Archive for February, 2005
Monday, February 28th, 2005
Here is an interesting little quiz from Checkfree, a popular provider of online bill-paying software. It’s basically about how you handle money. My results: 63.6% Controller, 18.2% Traditionalist, Trend Setter 9.1%, Adventurer 9.1%. I think I’m actually even more controlling, but I rent and I hate doing my taxes so I put it off.
There is a little form at the end (I put in junk) and then they give you some “strategies” to help your finances, which look a lot like company-sponsored links to me. I suupose it’s worth a read. There were a couple of sites I’ve never heard of before, however, such as ThinkGlink.
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Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Sunday, February 27th, 2005
Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone services such as Vonage
and Broadvoice have been around for a while, offering cheap nationwide calling using your regular telephone over your broadband internet such as DSL or Cable. I’ve been a bit reluctant to switch over, as I use my phone for work a good deal, and fax functions are also important to me. However, with major companies such Comcast and SBC joining the VoIP fray, I think the time has come for it to hit the mainstream. Now, how cheap is it?
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Posted in Deals & Offers | 8 Comments »
Saturday, February 26th, 2005
I spent absolutely no time today thinking about personal finance or investing, and it was great. (Well, maybe a bit now.) Just a great day out walking and having a bar-b-que with friends. Therefore, I thought I’d put out a couple links to some new sites I’ve bookmark’ed recently.
WellSpent – Personal Finance blogs have gone mainstream, and BusinessWeek has their own. The topics covered are very varied, which is a nice change of pace. MyMoneyBlog even got a brief mention a few days ago, neat! 
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Posted in General | 2 Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2005
Update: I made a True Cost of Holiday Shopping Calculator to go along with this saving idea.
There are so many temptations in our consumer-driven society. I mean, I already have an iPod Mini and I still want a iPod shuffle! And who doesn’t need another banana case? One of the ways I keep myself from spending too frivolously, other than the frugalness instilled by parents of limited means, is to keep in mind the magnificent wonder of compounding.
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Posted in Frugal Living | 4 Comments »
Thursday, February 24th, 2005
Well, it’s been five days since I found out one of my credit card numbers was stolen. After using up my free credit reports from Transunion, Experian, and Equifax, I found out there were no new credit lines opened. I’ve also been checking my other credit cards often with no further suspicious activity, so I feel a bit better now. All this highlights a need to keep a backup of all your financial information, along with useful phone numbers to call in case.
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Posted in Deals & Offers | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
(UPDATE: Please see this list for updated no fee 0% APR balance transfer offers!)
More than a few people have asked about some good 0% APR Balance Transfer offers available, in response to my previous posts on taking advantage of these offers (see here: Part 1, Part 2,& Part 3).
I’ve looked at over a hundred cards online, scoured the “Terms & Conditions” fine print, and these are the best that I’ve found, with my opinions. I’ve tried to include a variety of card issurers – Citibank cards are at the top as they can issue you checks directly for the balance transfer amount. Just click on the card name to go directly to the correct offer and card application.
1) Citi Platinum Select MasterCard – No annual fee, 0% APR on balance transfers AND purchases for 12 months, No balance transfer fee for initial balance transfer. This is the best I’ve seen, with 0% for both purchases and balance transfers for 21 months. I have this card now, and there have been no surprises.
2) Discover Miles Card – No annual fee, 0% APR on balance transfer AND purchases for 12 months, No balance transfer fees. This is the best Discover card offer I’ve seen with no balance transfer fees and no interest on both purchases AND balance transfers, now matching Citibank above for 12 months!. You can also get 12,000 bonus miles (Which you can actually get along with a balance transfer because it’s 0% on purchases too)!
3) Citi Driver’s Edge Platinum Select Card – No annual fee, 0% APR on balance transfers for 12 months, No balance transfer fee for initial balance transfer, 6% cash rebates back on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations for 12 months (only useable on car-related expenses), 1% on all other purchases. Remember not to use it for purchases until after your 0% balance transfer is paid off!
5) American Express Blue – No annual fee, 0% APR on purchases for up to 15 months (may be only 6 months or 12 months, 3.99% on balance transfers). May be worth if you have to pay a lot of taxes via credit card, or make a lot of purchases overall.
Remember, I’ve done my best to seek out any catches, but the terms could possibly change since it’s their website. Be sure to confirm my findings, and save or print the Terms & Conditions out. Otherwise, read up and go for it!
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 59 Comments »
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005
I just saw this while reading the March issue of Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine. are promoting their line of My Retirement Portfolios, their verson of Vanguard Target Retirement Funds, funds of funds that automatically re-allocate themselves every year based on time until retirement. Their 2035 portfolio contains 80% stocks, and 18% bonds, very similar to the Vanguard 2035 Fund that I hold. However, this fund holds about 10-12 different actively managed American Century funds, instead of the four passive index funds in VTTHX.
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Posted in Deals & Offers | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2005
This post has been updated and moved here – 0% apr balance transfers with no fees.
Posted in General | No Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2005
This post should be posted remotely…
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Sunday, February 20th, 2005
(This entry is continued from Part 1 and Part 2.)
5) Things to watch out for: Even if things go smoothly and you get your money, here are some possible consequences to consider -
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Posted in Credit Cards | 12 Comments »
Saturday, February 19th, 2005
I just found that that someone just used my Amazon.com credit card to buy $138 worth of shoes at a store called Journey. They also tried to buy $300 of shoes at Payless, but that got rejected. That’s a whole lot of $10 shoes. For some reason Bank One didn’t feel the need to call me about this, but they did disable the online access to my account. I guess this is cheaper than just calling me?!?
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Posted in Credit Cards | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 18th, 2005
I don’t really write much about frugal living ideas like making bag lunches or taking 5 minutes showers, not because I don’t think it’s important but mostly because there are a lot of other sites that do it very well (and have ideas I’d never think of). However, I also feel that some things are just worth the money, even if not essential.
One of these things for me is the daily newspaper. This is one of those things that seems like an easy thing to stop receiving and save yourself $10-$15/month. I mean, Cnn.com is a click away! But I can’t.
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Posted in Frugal Living | 1 Comment »
