Owner: Good Money Blog - Personal Finance Blog URL:http://www.goodmoneyblog.com Join Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 13:48:51 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A personal finance blog focusing on saving, spending, investing, and more. Money is good when it is well spent. Site statistics:Click here
Got Tax Rebate? 2008-05-21 12:35:06 I haven’t. I filed a paper tax return this year, so mine will take a bit longer. Last week, IRS had admitted some tax rebates have been sent to the wrong persons, and as many as 350,000 families have been affected. The following is the Stimulus Payment Schedule (according to the last two SSN [...] Read more:Rebate
Calculate CPI-You 2008-05-15 06:00:34 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a reflection of the average change in prices paid by “average” urban consumers. It does not necessarily match specific households like mine or yours.
“Expenditure weights” produced from the Consumer Expenditure Survey are used to give each good or service in the CPI [...]
A Simplified Portfolio 2008-05-12 16:33:29 Many retail investors (like you and me) believe that they can beat the market in the long run by market timing. While underestimating the risk they’re taking by trading just a couple stocks, they are confident that they can perform better than fund managers or even Warren Buffett. Nevertheless, Buffett suggested that most investors are better [...] Read more:Portfolio
Saving 101 2008-05-11 23:14:09 Saving is about common sense, resistance to temptation, and personal priorities. Have you done the right things?
Consumer Debt: It’s hard to find a good reason to support that it’s brilliant idea to carry any kinds of consumer debt with an APR of 10% or more. If you have one, you should ask yourself why there [...] Read more:Saving
Yard Waste 2008-05-09 16:00:50 There’s no centralized trash collection program in our city, so when we first moved in, our subdivision referred us to two waste management companies that we could choose from. The basic trash service didn’t include yard waste collection though it could be added with an extra $10/month or $120/year (a minimum one year commitment).
As first-time [...]
Save Gas If You Can 2008-05-07 22:17:16 A new Goldman Sachs prediction pointed out that crude oil prices could rise to $150-200 a barrel within two years as the average gas prices at the pump nationwide are approaching $4/gallon. Has your driving behavior changed?
According to AAA, 65% of American car owners said they would dramatically change their driving behavior if gas [...]
Recession Survival Guide 101 2008-02-29 23:00:57 The entry was started a little bit more than a month ago since I have been a sideline watcher. The news in the past month was surrounding continuing housing weakness, subprime problems, faltering economic growth, and, most importantly, inflation fear. Although President Bush and Fed Chairman Bernanke have repeatedly said that the country isn’t [...] Read more:Recession
, Guide
Find the Cheapest Gas Near You 2008-05-23 12:23:37 As gas prices keep rising, the following services and tools will help us save a few dollars every trip to the pump (star ratings may vary in quality by local area):
Tracking Sites
GasBuddy.com
Automotive.com - Gas Prices
MotorTrend
MapQuest - Gas Prices
FuelMeUp.com
AAA Gas Price Finder
GasPriceWatch.com
Mobile Applications
Mobio - Gas Prices1
WHERE - GasBuddy2
GasBuddy.com
Credit Score 101 2008-05-29 07:00:06 Due to the recent subprime mortgage crisis, it becomes harder and harder to apply for credit or borrow money, whether for a car loan, home-equity loan, mortgage, or any other reason. To decide whether or not to grant a loan, lenders base their decisions largely on the borrow’s credit history and one very important number [...] Read more:Score
, Credit Score
HSBC Direct now at 3.50% APY 2008-06-02 16:14:55 Anticipating rate hikes, one of my online savings accounts, HSBC Direct
, has just increased its interest rate from 3.05% to 3.50% APY thru August 15, 2008. More banks should follow suit soon.
McCain vs. Obama… and Your Wallet? 2008-06-04 14:11:50 As Obama
claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, it’s time to look ahead to the general election race in November. According to realclearpolitics.com, Obama has the support of 46.6 percent of voters, compared with McCain
’s 45.2 percent. This latest head-to-head poll shows that the two presidential nominees are currently neck and neck. With a range of [...]
How Far Are You From Being Rich? 2008-06-10 07:30:10 Many wealth seekers say $1 million is no longer enough to be considered wealthy. Is $5 million really the new $1 million?
Everyone has own definition of “rich.” Let’s think about this, “rich” is a relative term, it means having more money than a defined group of people - our neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc. Ultimately, it really depends on who [...]
McCain vs. Obama… and Your Tax Bill? 2008-06-11 11:35:59 We’ve examined the possible financial impacts of the Presidential candidates in a previous post.
Today, Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan policy group made up of nationally recognized experts in tax, budget, and social policy, released a report that illustrated how the average tax bill of different income groups could change in 2009 if either John McCain
’s or Barack Obama
’s [..
My Financial Report - May 2008 2008-06-17 20:39:52 Cash Savings
Currently, we have more cash than I’d like ($47K). We have $10K worth of I-Bonds bought at the end of April with a guaranteed interest rate of 4.28% until September. The majority of my cash is now sitting at high-yield savings accounts such as HSBC Direct (3.50% APY) and E*Trade Bank (3.15% APY). I’ve been planning to buy some stocks in my taxable [...] Read more:Financial
How I Spent My Stimulus Check 2008-06-25 07:00:45 After a long wait, I finally received my $1,200 economic stimulus payment check in the mail last week. Although some retailers offer various tax rebate bonuses, discounts, and special deals, I decided to just spend $200 on special purchases - lawn and garden at Lowe’s.
Combining with the latest special “Life Takes Visa” offer (see below), [...] Read more:Check
Exploring The Economic Cycle 2008-06-19 13:11:34 As a recognized expert and leader on investment issues, John Mauldin has more than 1 million readers for his weekly e-letter, “Thoughts From the Frontline“. He was voted 2nd only behind Warren Buffett as the ”Investor of the Year” by The Motley Fool’s readers in 2007.
The following chart from John Mauldin’s mid-2006 e-letters divides the economic cycle in Read more:Exploring
, Economic
, Cycle
Get $500 By Maximizing Cash Rebates 2008-07-08 08:00:24 Credit cards can work or against us. It depends how we use them.
As a consumer who pays off balance every month (except 0% APR deals), I have been taking advantage of cash reward credit cards for years. In the past 12 months alone, I earned 2.68% cash back (equivalent to a pre-tax return of 3.83%) for [...] Read more:Rebates
My Financial Report - June 2008 2008-07-03 12:35:53 Net Worth
Despite the stock market performed poorly in June, thanks to the $1,200 economic stimulus payment, my net worth could still be up by 0.8% (+$1,316).
Cash Savings
Admittedly, we have more cash than I’d like ($53K). I’m still considering to purchase some stocks, most of which are reaching the oversold territory, in my taxable portfolio (100% cash). As my [...] Read more:Financial
E*Trade Bank now at 3.30% APY 2008-07-01 21:13:53 Following HSBC Direct, which raised its rate to 3.50% APY last month, E*Trade
Bank will increase the rate of its Complete Savings Account from 3.15% to 3.30% APY tomorrow.
That’s a good news for me since I’m kinda hedging by saving most of my cash in both of these two banks.
Related Articles at Good Money Blog:HSBC Direct now at 3.50% APY
My [...]
Relocation and Cost of Living 2008-07-21 05:00:07 My old college roommate asked me several times recently if I’d be interested in moving from the Midwest to New York City. Speaking of relocation, I understand that everyone has different situations - job, family ties, and lifestyle. If I move to an area with higher living costs, I could very likely end up with [...] Read more:Relocation
, Living
IndyMac Bank Seized By Federal Regulators 2008-07-12 00:02:09 IndyMac Bancorp (IMB), the latest victim of the subprime mortgage crisis, has been shut down by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) today. To avoid selling IndyMac’s assets at fire-sale prices, the FDIC will take over its operations and run the bank until it can find a buyer. The bank will be reopened on Monday [...] Read more:Federal
, Regulators
My Financial Report - July 2008 2008-08-05 21:28:40 Net Worth
Our net worth was up 2.2% (+$3,682) as we spent within our budget and didn’t travel during the Independence Day weekend. We, however, enjoyed the free fireworks display in town.
Cash Savings
I understand that I should only put money I won’t need in 5 years in the stock market. As I’m pondering about my short-term goals (possible [...] Read more:Financial
What’s Your Bills IQ? 2008-07-29 06:00:39 Bills.com introduced the BillsIQ test to help people measure their financial health. Since I read that people who’d completed this test claimed that it is accurate, I gave it a try. The test consists of 25 questions and is separated into 5 major sections:
Credit - Monthly bills, credit score, balance ratio, bankruptcy
Debt - Credit [...] Read more:Bills
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