You have bad credit. You want to buy a house. Why bother with such old-fashioned ideas like paying off debts and slowly building back your credit? You want that McMansion now! All those other sub-prime defaults are just crimping your style. Well, now … [Read the rest]
Vanguard Simplifies Low-Balance Fees, and Even Eliminates Them With Electronic Statments
Posted on April 26, 2007 // 30 Comments
Vanguard has just announced some changes to their fee schedule, which includes some great news for us smaller investors who like Vanguard but kept getting dinged by their low-balance fees. Before, you had to dodge the following $10 fees: The … [Read the rest]
Morningstar Investor Returns: Another Reason Why Chasing Past Performance Is Bad
Posted on April 26, 2007 // 10 Comments
Traditionally, when you look at the historical return of mutual funds, you are getting what is called a time-weighted return. For example, the 5-year return is what you would have gotten if you bought the fund five years ago and held it … [Read the rest]
Our Spending Breakdown For The Last 12 Months
Posted on April 25, 2007 // 40 Comments
Several readers shared their own spending breakdowns in the comments of my previous post, so that inspired me to dig up the numbers for ourselves. I don't have exact stats, and our income varies each month, but I did the best I could by averaging … [Read the rest]
Spring Cleaning: More Painful Than Watching Reality TV
Posted on April 23, 2007 // 24 Comments
It's spring cleaning time. On top of the usual build-up, we are moving in a few months to a place where there (gasp!) probably won't be a basement! I'm not the best at organization, but here's what we've done so far: Made two big boxes labeled … [Read the rest]
Redeeming Citibank ThankYou Points For Free Flights: A Great Option
Posted on April 23, 2007 // 32 Comments
I just redeemed a bunch of ThankYou points and I think I got some great rewards for doing things I would have done anyways. Consider this: I have had the Citi Driver's Edge MasterCard (one of my main rewards cards) since July, which gives you a … [Read the rest]
Predicting the New I-Bond Rates For May 2007
Posted on April 22, 2007 // 5 Comments
Just like last last April, using the newly released March CPU-I data and the information in my How To Predict I-Bond Savings Bond Rates post, we can now try to predict the upcoming I-Bond rate announcement on May 1st. The CPI-U in September 2006 … [Read the rest]
Zecco Free Trades Broker Review, Part 1: Introduction and Opening Process Overview
Posted on April 22, 2007 // 125 Comments
I decided to open a brokerage account with Zecco.com. This is not going to be my main brokerage account just yet, but I do plan on using it. (I'm going to revive my Play Money account, for those that have been reading for a while. More on this … [Read the rest]
Las Vegas: Getting Lucky, 1000x Slot Jackpots, ATM Fees
Posted on April 20, 2007 // 10 Comments
I'm back from Sin City and I am exhausted. Let's see what kind of money-related and non-incriminating stories I can tell :) Not quite whales, but... we did stay in the Player's Room Suite at New York New York. It's the ultimate players … [Read the rest]
The Las Vegas Coupon Run: Is Frugal Gambling An Oxymoron?
Posted on April 20, 2007 // 13 Comments
If you're going to Vegas, should you even bother worrying about being frugal? I mean, I've never seen so many Hummers in my life, and you need sunglasses while walking around at 4am. It's the land of excess. But one idea for the frugalites out … [Read the rest]
What Features Make Up The Ultimate Checking Account?
Posted on April 19, 2007 // 29 Comments
If you're comparing checking accounts, what are the features that one should consider? It's not all about the interest rate. In no particular order, I would want: Low minimum balance requirement - This helps include more people, and there is … [Read the rest]
Parallels Between Gambling And Investing
Posted on April 17, 2007 // 19 Comments
I'm writing this while at the airport on the way to Las Vegas, so please bear with me. The analogies might be a bit of a stretch, but here are some ways I think gambling is a lot like investing... Debate as you like. Costs matter. If you believe … [Read the rest]
The Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – 2025
Big List of Free Stocks from Brokerage Apps
Best Interest Rates on Cash - 2025
Free Credit Scores x 3 + Free Credit Monitoring
Best No Fee 0% APR Balance Transfer Offers
Little-Known Cellular Data Plans That Can Save Big Money
How To Haggle Your Cable or Direct TV Bill
Big List of Free Consumer Data Reports (Credit, Rent, Work)