More Fun With Charts: Credit Crisis Edition

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Here a new time-waster: From the creators of LOLCats, GraphJam allows users to create charts that are funny and vote up the best ones. Two appropriate ones:

I guess this explanation is patronizing then? And after yesterday…

(Yes, the x- and y- axes should be reversed…)

I’m sure one of you all could think of something funnier… 🙂

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Calvin & Hobbes On Bailouts

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Read into it how you like. 🙂 Via The Big Picture.

Click the image below for full size.

Ah, the timeless creations of Bill Watterson. I own all of the Calvin & Hobbes collections, though I haven’t read them in a long time. Definitely saving them for my kids to read someday. Can you believe that most kids these days have never heard of it?

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Dogbert The Financial Advisor

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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.

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Suze Orman Parody – Saturday Night Live

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If you’ve ever watched The Suze Orman Show, you might find this video as funny as any Fey/Palin skit. The impression is right on; I totally missed it when it first aired.

Via a post by ddb on the Bogleheads forum.

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Most Useless Financial Tip Ever: Nominee #1

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I was flipping through last month’s Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine when I came across an article about How to Beat High Prices on food, gas, and so on. Okay, timely topic, probably sold a ton of issues. Then the following sidebar “tip” caught my eye:

Who exactly is the target audience here? People who eat $200 meals at Ruth’s Chris Steak House regularly and need advice on how to spend less? And their solution is to… eat an $89 meal. Genius!

If you’ve found some similarly awesome non-tips, send them my way.

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FNBO Direct Video Contest: 6 MMB Readers Won $500!

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After pointing out that the FNBO Direct video contest (since ended) was giving out $500 to the Top 20 semi-finalists and there were only 14 entries at the time, many more people decided to give it try. Well, it turns out that my readers are much more talented at making videos than I am – at least two of them have won $500 (and still have a chance at $5,000). Here is one of the winning entries from reader Dave and his son Max:

Updated: More $500 videos from readers Dan, Danila, Alexa, ChristianPF, and William. Congrats everyone! I’m going to *sniff* sit in the corner and wait for the $10 consolation prize that everyone else gets.

Included in my “sorry, your video was lame” e-mail was an offer for a $25 bonus if you open an FNBO Direct Online BillPay account and make one bill payment. To get the bonus, you will have an opened FNBO Direct savings account, currently paying 0.85% APY (my review).

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.


FNBO Direct Video Contest: $10 For Most, $500 For Top 20

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.

Back in June, online bank FNBO Direct launched a video contest called the Pay Yourself First Challenge where users are asked to submit a short YouTube clip about what you are saving for. The first 500 entrants get a $10 Amazon.com gift card, regardless of quality. On top of that, the top 20 submissions get a $500 cash prize, and the top 5 get up to $25,000 in matched savings. Apparently, they overestimated the tech-savviness of their customers, because as of today only fifteen video submissions are up on their group. That means everyone so far is winning $500 by default! Deadline is July 31st.

So, if you have a webcam, why not mess around and make a quick video and get $10 from Amazon. Use some creativity and get a solid chance at $500. My friend borrowed a Mac with iMovie and we whipped up the clip below. Given that we had never used iMovie before tonight, I’m actually quite happy with how it turned out. Remember, you can’t use copyrighted material. Of course, if I really wanted to win the smart thing to do would be to not blog about it here, but I’m not that bright.

FNBO Direct is actually paying 0.85% APY with no minimum balance requirements or fees, which sadly enough is pretty good these days. I do have some money there, and here is my FNBO Direct review.

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How To Save Money By Making Your Own Homemade Fireworks

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First, you will need to find some industrial fertilizer and plain sugar to make some flash powder. Next, you should make sure your fire extinguisher is properly maintained and filled.

Okay, so I’m kidding. Perhaps we should just stick to watching the nice public fireworks displays. Otherwise my next post might be “How to lose your entire net worth through a negligence lawsuit!” 😀 Happy Independence Day!

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Funny Piggy Banks

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Posting has been light due to a short vacation, but should pick up again next week. Here’s a funny piggy bank I found at a small gift shop:

Guess where all the money ends up… Okay, not everyone with me found it funny. 🙂 It is certainly sexist, although there was also a version with “Mom & Dad” on top and “Kids” on the bottom. Some other amusing piggy banks:

“Nest Egg” Bank
Literal, yet fashionable, don’t you think?

Ctrl-Alt… Save?
I don’t quite understand how this is supposed to be clever since there is no “Save” key, but the geek part of me still wants one.

Tamagotchi Bank
Remember virtual pets? Well now you can have a virtual family, which you watch grow by putting money inside this piggy bank! No wonder Japan has such a high personal savings rate…

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Learn Some Easy Tricks Now, Earn Free Drinks Tonight

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There is a fun TV show in the U.K. called The Real Hustle, which shows various scams and hustles. One useful area is proposition bets – Primarily done in bar scenarios, the goal is to score some free drinks. I believe I first heard of these over at PFAdvice several months ago.

Here’s a classic one; it’s easy to remember and doesn’t require wasting any alcohol.

This next one that just requires some loose change, a dollar bill, and an empty glass:
[Read more…]

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Treating Marriage As A Business Relationship

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Since it’s Friday, here’s another lighter post on relationships and money. Below is a highly amusing posting on Craigslist that I found via the Bogleheads Forum. Be sure to read it along with the accompanying reply below.

Advice for woman seeking $500k+ earning man

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I’m articulate and classy. I’m not from New York. I’m looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 – 250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

[Read more…]

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The Widening Gap Between The Rich And… The Super-Rich

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Forget the gap between the poor and the rich, what we really should be concerned with the growing gap between the rich and the super-rich. I mean, some people out there can only afford one yacht! The Onion explains:

“[When I grew up,] my pool didn’t even have a waterfall! I had to share tennis courts with other families.” – Author of Personal Jets on a Budget.

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.