Five Cent Nickel posted on how to calculate the payback period for a potential mortgage refinance. It’s indeed important to figure this out before paying for a refinance that might never save any money. (There are plenty of ways to blow money that are more fun than going through a mortgage refinance. Trust me!) Nickel … Read more
They’re not good places for buying much of anything else, though. I stopped in a Sheetz on the way home tonight. (Somehow I managed to need exactly 8.000 gallons in my car, but that’s another story.) Their subs are good; I’ll take their subs or Subway’s equally. Made-to-order food is the one exception: this is … Read more
Over Christmas I found a Hawaii quarter, which is the fiftieth quarter in the State Quarters series from the US Mint. We got home late Thursday and amongst all of the unpacking we punched out the last circle in the map and put Hawaii in. We looked it over for about 30 seconds, and then … Read more
A marketing company was kind enough to send me a review copy of Peter D. Schiff’s The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets. Mr. Schiff is the president of Euro Pacific Capital, Inc., and has earned the nickname “Dr. Doom” for his bearish take on the US markets and the US economy in … Read more
I’m just about done with Peter Schiff’s new book The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets and the title of Chapter 11 is “A Decade of Frugality.” This kind of horizon for hard times was even longer than I had thought it would be, and some of my blogging colleagues quip that I can … Read more
I love receiving free gift cards. Whether it’s something utilitarian like a WalMart gift card or something a little more yuppie like a Starbucks card, they’re handy. Free gift cards from Swagbucks Swagbucks is a site I’ve used for quite a while, and it’s just plain fun. The site itself is colorful with lots of neat … Read more
This Michelle Singletary column on the Washington Post website has answers to a few readers’ questions regarding debt and debt reduction. The first question outlines a situation that stings a bit. Here’s a summary: Husband has less construction work coming in; takes lesser-paying jobs to bring in something. Couple cuts budget but is still short … Read more
I’m a fairly hard person to buy for. I don’t really need anything per se, and I don’t buy a whole lot for myself, but if cornered in a dark alley, I’ll let it slip that I don’t mind cash. My father-in-law asked me one year what I wanted for Christmas, because all he could … Read more