My Money Blog

Updated 529 College Savings Asset Allocation: Added Stocks, 10-Year 5% APY CD

Posted on September 1, 2010 // 19 Comments

Since we're on the topic of college tuitions, I have recently adjusted the investment mix in my Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan. As I've mentioned before, I choose a very conservative mix because I think a 20-year or less horizon with a 4-year or … [Read the rest]

Charts: College Tuition vs. Housing Bubble

Posted on August 31, 2010 // 55 Comments

This chart from Clusterstock (via Carpe Diem) shows the cost of college tuition comparison to historical housing prices and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the same period. The CPI is designed to track our cost of living by estimating the … [Read the rest]

How To Sue a Telemarketer (Book Summary)

Posted on August 30, 2010 // 15 Comments

I've been getting an increasing number of telemarketing calls recently, so I readily agreed to a review copy of How To Sue a Telemarketer by Stephen Ostrow, lawyer and judge. I had a vague recollection that you can get $500 every time a … [Read the rest]

Updated myFICO Coupon Codes & Twitter Tip

Posted on August 27, 2010 // 3 Comments

Update February 2011: Use coupon code FICO25 for 25% off! The last time I actually paid for my credit score was before I bought my house, and that was basically a fit of paranoia to make sure it was crazy-awesome before the lender pulled it. There … [Read the rest]

Google Offers Free PC-to-Phone Calls To US & Canada

Posted on August 27, 2010 // 14 Comments

There was a lot of media coverage yesterday when Google announced that they would offer PC-to-Phone calls to US and Canada numbers for free from their Gmail interface. To try it out if you haven't already, just log into your Gmail email … [Read the rest]

Getting Organized In The Google Era (Book Summary)

Posted on August 26, 2010 // 8 Comments

I ran across Getting Organized in the Google Era in an airport bookstore last month, and while I wasn't enamored enough to pay the $23 retail hardcover price, I did add it to my library want list. The author Douglas Merrill was formerly the Chief … [Read the rest]

$4 Movie Ticket at Fandango via Groupon

Posted on August 25, 2010 // 5 Comments

Groupon is currently offering any ticket on Fandango.com for $4 (up to $12 value including all fees and charges). If the value is over $12 (NYCers?) then you just pay any additional difference. If you don't have a Groupon account already, please … [Read the rest]

New Marketing Trick: Short-term FDIC-Insured Bank CDs With Really High Rates

Posted on August 24, 2010 // 21 Comments

If you still read newspapers like me, you may have come across an advertisement like this one recently touting an abnormally high 3-month or 6-month CD rate in last Sunday's issue: According to Bankrate, the current national average for a 6-month … [Read the rest]

Consumer Reports Car Reliability Charts

Posted on August 23, 2010 // 18 Comments

The auto review issue of Consumer Reports is always very popular, due in part to the fact that they can be more impartial by actually buying all the cars they test anonymously and not accepting any outside advertising. (This is not the case with any … [Read the rest]

Awesome Space-Saving and Multi-Tasking Furniture

Posted on August 18, 2010 // 6 Comments

Thinking about simplifying your life and living in less space? Perhaps you already live in a small space. If you haven't heard of Resource Furniture, you should definitely check out this video of space-saving and transforming furniture from … [Read the rest]

LendingClub P2P Loan Investment Returns Update 2010 Q3

Posted on August 17, 2010 // 14 Comments

LendingClub.com is a website that securitizes person-to-person loans so that you can lend money to other people in as little as $25 increments, and you collect the interest after some fees. The idea is to replace banks and credit cards as the … [Read the rest]

Morningstar Admits Fund Expenses More Important Than Star Ratings

Posted on August 17, 2010 // 12 Comments

A funny thing happened when Morningstar performed a study on whether expense ratios or Morningstar "star" ratings are better at predicting higher future mutual fund returns. Expense ratios won. Russel Kinnel, Morningstar's director of mutual … [Read the rest]