Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
by: James Hendrickson
The more time I spend browsing through all of the great personal finance blogs out here, the more I think about how it’s just too bad that so many people in the U.S. (and elsewhere for that matter), are so stressed out about their finances and could really benefit from reading these blogs. It’s too bad that they don’t take any interest in personal finance.
by: James Hendrickson
I’ve got the holiday spirit. Mostly because my daughter is getting in to Christmas for the first time. She is so excited that Santa is going to come to her house. I’m off work now until after the first of the year and am just spending time at home with my wife and daughter. I definitely feel very fortunate. The one drawback to the Christmas
by: James Hendrickson
I read an arcticle in a small local paper here titled, “Cashing an Empty Paycheck”. The article talked all about payday loans in Washington state. They highlighted a person named Sonia who would write a post dated check for $795 to receive $700 in cash. It turns out that this is the maximum amount of money that someone can get from a payday loan company.
by: James Hendrickson
Okay. What the heck was I thinking? If I’d really wanted this truck, I should have posted the question to a “Get Some More Debt” blog. But no. Einstein here posted the question to a community of personal finance folks. The outcome, via comments, shouldn’t surprise me. Thanks to everyone who posted. I guess I knew the right answer but was hoping that, if I
by: James Hendrickson
Well, I’m back out on the ledge again. I’m just agonizing on whether to buy a new truck or not. Yeah, I know, I’ve talked myself out of it twice before. But the urge just keeps on coming back. Here’s the situation: I have a 1997 Toyota Tacoma that has 95,000 miles on it (or so). I’ve owned it for 7 years. (which is much
by: James Hendrickson
From the, “Thought I’d heard it all” department: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com I guess it’s not too hard to see why people are having trouble finding money to invest when they are paying someone thousands of dollars to put up and take down their Christmas decorations. Isn’t half the point of having Christmas decorations, going through the ritual of actually putting them up?
by: James Hendrickson
I saw high definition television last weekend. We were visiting some family and they have a very nice HD tv and subscribe to the HD service from Comcast. You know something? It was beautiful. We watched a little bit of football and I was sincerely blown away by the quality. Some day I’ll be able to watch tv like that. Why not today? Well, because
by: James Hendrickson
You have to smile and think, “Amazing” that we’ve sunk to such a low. How did they do it? What did they do to turn so many Americans in to crazed lunatics. Running, screaming, shrieking as they push each other out of the way to be the first person in to a Walmart, Sears, ToysRUs, etc.. Yes, $397 is a pretty good price for a
by: James Hendrickson
http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/23/pf Well, I never thought I’d actually link to an article about Billy Graham, but here I am linking to it. He articulates that Americans shouldn’t spend so much money for Christmas and cites the rampant consumerism that is so prevalent these days. http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/22/pf An article that gives tips for dealing with paying for all this consumerism http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx Debate over what is going to be
by: James Hendrickson
I’ve decided to start a new campaign. I call it “Paper or Plastic”. Let me explain. Plastic = credit. You know what this is. 18% interest (or worse). Paper = cash. We all know what this is. Greenbacks. I believe you should always use paper. ALWAYS. Sure, there are a few people out there that have the self discipline and knowledge to use credit to