Well, I’m just in love with the new Apple Ipod Nano. It is so small, but has so many features. By the time I’m done, it will have cost me about $50 extra to sell my Ipod Mini and upgrade to the Ipod Nano. This has nothing to do with personal finance, other than the fact that I’m blowing my daughter’s inheritance on it. Luckily
Lowered my Broadband Cost Today
I called my broadband company today. 6 months ago, I had called to threaten to cancel if they didn’t give me a discount. They dropped the price for 6 months for me. Well, that 6 months is over so I called them back again. Here’s how the conversation went: Me: Hi. I’d like to change my broadband service to your 2 megabit speed instead of
Went and Saw a Movie Last Night
For the first time in at least a year and a half, my wife and I went to see a movie last night. We didn’t even know what we were going to see until we got to the theater. It was mostly just a break from watching our daughter since my wife’s parents are in town. They told us to go out and do something,
They are Conspiring Against Us
Never before in the history of mankind has such sophistication and effort gone in to taking your money. Companies are spending billions of dollars figuring out exactly how you think, how you act, and how to dial in your preferences so that you will buy their products. The end result is that many people spend large amounts of their time trying to figure out how
8 Things to do Before You Turn 30
I found this article on Kiplinger and think it’s relevant, not just to people who haven’t turned 30 yet, but also for people who may be running a bit behind. Here are the 8 things it recommends you do: Identify your goalsStart an emergency fundPay off credit cardsStart investingEstablish creditSet up a strategy to pay off student loansTake calculated risksTravel Most of these (with the
Everybody Loves Your Money – Even the Cel Phone Companies
Here’s a place to look to see if you are giving more of your money away than you need to. How many cellular phone minutes do you have left over each month? More than 10%? You may be throwing money away. (in fact, the cellular companies count on it). No one likes to go over the minutes on their rate plan. If you do, it
Postcard in the Mail Today
Great news!I got a postcard in the mail today that said this: “Be Smart”“Use the equity in your home!”“US Bank offers loans and lines up to 125% of the value of your home”(I just picked my favorite lines from the postcard.) The postcard is from US Bank. I don’t do business with US Bank but I did years and years ago. US Bank is where
Blogging on a Saturday Night
Normally, I’d say it’s a cheap night if I’m home putting up some ramblings on my blog, although, the catch tonight is that my wife is out with a couple girlfriends from college. Probably won’t be too expensive though. She doesn’t drink much and is always watching her spending, so I can’t complain. Time to Ebay a few things. I just got a heck of
Retail is for Suckers
In the spirit of this site and it’s name, I thought I’d look at ways I give my money away. Brand Loyalty:I hate giving away more money than I have to when I go to the store for something. I absolutely always check and review what’s on sale for each item I buy and compare the price per unit on the sales tag. Sometimes this
Monkey Think, Monkey Do
A couple years ago, I was sitting in my office paying my bills when a thought occurred to me. I confess, lots of thoughts come to me all the time, which is why I probably tend to ramble a bit. Most of these thoughts could have also come to a monkey at the zoo, but every now and then, one really stays with me. It