Archive for September, 2005
Friday, September 30th, 2005
I’ve been somewhat vague about what I’m doing right now, but after jumping through some hoops, I am enrolled full-time as student again in a new field that I enjoy, working towards a graduate degree. I am still doing some part-time consulting work, but that is dwindling as school is starting to take up more of my time. Money-wise, here are some casual observations I’ve made:
- I need to investigate financial aid next semester. Although I doubt I’ll get any, the first ‘F’ in FAFSA does stand for Free, so why not? Even a subsidized loan may be beneficial, we’ll see.
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Posted in General | 4 Comments »
Thursday, September 29th, 2005
This is old news, but I just ran across it. Apparently Ashley Revell, a 32 year old from England, bet his entire net worth on a roulette spin… and won. And by net worth, I’m not just talking selling his stocks. He (supposedly) sold everything he owned - from his car to his underwear, and came up with $135,300. He changed his mind from black to red at the last second, swaying to the crowd’s preference… and walked away with $270,000 after tipping the dealer $600. Now you can spend your Friday dreaming about what you’d do if you doubled your net worth instantly with a spin of the wheel… As for me, I truly believe I’d be doing the exact same thing as I’m doing right now.
Now, if I’d won the Powerball Lotto, I’d be out shopping for my own small country!
Posted in General | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, September 28th, 2005
VirtualBank is the forgotten middle-child of the online banking world. It doesn’t have the great 4.0% APY rate of Emigrant, and it doesn’t have the advertising budget of ING Direct. It offers a relatively competitive 3.55% APY now, with no fees and minimum balances for it’s eMoney Market savings account, but is mostly ignored since it no longer stands out in the crowd. It’s only slightly unique capabilities are shorter hold times on transfers, and the ability to link 4 accounts. I still use my account to shuffle money around quickly amongst my many accounts, though. For more information, please see my VirtualBank Information and Review Page.
Posted in Banking | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
MBNA is currently offering a free credit report and score from Equifax for cardholders at the following site. I read the whole long terms and conditions, and there is no ‘free trial’ or anything to worry about. You must input a valid MBNA credit card for verification only (My only MBNA card is my 2% Cash Back 529 card), and it will not be charged. You must use the link above and only the link above to get the free report. I went through another link and was asked to pay $19.95 for 3 months of credit protection. It should read “Privacy Assist Single Credit Report… $0.00 / Complimentary”, which includes:
» Credit Report - Unlimited 30-day access to your credit report with data compiled from Equifax.
» Credit Score - Snapshot evaluation of your current creditworthiness.
» Credit Analyzer - Credit tips and tools to help you improve your credit rating.
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Posted in Credit Cards | No Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2005
I knew Presidential Bank would step it up. I have the majority of my cash at there, and kept it there even in the wake of Emigrant Direct’s recent 4.0% APY interest rate. Presidential Bank’s Internet Checking Plus Account [review] now pays 4.0% APY interest. And its Premier Savings Account [review] now pays 4.12% APY. Of course, both these accounts have additional restrictions that Emigrant Direct does not have like minimum balances, but it also offers more features like check-writing and online bill paying. It works great for me, but is definitely not the best fit for everyone. Check out my Online Bank Comparison page for some side-by-side stats.
Posted in Banking | No Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2005
While I’m still happy with the three main credit cards that I use for rewards, I just noticed that Citibank has come out with two new cards with good rewards:
Citi mtvU Platinum Visa Card - 5 ThankYou Points per $1 spent on restaurants, bookstores, record stores, movie theaters, and video rental stores
Citi Home Rebate Platinum Mastercard - 6% cash back for 6 months on utilities, cable tv, satellite tv, other pay tv and radio services, internet connection and telecom services.
ThankYou Points are Citibank’s new rewards system. To be very, very general, 1 point = 1 cent. For example, the reward that appeals to me the most is the $50 Target Gift Card for 5,000 ThankYou Points. It’s not as good as cash, but I shop at Target regularly so it’s basically the same for me. Here is a .pdf file of the whole catalog.
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Posted in Credit Cards | 3 Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2005
This week’s Carnival of Personal Finance and the new(ish?) Carnival of Debt Reduction are up. Lot of stuff to digest, check ‘em out over the week like I do.
Posted in General | No Comments »
Sunday, September 25th, 2005
I just got an invitation in the mail to a “special VIP guest” at something called the American Training Conference, where I get the chance to be trained by 5 of the wealthiest self-made multi-millionaires in the country and learn their secrets. And - Gasp! - the normal tuition fee of $149 is waived for me!! What a value! This is usually about the time I start the shredder.
But then something caught my eye - one of the speakers is William Danko, Co-Author of the oft-mentioned book The Millionaire Next Door. Here is a scan of my free ticket (click to enlarge):
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Posted in General | 11 Comments »
Saturday, September 24th, 2005
My wife and I were at Goodwill today looking for some Halloween costume ideas (she rejected Slutty Nurse - go figure). I came across this old Kodak camera from the 1900s for $20. I’m no shutterbug, but it looked really cool and I thought it would be an interesting piece for the living room (maybe try to look smart or something), so I bought it. When I got home I did a quick search on eBay, and I found that the same camera had recently sold for $64 - a potential 200% or $40 profit!
Of course then I had visions of buying and selling cameras from thrift stores for big bucks. But then I searched for some other Brownie cameras that sold for about 10 bucks both at Goodwill and on eBay, and realized (again) I knew nothing about cameras. I guess I’ll have to be content with my ‘Really Old Camera’
Posted in Entrepreneurial | 5 Comments »
Friday, September 23rd, 2005
Back in May I blogged about Pac Equities, a ‘Private Equity Funding’ establishment who supposedly did high interest loans to non-traditional real estate transactions and offered 10% interest on your money. Every commenter told me to stay far, far away - and they were right. Someone who actually worked for the company left a comment today and led me to search for and find two newspaper articles detailing how they are currently under investigation for selling unregistered securities and not properly documenting their activities - ‘Pac Equities lays off staffers, stops ads, cancels new office‘, and Bend-based company facing state investigation.
Also, their once fancy website has been taken down and is now “under construction”. Under DE-struction is more like it. Looks like this is another ABFS story. I’m happy to report that although I did request an information packet, it was so vague that I didn’t pursue it any further. So many money traps to avoid out there.
Posted in Real Estate | 9 Comments »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
ING Direct is now showing 3.40% APY on their site. Hmm… a rather weak reply to Emigrant Direct’s jump to 4.0% APY if you ask me. Still, the beauty of these accounts is that you can transfer money between them as you’d like. Although I’m sure ING is relying on ‘financial inertia’ to keep some people from moving their money out, even though you can even link Emigrant Direct and ING Direct together now.
For more information, please see my ING Direct Info Page and my Online Bank Comparison which compares many of the popular online savings accounts.
Posted in Banking | 7 Comments »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
I’ve got some U.S. Savings Bonds from back when you could buy them with no fees with a credit card and earn cash-back rewards. Unfortunately that ended in 2003. But I still have these paper bonds worth over $5,000, just asking to be misplaced or stolen. And the Treasury has been teasing me with this page about their SmartExchange program to convert these bonds to online electronic format. It’s invitation only, and I’ve been waiting for one for almost a year now. Finally I found out how to get an invitation - just ask! (Seems like a recurring theme now)
Benefits of Electronic Bonds include:
» Cash them in online, instead of having to go to a bank
» Track their current value online
» You don’t have to worry about losing them
» You can make transfers online
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Posted in Savings Bonds | 8 Comments »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
If you got in on the free iPod shuffle offer or the $24 ex24.com referral bonus offer, be aware that as of 9/30 ex24.com has changed their commission schedule so that it actually costs money to sell your share of stock. Before it was free. I already sold my 1 share of Costco for a slight profit, so I’m good. Just a heads up. Here is a link to the new ex24.com fee schedule. So if you want to unload now is a good time!
Posted in Investing | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 21st, 2005
Not to be insensitive (I’m a native Texan), but if you’ve got a car with a big gas tank I’d fill it up now in case Hurricane Rita also makes a direct hit. $3 gas may sound like a good deal shortly. Various reports even mention the possiblity of $5 gas. Don’t forget to try GasBuddy.com too.
Posted in Frugal Living | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
Update: Over $500 in Bonuses paid out already!
Ok, here’s the deal. Emigrant Direct’s representatives have contacted me to set up a referral deal where if someone clicks on a specific link to Emigrant and signs up for an account, I get $20. I want to give some of it back to you, the readers, and make it like VirtualBank and ING Direct referral bonuses where both of us benefit. Given that I have to pay taxes on that $20, I am giving you $10 and keeping about $5 net for each person.
You must follow these directions completely and accurately in order to receive the bonus. (For example, if I you only fill out one of the forms, you won’t qualify.) For those that are interested in opening an account with Emigrant Direct and want to get a $10 bonus:
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Posted in Banking, Deals & Offers | 14 Comments »
