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Prosper: Best Search Filters for Automated Quick Invest

(This post is for investors and lenders. If you need a loan or debt consolidation, check out my LendingClub vs. Prosper comparison for borrowers.) As part of my new Beat-the-Market Experiment, I have dedicated $5,000 to Prosper. As a quick recap, … [Read the rest]

Home Depot LED Christmas Light Trade-In Details

Last year, we debated how much money do LED Christmas lights really save?, where I suggested that since the electricity savings were on the order of $1 per year per 100-light strand, it wasn't really worth throwing away perfectly good incandescent … [Read the rest]

Ask the Readers: Portfolio Advice for a World Traveler

One of my online friends, Nomadic Matt, approached me for some investing advice. Matt changed his career path and now travels around the world and writes about it for a living. Not a bad gig, eh? Matt and I had a short chat about his goals … [Read the rest]

CouponTrade Promo Codes – $5 off $50, 5% Off, Waived Listing Fee

Updated with new 5% off code. CouponTrade.com is another marketplace for unused gift cards. You can buy gift cards from other individuals at a discount from face value, or you can sell your gift cards (partial balances okay) at a price that you name … [Read the rest]

Recent Investment Returns By Asset Class – October 2012

Here is my monthly update of the trailing total returns for the major asset classes that I find useful. I am using passive ETFs to track asset classes, as they represent "real" investments that you can buy and sell. Return data was taken after … [Read the rest]

Beat The Market Experiment: My Money Blog Play Portfolio Breakdown

Update: Check out the monthly updates on this experiment. Do you think you're a below-average driver? Of course not. Everyone thinks they're above-average. This is why I'm a big proponent of the "Core and Explore" or "Play" portfolio. You … [Read the rest]

Top 529 Plans: SavingForCollege 5-Cap Ratings List 2012

Savingforcollege.com is a popular privately-run site for researching and comparing 529 college savings plans. In June 2012, they updated their rating system which represents their "opinion of the overall usefulness of a state's 529 plan based on … [Read the rest]

Zillow.com Adds Free Foreclosure Listings

If you've ever tried to research buying a foreclosure or short sale online, you've probably found a lot of sites either plastered with ads or charging expensive subscription fees in order to access "exclusive" foreclosure listings. Well, the good … [Read the rest]

Vanpooling: Save Money with Work Commute Alternatives

The following is a guest post contributed by reader Nathan, who recently started driving a vanpool in Chicago which saved him over $350 a month in addition to making a lower environmental impact. Thanks Nathan for sharing your … [Read the rest]

Calculating Portfolio Yield From Dividend and Interest Income

As I'm about 2/3rds of the way to having theoretically enough money to cover our living expenses, I wanted to take a closer look at the actual mechanics of living off of my investment portfolio. I'm using a 3% withdrawal rate, which means that for … [Read the rest]

Basics of ETF Tax Loss Harvesting

Tax-loss harvesting (TLH) is a technique used to minimize taxes on your taxable investments - without altering them significantly - by "harvesting" capital losses during market declines. There are many lengthy articles about TLH out there, but … [Read the rest]

The Amazing 99 Cent iPhone Case

In an effort to spiff up my now 2-year-old iPhone 4 so that at least it felt slimmer and newer to me, I wanted to switch to a thin and minimalist case. The official Apple-branded black bumper case at an Apple store looked nice but was priced at a … [Read the rest]