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Viewing entries forView all blogs (popular) | Personal finance (popular) | Real estate (popular) | Investing (popular) | Visit Items 265 - 289 of 340
    Monday, December 10, 2007 Eleven Great Books About Money (4 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 10, 2007 at 6:42 am ET I’ve been on a bit of a reading kick lately, so late last week I decided to solicit book recommendations from a few of my fellow bloggers. I asked each of them to recommend one (and only one) financial book, and to also provide me with a sentence or two describing why they chose that [...] ... (more) Buying Gift Cards at a Discount (1 click)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 10, 2007 at 6:19 am ET Here’s a quick tip for those of you that are intent on giving gifts cards this holiday season… Check your local grocery store to see if they sell gift cards for major retailers and restaurants. Ours does, and that means we can actually save a decent chunk of money on them by using a reward [...] ... (more) Sunday, December 9, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 9, 2007 at 10:24 pm ET Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel (subscribe) posts from a year ago this past week:
» The Biggest Saver
» Savers vs. Spenders - Does There Always Need to be a Fight?
» Property Taxes on my Mind
» eBay to the Rescue ... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 9, 2007 at 10:14 pm ET Although we managed to decorate our Christmas tree last weekend, we didn’t have time to do much else. Thus, our exterior lights had to wait until this weekend. I was actually out of town on a business trip until late this afternoon but, upon my return, we broke out the lights. We didn’t do anything [...] ... (more) Friday, December 7, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 7, 2007 at 8:15 am ET Are you in the market for compact fluorescent lightbulbs?
If so, then check this out…
During a recent trip to Lowe’s, I discovered that they’re running a 2-for-1 deal on 4-packs of 13W compact fluorescent bulbs (Item #146558). This brings the price down to $7.98 for 8 bulbs, or a buck apiece. These bulbs are equivalent to [...] ... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 7, 2007 at 6:21 am ET “If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.” - J. Paul Getty
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard that the White House has plans for a subprime bailout. In order to stem the tide of foreclosures, the Bush administration [...] ... (more) Thursday, December 6, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 6, 2007 at 7:31 am ET I received the following question regarding flexible spending accounts (FSAs) from a reader the other day:
“My employer is asking me to sign a form to reimburse them for FSA funds distributed but not yet set aside (I’m leaving before the plan year ends). I have refused. Is there a regulation that states I do not have to repay them?”
I’ve written about this general topic several times in the past. In fact, twice in my life I’ve left a job having spent out my full FSA allotment by mid-year, and I walked away with the difference in my pocket. At first ... (more) Wednesday, December 5, 2007 Year End Money Moves (13 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 5, 2007 at 10:42 am ET With the end of the year less than a month away, I thought I’d put together a list of five money moves to make in the next few weeks. If you have any suggestions of your own, please be sure to post them in the comments.
1. Spend out your Flexible Spending Account. While you typically have until sometime early next year to make claims against your FSA, eligible expenses actually have to be incurred this year. So if it looks like you’ll end up having money left over at the end of the year, it’s time to get creative. ... (more) Tuesday, December 4, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 4, 2007 at 9:03 am ET This past weekend we had to replace our vacuum cleaner. For the past 6+ years we’ve been living with a Hoover than neither my wife nor I really liked, but it did the job so we dealt with it. However, having survived over six years in a house full of little boys, it was on [...] ... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 4, 2007 at 8:24 am ET Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel (subscribe) posts from a year ago this past week:
» Signup Bonuses for Business Credit Cards (Anyone can Apply)
» New Passport Requirements for International Travel
» Establishing Credit With a New Taxpayer Identification Number
» Charity Spotlight Series
And here’s what was going on two years ago:
» Cyber Monday - Who Knew?
» [...] ... (more) Debt Freedom Rocks (2 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 4, 2007 at 8:17 am ET I just wanted to give a quick shout out to J.D. over at GetRichSlowly… After spending the past 20 years in debt, he just wrote his last check and is finally out of debt. Be sure to stop by and read how he did it. ... (more) Monday, December 3, 2007 What’s Your Favorite Credit Card? (15 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 3, 2007 at 1:19 pm ET It’s time for a quick, informal poll…
I’m curious to find out about your favorite credit cards. So…
What’s your favorite credit card, and why?
If you don’t use credit cards, feel free to let us know that, and to also share your reasons. ... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 3, 2007 at 10:51 am ET In writing about the lies that financial advisors sometimes tell, the subject of rebalancing your portfolio came up. Obviously, rebalancing your investments to track your desired asset allocation is an important thing to do. When thinking about how often (and how) to do it, though, you need to keep costs in mind.
On the one [...] ... (more) Sunday, December 2, 2007 Weekly Roundup - Christmas Tree Edition (8 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
December 2, 2007 at 10:41 pm ET ‘Tis the season… We spent the evening decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music. Actually, my wife spent the evening unwrapping and handing out ornaments, the kids spent the evening decorating the tree, and I spent the evening taking ornaments from the bottom front of the tree and spreading them around the tree. [...] ... (more) Friday, November 30, 2007 The Lies That (Some) Financial Advisers Tell (19 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 30, 2007 at 1:18 pm ET I recently ran across an interesting article by Ric Edelman in Bottom Line/Personal (no link, sorry). In it, he ran down a list of the biggest lies that you’ll hear from a financial adviser, and how they could cost you money. What follows is a synopsis of that article, along with some thoughts of my [...] ... (more) Finally… Customer Service That Rocks (10 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 30, 2007 at 9:57 am ET How’s this for awesome customer service? We were settling in late last Saturday morning to watch some college football when my wife and I decided that we wanted to get some takeout from our local burger joint. While they offer counter service and a drive-through, their motto is “We don’t serve fast food. We serve [...] ... (more) Thursday, November 29, 2007 Carnivals - Week of 11/26/07 (5 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 29, 2007 at 10:42 pm ET FiveCentNickel participated in three carnivals this week. Here they are along with links to my articles that were included in each.
The Carnival of Personal Finance included “Beware the Siren Song of Gift Cards.”
The Carnival of Money Stories included “Changing Our Reward Credit Card Strategy.” Also included was “What’s the Right Age to Start an Allowance?” from raising4boys.com.
The Best of Me Symphony included “Q&A: Debt Reduction Strategy.” Also included was “How to Build a Double (or Single) Desk on the Cheap” from raising4boys.com. ... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 29, 2007 at 8:40 am ET A little over a week ago we converted two of our reward credit cards to, well… More rewarding versions. This included a switch from the Chase Perfect card to the Chase Freedom card, and a change from our old (old, old, old) Amex Optima card to an Amex Blue Cash card.
All in all, this [...] ... (more) Wednesday, November 28, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 28, 2007 at 11:19 am ET As I noted the other day, we’re changing our reward credit card strategy, in part due to perceived inflexibility on Citi’s part when it comes to making automated payments. It turns out that I may have been wrong about what you can and cannot do, so I just hopped on over to the Citi website [...] ... (more) Monday, November 26, 2007 Flexible Spending Account Spent Out for 2007 (2 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 26, 2007 at 8:33 am ET Just a quick note to say that we’ve drained our flexible spending account (FSA) for 2007. Given that we set aside $1200 pre-tax dollars, we saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $475 this year (33% federal tax bracket + 6.5% state tax bracket). While going through our open enrollment paperwork, I decided to bump our FSA contributions up to $1500 for next year. Given how things have gone this year, we should easily hit that mark. Nonetheless, I’m reticent to push things too far given the use-it-or-lose-it nature of flexible spending accounts.
A few random notes… First off, we’re going to ... (more) Sunday, November 25, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 25, 2007 at 11:26 pm ET Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel (subscribe) posts from a year ago this past week:
Standard Mileage Rate Increases for 2007
Flexible Spending Closed out at a Profit
Putting Together an Estate Plan
And here’s what was going on two years ago:
Money Moves for 2006, Part 3: Your Job
Money Moves for 2006, Part 4: Your Health
On Dental Insurance, Appeals, and Pulling Teeth
Finally, this is what was happening over at Raising4Boys (subscribe) last year:
Dookie, Dookie, Dookie
... (more) From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 25, 2007 at 8:00 am ET My son is fond of saying that I have two recipes: chili and meatloaf. While this is a bit of an oversimplification, I must admit that these are two of my favorites. I bring this up because I spent part of yesterday afternoon making chili with our leftover Thanksgiving turkey — try as I might, [...] ... (more) Saturday, November 24, 2007 From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 24, 2007 at 11:49 am ET I’m a bit late with this, but here goes…
October was another great month at FiveCentNickel, thanks in large part to contributions from readers such as yourself. I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who stop by and comment. If you like what you see here, keep in mind that you [...] ... (more) Friday, November 23, 2007 Carnivals - Week of 11/19/07 (3 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 23, 2007 at 9:43 pm ET FiveCentNickel participated in two carnivals this week. Here they are along with links to my articles that were included in each.
The Carnival of Personal Finance included “How Does Zecco Make Money?” Also included was “What’s the Right Age to Start an Allowance?” from raising4boys.com.
The Festival of Frugality included “To Gift or Not to Gift: Frugal [...] ... (more) Dish Network Pay-Per-View Followup (6 clicks)
From Five Cent Nickel - view blog entries - visit this blog
November 23, 2007 at 10:08 am ET Miracle of miracles, I got an e-mail response from Dish Network saying that they’ve credited our account for $3.99 to make up for the pay-per-view movie that we never ordered. Interestingly, shortly after I sent my response, I checked the settings on our Dish receiver. Guess what? PPV was already locked out. So… Despite what they said in their initial response, it is possible for their system to make mistakes. But… At least they did the right thing in the end.
There’s a lesson here: If you know you’re right, don’t let a company stonewall you.
& ... (more) Items 265 - 289 of 340
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