone taking the time to visit and read my blog. I enjoy sharing my financial story and I hope you enjoy reading.The Gift:I will be giving away a free $50 gas card. I am funding this out of my own pocket and no company gave me a free gift card. I know gas prices suck right now so to thank you for visiting my blog, I want to make that next fill-up a little bit easier. I have a couple of books to give away but you can't put a book in your gas tank. Stay tuned for the book giveaway coming soon. The Rules:One entry per person, duplicate entries will be disqualified. - Let's make this fair. Contest applies to U.S. residents only. I have the final say on
My First Giveaway!!!! 2008-03-27 05:43:00 I will be having the first ever giveaway here at SingleGuyMoney to celebrate the first 50,000 visitors to the site. This site passed the 50,000 visitor mark yesterday and I think that deserves a celebration. I'm wrapping up the details on the giveaway and I'll be posting the prize and the details in a couple of days. In the meantime, please be sure to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney to be notified when the giveaway details are revealed. Other Articles: Easy $25 ING Savings Referrals How to Buy a Reliable Used Car What I Hate About Wal-Mart
Read more:First
Not Renewing My Costco Card 2008-03-31 05:00:00 Before I got my own Costco
Card, I used to visit the store with a friend of mine that had a Costco Card. I was pretty impressed with the store so I dropped the $50 to get my own membership. I thought I would save alot of money by buying in bulk. I have been a Costco member for over 2 years but I've decided that I will not be renewing my membership for another year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy myself every time I go to Costco. I usually go when I'm hungry so I can sample all of the food displays. By the time I leave the store, I'd usually be full of free samples. If there were not enough samples to fill up on, I usually hit the snack bar for hot dog and drink for $1.50. I like Costco and I do save a little money but to me, it's not worth the $50 membership fee. Here is why I'm not renewing
Sunday Links - Carnivals and Free Gas Edition 2008-03-30 07:00:00 If you didn't catch it yesterday, I am giving away a free $50 gas card to celebrate having over 50,000 visitors to SingleGuyMoney. Get all the details here.Carnivals
: I participated in the 118th Festival of Frugality - ABC Edition
hosted by My Dollar Plan. My article on "Avoiding Bank Fees" was including among the great list of articles.I also participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance #145 : Baby Education Edition hosted by Million Dollar Journey. My article on "How to Buy a Reliable Used Car" was included among the great list of articles.Other Links: I was mentioned in a Blog Roundup on Mainstreet.com. Mainstreet.com is newly launched and is the sister site of TheStreet.com. Favorite articles from my blogroll: It's the Little Things in Life @ FromMike.comWhat I'm Willing to Give Up Read more:Sunday
Taking a Little Break From Netflix 2008-04-03 05:15:00 I finally decided to get rid of my Netflix account. It's something that I'd been toying around with for awhile now. I like that I am able to rent movies and keep them as long as I want. I liked that they had a wide selection of movies to choose from. I even liked that I could watch some of the movies online. But the bottom line is that the additional cost is not worth it to me; especially when I already have a way to watch movies at no additional charge. This past weekend, I checked out the movie selections that come with the "On Demand" feature from Comcast Cable. I'd really never taken the time to look at all the selections they offer. This past weekend, I checked out all the selections and found that there are a number of free movies that I can watch. With the cable package I have, the Read more:Taking
, Break
March 2008 - Net Worth Review 2008-04-02 05:00:00 Assets:Rental Property - $137,000.00Primary Home - $196,000.00Car - $19,000.00Retirement - $40,250.78Cash (checking & savings) - $40,399.05Brokerage - $3186.22Total Assets: $446,204.23 - increase of 0.62%Liabilities: Rental Property Mortgage - $149,072.46Primary Home - $182,246.82Car Loan - $23,563.61Student Loans - $22,500.00Total Liabilities: $377,382.89, decrease of -0.27%Net Worth
: $68,821.34, increase from prior month = 5.80% Monthly Recap: My non-mortgage debt continues to decrease. Not by as much as I would like but it's headed in the right direction.My income this month was boosted north by a $2500 tax refund from the State of Georgia. I'm continuing to chip away at my car loan. I want to just pull cash out and pay it off in full but this economy is making me nervous. I think I Read more:March
, Net Worth
And the Winner of Free Gas Is...... 2008-04-05 08:15:00 The Free Gas Giveaway is now closed.Thanks to all of you for reading my blog and entering the contest. I plan to give away more great prizes soon!!! I will be sending an email to the winner to get the mailing address so I can send out the $50 gift card. Please scroll down to view the winner!If you were not the lucky recipient of the $50 gas card, consider signing up for the BP Visa Rewards Card to help save money on gas. BP Visa® Rewards Cards The BP Visa Card offers Double Rebates for the first 60 days. - 10% rebates at BP Gas Stations- 4% on all eligible travel and dining- 2% on virtually all other purchasesAfter 60 days, you will continue to get:- 5% rebates at BP Gas Stations- 2% on all eligible travel and dining- 1% on virtually all other purchasesFor every $25 in rebates, you have a
Free Gas Giveaway Reminder - Last Day!! 2008-04-04 17:15:00 Today is the last day to enter the free gas giveaway. You have until 11:59pm tonight - Friday, April 4th - to enter the giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment (not on this post; on the original post here) with the make and model of your car and how much you spend on gas each week or month. The winner will be announced tomorrow morning. Please consider subscribing to SingleGuyMoney to be notified of more giveaways coming soon!!!!!2-Day Springtime Sale, Sunday – Monday, April 6 – 7, Online Only!
Read more:Reminder
Finally Heard Back From My Tenant 2008-04-04 05:00:00 Last month, I posted about "Trying to Keep My Good Tenant
" and I was waiting for a response from my tenant on her lease renewal choice. As posted in the previous post, I gave her two options for renewing the lease. I received a call from my tenant today and we discussed which lease option she chose.My tenant will be renewing her lease; but not for the terms I presented to her. My tenant advised me that she is looking to purchase a house in the next year or so and did not want to be locked into a 24 month lease. She wanted to know if I would be willing to do a 15 month lease instead of a 12 month or 24 month lease. Since she renewed for more than 12 months but less than 24 months, we agreed to a 10% increase. I think this trade off is more than fair as she could have haggled for the 5% incr Read more:Finally
, Heard
Sunday Link Love - Thank You Edition 2008-04-06 14:19:00 Thanks to everyone who sent traffic my way in March. The top 10 personal finance bloggers who sent traffic my way in March are:MyMoneyBlogFree Money FinanceBeing FrugalFabulous FinancialsPaid TwiceGather Little by LittleMoolanomyFrugal BachelorCash Money LifeMy Two DollarsThanks to all of you that read, subscribe and comment on my blog. I sincerely appreciate it.I am so close to reaching 500 RSS subscribers. If you haven't taken advantage of your free subscription yet, you can do so here. Best Buy - 2 Day Spring Sale - April 6th and 7th only! Buy Online and Pickup In-Store.
Read more:Sunday
, Thank
, Edition
How My Childhood Influences My Finances 2008-04-06 07:30:00 I share alot here at SingleGuyMoney. I've found that it is so much easier to share all of my financial details anonymously instead of telling a friend or family member about my debts or how much money I earn. Since I share so much of financial details here, I thought I'd share a little about my childhood and how it influences my financial decisions today. I grew up in a small town. By small, I mean one traffic light small. I never knew my father. He was killed in a car accident before I was even born. He did not have any type of insurance so the financial burden fell heavily on my mother. My mother did not finish high school and was working at a minimum wage job. Growing up, I remember not having alot. We were poor - very poor. I would get hand-me-down clothes from my cousins. I remember m Read more:Childhood
Free Money and Great Deals 2008-04-08 18:53:00 The internet is a great resource for finding great deals and getting free money. Here's some hot deals going on around the web. Credit Monitoring 25% Off All Fico Credit Score ProductsSign-up Bonuses/Easy Cash$25 ING Referrals. Be sure to open with at least $250 to get the bonus. Upromise can be used to pay for college or request a check. No sign-up bonus but still an easy way to get extra cash. Cellular/Wireless Prepaid Wireless. Free camera phone and double minutes for the life of your phone. TravelMiscellaneous
Read more:Money
, Great
, Free Money
Most Reliable Used Cars 2008-04-08 05:00:00 Last month, we talked about "How to Buy A Reliable
Used Car". This month, we'll focus on the most reliable models by category. As mentioned in the buying article, the most important thing to do before purchasing a used car is to DO YOUR RESEARCH. Edmunds.com released the Best Bets for Used Cars
in 2007. The used car awards are based on the vehicle reliability, safety and availability (wider availability results in better prices and better value). Eligibility is limited to used cars originally sold between 2000 and 2005. There were some models that I thought should have been included but weren't. I thought the Honda Accord and the Nissan Maxima would have been listed but they weren't. Compact Sedan: 2001-2005 Hyundai ElantraRedesigned in 2001Peppy performance and smooth rideSolid build qual
Revolution Money Exchange - Get $25 in 5 minutes. 2008-04-10 05:30:00 If you haven't heard about Revolution MoneyExchange
, you should certainly check it out. It's free to send and receive money and unlike Paypal, there is no transaction fee!They are currently offering a $25 signup bonus when you open an account before April 15, 2008. I would greatly appreciate it if you sign up using the link above. You get a $25 bonus and I will get a $10 referral bonus. Once you open your new account, you can then use it to refer other people and get the referral bonus for yourself (up to $500). What are the benefits of using Revolution Money Exchange (besides a sweet $25 signup bonus). Secure transfers. Free to send and receive money.Free to request money.Free to transfer money to your bank account.You can send up to $1000 per day, not to exceed $2500 in a calendar month Read more:minutes
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