My wife and I have been enjoying a couple of localized Facebook pages that serve as ongoing virtual yard sales. People know each other to some extent, people post pictures, people raise their hand if they want something, and people deliver the goods. We’ve gotten some neat things, and we’ve gotten rid of some of … Read more
The mortgage interest tax deduction is one of the best sales tools that real estate agents have at their disposal. It costs them nothing to mention that in all but the most expensive homes, all of the mortgage interest on a primary residence is a federal tax deduction if you itemize your deductions. Sounds fantastic, … Read more
I’ve talked about Mr. Rebates before many times. This website, which has now been around ten years, allows you to save money online through thousands of stores simply by clicking through Mr. Rebates on the way to the online store. The rebates accumulate until you reach $10.00, and then you can request them through PayPal. … Read more
You’ve heard of the magic of compounding, right? If not, here’s a quick version. Let’s say you have a savings account that earns 1% per month. (Don’t laugh too hard. My dad had one that paid this rate at one point.) Let’s say also that you put in $1,000 at the start of 2012, and … Read more
Getting thoughtful gifts for your spouse covers a lot of rough edges! Here’s a trick on avoiding the Valentine’s Day markup with style … We’ve gotten into the habit of letting each other know before we’re about to purchase something big — something that costs in the neighborhood of $150 or more. When I tipped … Read more
We don’t watch a whole lot of TV — and we only have basic cable anyway — so I’m not a regular watcher of Extreme Cheapskates on TLC. The first time I had heard of the show was through a video on MSN.com. This particular one-minute clip features four extreme cheapskate tactics: Cutting open toothpaste … Read more
Suze Orman needed to upgrade her leather jacket to a flak jacket tonight in a personal finance scrap match with personal finance bloggers over her new self-branded prepaid debit card. The Approved Card is her own personally-branded prepaid debit card with what appears to be a decent package of tools and features. The downsides, as … Read more
It’s often said that the lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math. It’s virtually guaranteed that you’ll lose money playing the lottery regularly, because the more you buy, the closer you’ll be statistically to the intended winning probabilities (i.e., losing more than winning). Even casting lottery tickets as an investment is flawed; … Read more