Aug
21
Spending More on Luxuries Than Necessities
August 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
… My necessities include natural gas, water/sewer, electric and garbage. My luxuries include phone/Internet and cell phone. I left out groceries and gas as they are somewhat discretionary depending on how much you eat and drive.
It turns out that I spend more on Internet and cell phone service than I do on my essential utilities. Notice that I lump my phone service in with luxuries since it's bundled with Internet service. If I moved it to necessities it would be a tie. Also …
Aug
19
Debit Card Security - How To Keep Your Information Private
August 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
… or purses. Because they have so many credit cards and debit cards they have to write down the pin number of each one. That's a bad idea. Here are a few tips to manage and protect your banking information.
Don't Carry Around Your PIN
This should be common sense but so many people ignore it. I've noticed this with older adults like my parents and in-laws. Many aren't used to carrying an ATM card. They used to write checks for several dollars over the amount to get cash. Those …
Aug
1
Should You Buy a New Car for Better Gas Mileage?
August 1, 2008 | 2 Comments
… per year.
Buying a New Vehicle for Fuel Economy Doesn't Make Sense
I spend more on my cell phone bill then I do on gas for my commute. It would be pure insanity to trade in a vehicle and assume the costs of a new one (sales tax, dealer profit, etc) just to save on gas.
What If the Cost of Gasoline Doubles?
Let's double either the gas price or the miles driven. That puts me at $150 per month for gasoline. Is a new vehicle worth it at that point?
No. I purchased a new …
Jul
31
How Much Do You Spend On Gas Every Month?
July 31, 2008 | 1 Comment
… considering a more fuel efficient car. But how do you know a new car will save you money ? First f igure out how much you spend on gas every month, then determine if a new car will save you enough money to justify the cost.
You can figure out how much you spend on gas every month by looking at your credit card bill or bank statement. However, that only tells you the total amount. If you're considering buying a new vehicle based on fuel economy, you need to know more.
First …
Jul
30
The Real Reason I Paid Off My Mortgage
July 30, 2008 | 14 Comments
… is making a good point here. Interest rates (for investors/savers) are terrible. That is the number one reason I paid off my mortgage.
I realized that I hadn't properly explained my motivations for paying off my home mortgage.
My wife is very risk adverse. I fall into the conservative category also. So we're not about to start investing directly in the Russian stock market. We had a sizable amount of money in various high rate savings accounts. After the rates starting …
Comment by ajc: … however, I asked first … and, three times! Given that …
Jul
29
More Reasons to Pay Off Your Mortgage
July 29, 2008 | 4 Comments
… discounted. This statistic, however, is not persuasive and it provides no insight into the number of homeowners that have mortgages that cannot or do not take advantage of this tax break.
3. Refer back to Reason 1…making more money should be reason enough.
Name one investment that is as secure paying off your mortgage with the same or greater rate of return. Don't forget to deduct taxes and capital gains if necessary.I've just started reading Fooled by Randomness by …
Comment by The Real Reason I Paid Off My Mortgage - Wealthy Reader: … Comments Chris on IRS Stimulus Payment: What if My Spouse …
Jul
28
… . I did it and I still consider it one of the best things I've done. However, there are a number of people claiming that paying off your mortgage is foolish. Let's debunk some more of these myths.
The blog 7million7Years has an article about why paying off your mortgage is the dumbest move you can make. The author lists 4 reasons why paying off your mortgage is a mistake.
I've listed his argument and my counter argument below.
1. You have access to ALL of the upside … so …
Comment by Jeff: … insight into the number of homeowners that have …
Jul
18
How Uninformed Investors Keep the Stock Market Moving
July 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
… I'd bet far fewer can read a financial statement from their investment company.
My number one rule of investing? Understand what you're investing in. My relatives can't tell me why the lost or made money in the market. They only know it's down so they "lost" money. Even as I attempt to tell them they've only lost money if they sell now and lock in their loss, their eyes glaze over and they prefer to talk about sports or the weather.
And that's the problem. When …
Jul
16
… think it's about time they step into the 21st century.
I've called my local office and the main number several times asking for either electronic delivery or no delivery as you can get your statements online. At the time I was told that the SEC required investment companies to send statements via mail. However, since none of my other brokerage companies told me this, I assumed the rep was either lying or misinformed.
Edward Jones has finally joined the electronic age. Edward …
Jul
10
Close Old Or Unused Accounts
July 10, 2008 | 5 Comments
… any accounts you don't use regularly. Then go through the list and contact each company over the phone or in writing and get the account closed.
I find it's good to clean up old accounts once a year or so. Get a free copy of your credit report and look over all the accounts. If there are some you don't use or don't recognize, call the company and get it taken care of.
You don't want to mess around with this stuff when you're trying to buy a new house. Worse yet, you don't want to …
Comment by Jeff: … however, is the first time that I've read that FICO has …