Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
Well, it never seems to fail. I’ve never been able to time the market and trying to time interest rates has proven to be just as difficult. I locked in our refinance rate at 4.875% for a 30 year fixed rate loan. It’s a great rate and I’m thrilled to have gotten it. Of course rates have come back down further since then. My credit
It was finally too much for me to ignore. We have been paying 5.75% on our mortgage for the last 6 years. We’ve always felt that was a great rate, especially when you consider historical rates. Well, the appeal of a sub 5% loan was finally too much to keep me on the sidelines. We were able to secure a new loan at 4.875% for
Those Brits are really embracing frugality. Rather than go out and spend money they don’t have on useless junk, they are opting to stick to indoor activities that are free: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7755315.stm
You know I’ve been running through the various scenarios in my head for awhile now. “What if I lose my job? What if my wife loses her job? What if we both lose our jobs?” By doing this, it has given me some sense of security in knowing that I should be prepared for just about anything. I still think we are in for a
I think one of the most fascinating things about reading a book like “The Millionaire Next Door” is the personal descriptions about how people spend their money. As I talk to friends and family, I find the same level of fascination when listening to them describe purchases they’ve made, or are planning on making. What’s kind of neat about listening to friends, families, neighbors etc
It’s funny how recessions and depressions work. Rather than just resetting in one day, it strings out over many months and potentially years. So far, the water is relatively cold in the pot at my house. Both my wife and I are still employed, although layoffs are coming at my company. I suppose the fact that layoffs are coming at my company probably increases the
I thought this Saturday Night Live video was pretty humorous. All that being said, remember what Warren Buffet says, "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful".
I think this is a pretty good article on credit unions. It’s written by a Director of a credit union so it’s obviously biased but it does speak to the excesses of major commercial financial institutions and discusses the desire to profit as much as possible off of their customers. Credit unions, on the other hand, are more devoted to their members and have used
I have to admit I’m still really enjoying Mint.com. For the first time in many years, I’m tracking my actual expenses against my budgeted expenses. The reason I’m doing this is because Mint has made it so easy. As long as we use our credit or debit cards for purchases, they all automatically download in to Mint and are assigned in to the right category.
I’ve been sitting on the sideline when it comes to signing up for an online tool that allows me to get a consolidated view of all my investment and bank accounts. The main reason is that I didn’t want to offer up my account logins for fear of creating extra drama in my life. I finally bit the bullet yesterday and am somewhat surprised at