My Money Blog

Rising Mortgage Interest Rates: Good or Bad For Potential Home Buyers?

Posted on June 14, 2007 // 23 Comments

The hot real estate news this week is that interest rates on mortgage loans rose abruptly, thanks to some international happenings influencing Treasury rates here. According to this NY Times article, the national average for the 30-year fixed-rate … [Read the rest]

Lessons Learned From Examining My Payroll Taxes

Posted on June 14, 2007 // 34 Comments

As hundreds of high school kids run out this month and get their first summer job, they will also be greeted with their first wonderful paycheck... that and the phrase "What's FICA and where did all my money go?" Ah, payroll taxes. First, some … [Read the rest]

Do You Have A Speculative Portion Of Your Portoflio?

Posted on June 12, 2007 // 50 Comments

I've been toying again recently with the core and explore idea of putting a few thousand dollars into my Zecco account and testing out some active trading theories like options, swing-trading, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, whatever. I … [Read the rest]

Finding the Best High Interest Business Savings Accounts: Fidelity and Capital One 360

Posted on June 12, 2007 // 18 Comments

If you run a business, even if only on the side, you still want to maximize the interest earned on your idle cash. Technically, if you're a sole proprietor you can simply use a consumer high-interest savings account as there is no legal distinction … [Read the rest]

Farecast: Interesting Airfare Price Prediction and Insurance Tool

Posted on June 11, 2007 // 16 Comments

Recently, my friend Yogin told me about a website called Farecast.com. It's actually been around for a while now but somehow I've missed it... so maybe you have as well. There's basically two parts to the website that are unique. Let's say I'm … [Read the rest]

Compilation of Frugal Mattress Shopping Tips + Our New Better-Than-Heavenly Bed

Posted on June 10, 2007 //

First, I just want to say thanks for all the great and helpful comments on my post on trying to find a new mattress. I read every single comment, used many of them, and have purchased a new mattress! But before going into that I wanted to do a … [Read the rest]

Finding Health Insurance Options For Young Adults

Posted on June 8, 2007 // 26 Comments

Several people have asked me for some tips on how to find health insurance. I didn't mean to scare anyone, but if my intense pain reminds someone to get insurance, at least something good came out of it! I did do some searching myself last year - the … [Read the rest]

My Very First Emergency Room Visit

Posted on June 8, 2007 // 72 Comments

This week was filled with wonderful firsts. I had: my first time cowering for an hour in the fetal position, my first emergency room visit, my first morphine shot, my first CT scan, ...and my very first kidney stone!! Ironically, … [Read the rest]

Zecco Now Has No Minimum Balance: How To Buy The World For Just $319

Posted on June 7, 2007 // 25 Comments

It appears that Zecco brokerage has now removed their minimum opening requirements, on top of their 40 free trades a month. I'm guessing this means you can start trading with any amount of money, which is nice because you can try them out with … [Read the rest]

CNBC’s The Millionaire Inside: Battle Of The Get-Rich Guru Soundbites

Posted on June 7, 2007 // 27 Comments

Is it just me, or is CNBC TV becoming the financial network for those with 18-second attention spans? (Not that I'm not in their target audience!) Last night, I happened to catch their new series called The Millionaire Inside, which is supposed to … [Read the rest]

Should I Invest In Everbank’s Foreign Currency CDs?

Posted on June 5, 2007 // 51 Comments

While we're on the topic of international banks, US-based Everbank does offer FDIC-Insured Certificates of Deposit denominated in various world currencies: The three that stand out in interest rate perspective are the Icelandic krona, the New … [Read the rest]

Millennium Bank: Perhaps Not A Scam, But Not Safe Either

Posted on June 5, 2007 // 239 Comments

You have seen via Google Ads on my or other financial sites advertising 8% CD rates from Millennium Bank. Wow, sounds great! But given the internet age, when you see "bank", it could be from any corner of the world. The terms "certificate of … [Read the rest]