Archives for November 2010

Free 60-Day Trial Membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Here is a coupon for a free 60-day trial membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club (similar to Costco and Sam’s Club). I’ve never been to one before, but here is a store locator. Expires 12/31/10.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Chart: The S&P 500 Stock Index Priced In Terms Of Gold

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I don’t know what if anything this chart tells me, but for some reason I was compelled to post it here for posterity. Below is the S&P 500 index priced in terms of ounces of gold, from 1971-2010. Via BusinessInsider.

It has become popular to refer to gold as “real money” these days (and thus mock paper currencies like the dollar and euro). I don’t know about that. As a non-correlated asset to own as a certain percentage of your portfolio (and rebalance regularly), then maybe. But as a way of pricing things, gold values are way too volatile, and while the price of gold does relate to the falling dollar, it also relates strongly with speculation and fear.

I also feel that the newly found ease of buying gold in a brokerage account via an ETF like GLD has helped the price skyrocket. Click, click, and now you own gold. If you haven’t heard, gold ATM machines are coming here as well. Hmm.

In any case, if you do think of gold as money, then according to this chart the S&P 500 is at a reasonable historical price.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Poll: Top-Down or Bottom-Up Budgeting?

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I was in a discussion about budgeting and eventually decided that there are two primary types of budgeting by households. I called them “bottom-up” and “top-down”. However, there are some differing definitions of these terms floating around, mostly in connection with businesses or governments. So first, some quick definitions:

Bottom-Up Budgeting is focusing on your spending and trying to manage each one. You keep track of your spending, either item-by-item with lists or by category using software like Quicken or Mint.com. You look at each expense somewhat holistically and decide consciously if you need to cut back or if you are happy with the amount being spent. Whatever is left, is put into savings.

Top-Down Budgeting is the simpler, big-picture type of budgeting. You decide how much you want to save from your income, either by percent or total amount. Examples: I want to save 10% of my take-home pay. I want to save $1,000 a month. After you figure how much you want to save, you just try to set that aside, and spend the rest however you like.

Alternatively, you might say “I want to spend $3,000 a month total.” I still consider this top-down budgeting if you are not looking at each expense separately each month. The focus is still basically saving some fixed amount for the future.

Share! Vote in my poll…

What method of budgeting do you prefer?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
If you don’t see the poll above, you may be viewing the RSS feed and should click and visit the actual blog website.
My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Citibank American Airlines Card: 75,000 Bonus Miles

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Citi and American Airlines is offering 75,000 AAdvantage miles if you apply for a new Visa or American Express card (and have never had any Citi/AA co-branded card before) and make $4,000 in purchases within 6 months of becoming a cardmember. The annual fee for the consumer cards is $85 but is waived for the first year. Offer expires 2/28/2011. A nice deal if you like to travel and are serviced by American.

This Citi® / AAdvantage® card offer is valid only for first-time Citi® / AAdvantage® cardmembers who apply pursuant to this offer for an account by February 28, 2011. The American Airlines AAdvantage® miles will appear as a bonus in your AAdvantage® account 8-10 weeks after you have met the purchase requirements.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Google Offers Free Inflight WiFi Internet During Holidays

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Google Chrome is sponsoring free Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi on every domestic flight from the following airlines:

  • Airtran Airways
  • Delta Airlines
  • Virgin America

from November 20, 2010 through January 2, 2011. So don’t forget to bring your laptop or other mobile device along. Unfortunately, they aren’t covering free WiFi inside the airport like last year.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


New: Vanguard International Real Estate Fund & ETF

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

On November 1st, Vanguard announced the initial trading of their new international real estate index fund, both in mutual fund and ETF share form:

Per their release, the fund invests in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) in non-U.S. developed and emerging markets. The benchmark index is the S&P Global ex-U.S. Property Index, which includes 425 international real estate securities from 35 developed and emerging markets. Vanguard will assess a 0.25% fee on both purchases and redemptions for mutual fund shares (none for ETF).

I am glad to see a lower-cost option for international real estate investment, although I’m not really familiar with REOCs and how they differ structurally from REITs. I would assume these are best placed in a tax-sheltered account. I need to do more research, but am considering replacing part of my Real Estate portion (currently all US REITs) of my target asset allocation to this fund.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Chase Checking Promotion: Up to 25,000 Continental Miles

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Chase Bank has a promotion that can get you up to 25,000 Continental Airlines miles for the following actions:

  • 10,000 bonus miles when you open a new Chase Checking account with at least $100 and either make 5 debit card purchases or set up direct deposit.
  • 15,000 bonus miles if you open a Chase Continental Airlines Preferred Debit Card ($65 annual fee) and make a purchase on it. However, in the fine print it says you can opt for the regular Chase Continental Airlines Debit Card with $25 annual fee and still get the 15k bonus. Both cards offer the first checked bag for free for you and companions on your same itinerary.

Unfortunately, this is only for new Chase checking account holders, so I am not eligible. You must print out the coupon and bring it into a Chase branch to redeem. Continental is merging with United, but that probably won’t be completed until later next year. Offer ends December 31st, 2010.

If you are a new customer, live near a Chase branch, and fly on Continental or United, this is a relatively cheap way to earn a some frequent flier miles. Finally, I note on this other Chase page that you can also get 2,500 bonus miles for getting an additional debit card for a joint account holder (up to 3).

Selected fine print:
[Read more…]

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


New Morningstar Study: Interesting Facts About 529 College Savings Plans

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Morningstar recently released its annual 529 College Savings Plan study [pdf] for 2010. You can read about the final product Top 5 plans here (using some subjective judging components), but the paper also had some stats that I felt were note-worthy for those not wanting to read all 48 pages of it.

Broker-sold plans make up 52% of all 529 plan assets, direct-sold make up the other 48%. I guess I shouldn’t be, but I was surprised that only half of assets are by parents not going through a broker or financial advisor.

The average 529 balance was $9,700, which is a bit more than one year of tuition at a in-state public university (average $7,020) and much less than half a year of tuition of an out-of-state public school ($18,548) or a private college or university ($26,273). I wonder what the median is, to negate the effect of the tiny accounts.

Parents typically open accounts for their children when they are between the ages of 7 and 10, giving most families about a decade to save before their first tuition bill comes due. With only a decade, I would be wary of putting a big chunk in stocks. Many providers have already changed their “age-based” portfolios to hold less stocks. Only after the market drop, of course…

Here is a chart showing the industry average “glide path” for age-based investment options:

Roughly estimating, I see about 60% stocks for an 8-year old with a decade left before college. Before choosing such an option in your own 529, it’s important to see what your specific age-based glide path is. Many now have multiple options for conservative, moderate, and aggressive.

The asset-weighted total average expense ratio for direct-sold plans is between 0.49-0.64% annually, depending one if the plan allows investment options outside the program manager’s. The asset-weighted total average expense ratio for advisor-sold plans is between 1.16%-1.52%.

The five cheapest direct-sold 529 plans, ranked by asset-weighted total expense ratios, are:

  1. New York’s Direct 529 Program (0.25%)
  2. Utah Education Savings Plan (0.28%)
  3. The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan, Nevada (0.28%)
  4. CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan, Ohio (0.29%)
  5. College Savings Iowa 529 Plan (0.34%)

Keep in mind that this is based on actual assets held by savers, not just based on the cheapest option available in a plan. Many of these plans offer some actively-managed options for those that wish to partake.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


11/2 Only: 6 Movie Tickets from Fandango For $30

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Today 11/2 only: Groupon is offering 6 movie tickets on Fandango.com for $30. Valid for any movie up to $10, including first-run movies but not IMAX. Must redeem Groupon at WeeklyCinema.com by 12/18/10. Tickets must be redeemed via Fandango within 90 days of Groupon redemption.

If you don’t have a Groupon account already, please use my sign-up link first. It’s free for you, and I’ll get some Groupon credit. Groupon is a popular group-buying site where in major metro areas you get one deal per day from a local retailer as long as enough people sign up for it, along with occasional nationwide offers.

The offer is by WeeklyCinema, which usually offers 6 tickets for $29.99 but requires signing up for a subscription. This Groupon does not require a subscription. The six tickets can be split up for different movies or used all at once. The deal is for Seattle, but anyone can buy it and you redeem online. I already purchased mine from a previous Groupon, it should last us for the holiday movie season.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Discover Card Holiday Promotion: Double Cashback Online

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

Discover is running a 2010 holiday promotion where you can get double CashBack on online purchases from November 15th to December 31st. Applies to up to $1,000 in purchases on the Discover More, Open Road, and Motiva cards. You must sign-up online.

Discover cashback rebates are usually tiered, but from the fine print it looks like a straight-up 2% cashback or 2 miles per dollars spent, depending on your card. The purchases earning 2% back don’t even count towards your tier level.

* Sign up to earn 2% Cashback Bonus on Internet purchases from 11/15/10 (or the date on which you sign up, whichever is later) through 12/31/10, subject to a cap of $1,000 in purchases. These purchases must post to your account by 12/31/10. If a purchase is not classified as an Internet purchase, it will not qualify. Purchases earning 2% Cashback Bonus will not count toward your total annual purchases to determine your tier level. Allow up to 5 weeks for this reward to be added to your Cashback Bonus account. Only Discover More, Open Road and Motiva Cardmembers are eligible to participate in this program. See Cashback Bonus Program Terms and Conditions for further details.

The Discover® More® Card also has their quarterly promotion of 5% cash back from now until March 31st on:

* Gas
* Entertainment

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Savings I-Bonds November 2010 Fixed Rate: 0.0%

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

The new fixed rate for Series I Savings Bonds (“I Bonds”) was announced on 11/1/10 to be 0.0%, down from the previous fixed rate of 0.20%. Inflation protection is being held at a relative premium right now, so this isn’t all that surprising.

As predicted earlier, the new variable inflation-linked rate will be 0.74%. The total composite rate = fixed rate + variable inflation rate. Thus, any Series I savings bonds bought in November will have a total rate of 0 + 0.74 =0.74% for 6 months. If you already own I-Bonds, your fixed rate is always the same but the variable rate changes every six months from your purchase month, so it may not immediately change over this month.

Despite the relatively low fixed and variable rates, there are several unique advantages of savings I-bonds that can make them a potentially desirable investment. Combine this with their low annual purchase limits, and I am holding on to my bonds (and bought more last month in October).

For more related info, see the rest of my savings bonds posts.

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


Why Do You Save? A Goals Exercise

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

When I get a little low on motivation, I like to focus on the reasons why I want to earn more and spend less. I found this goals exercise from a financial planner’s website and have adapted very slightly below.

Essentially, you should start listing things you would do with your money. Some popular goals are listed below, but everyone should add their own, delete some, or clarify existing ones. The next step is to rank them from highest priority (1) to lowest priority (12, etc.). (I tried to add some online forms, but it’s probably best to print it out.) No ties! This will force you to clarify your priorities, and think about how you want to live your life.

______ Go back to school, further education for yourself

______ Switch to another new career

______ Start/buy/expand own business

______ Buy a new home

______ Buy a new car/boat/thing

______ Travel extensively

______ Reduce/eliminate debt

______ Set up a reserve/emergency fund

______ Save for retirement

______ Create financial independence

______ Support parents and/or other relatives

______ Contribute to favorite charity/cause

______ Create/leave large estate for heirs

______ Help fund children’s education

______ Provide for dependent’s special needs

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.