Wireless internet access is becoming the new air conditioning: something to put on your sign to draw in customers. In a few weeks, McDonald’s will be nixing its $2.95 per 2 hours wi-fi fee for customers, apparently in an effort to take another bite out of Starbucks with its new McCafe offerings. Yeah, I’d tap … Read more
If you have several debts that need paying off, there are a number of basic strategies to accomplishing this. Each one has its own pros and cons. I’ll talk about three that have made the rounds, and introduce a fourth that is a bit different. Make extra payments on the debt with the lowest balance … Read more
Merry Christmas! We’re at my wife’s parents today celebrating Jesus’s birthday. If you’ve had a lot of snow (as we have) here’s a quick treat if you have some (real) maple syrup around and a candy thermometer: Collect some snow in a bowl. (Make sure the snow is all right, meaning that it’s all white.) … Read more
One of the most important rules of investing is this: Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. If you don’t understand stocks, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand options, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand futures contracts, don’t invest in them. If you don’t understand credit default swaps, well … don’t … Read more
Makes me wonder: If I were to ask a New Yorker about the real estate collapse, they might tell me, “Real estate what?” Tough Money Love commented on Zaarath and Christopher Prokop’s postage-stamp real estate purchase: a 175-square-foot “microstudio” apartment, secured for the cool price of $150,000 plus a $700+/month maintenance fee. He didn’t really … Read more
(This is a guest post from Kris Bickell. For more tips on getting out of debt and turning around your financial situation, visit www.debt-tips.com. You’ll learn the actual debt elimination tips he used to get completely out of debt.) If only money grew on trees … life would certainly be easier! But of course, it … Read more
Notaphily (pronounced no-TAH-fuh-lee) is the collecting of bank notes. Related terms are philately (stamp collecting) and scripophily (old stock and bond collecting). After writing my post yesterday on gift cards vs. cash, and after thinking about what people might do if their unused gift cards expire worthless or if the company can go out of … Read more
In what seems to be an annual holiday event, Liz Pulliam Weston expresses her dislike of gift cards. This year though, there’s cause for her celebration, as one study predicts that consumers will purchase $4 billion less in gift cards this year than they did last year. This is a decrease of over 4%. After … Read more