Online Insurance Services
A friend of mine wants to know. This survey is anonymous, so tell the truth! 
How Much Did Your Wedding Cost?
Less than $100 (Courthouse) $100-$5,000 $5,000-$10,000 $10,000-$15,000 $15,000-$25,000 $25,000-$50,000 $50,000-$100,000 $100,000+ View ResultsI will follow up with a more detailed post next week. For the curious, various studies report the average cost of weddings in ...
Paid surveys can be a reasonable source of additional income for the right people. On a per-hour basis, they are rarely a great deal and can get tedious. But hey, you can do them during downtime on the job or late at night while watching Leno, and they can add up to hundreds of dollars over a year. I find myself being more and more picky about them as time goes on.
Accordingly, my preference is to stock with sites that offer regular surveys and are upfront about payouts. I’d much rather know I’m getting $5 for a 20-minute survey than be entered in some vague sweepstakes drawing for $500. Here are the sites that I think best fit this criteria:
Pinecone Research ...
I’ve actually never been to a Cold Stone Creamery before, but they seem to be everywhere now. Are they really that good? I personally prefer the $2.50 pints of Ben & Jerry’s when they go on sale once a month at the grocery store.
Anyways, if you sign up for their Birthday Club and the accompanying mailing list, you’ll get an e-mail for a free Ice Cream Creation on your birthday. I imagine proper ID is required… what a sneaky way to get your real birth date! Found via an e-mail forward from my parents, of all places.
While getting the numbers for my monthly net worth update, I noticed that Yodlee has added a number of new accounts to their aggregation list. Specifically, I use the licensed version at Bank of America called MyPortfolio. So if you haven’t checked in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised - I think they actually cover all my accounts now. Here are a few sites that I just added, along with some info on why I have an account with them:
Zecco Broker Review, free stock trades!
TradeKing Broker Review, award-winning broker, $4.95 trades
FNBO Direct Review, new online bank with 6% APY Promo
Bridgeway Mutual Funds Info, I hold the BRSIX micro-cap mutual fund
See here for more on Yodlee and why ...
Recently, I got placed in charge of trying to obtain an LCD projector for a family event. Has anyone else out there had to do this? What kind of prices did you get? I found that renting an LCD projector directly from a higher-end hotel costs at least $500. An hour. Then I searched for local or online stores, and found the cost was around $200-$350 for one day. The high end was including delivery and pickup, but neither place actually would help me set things up. Finally, we worked something out with a friend of a friend.
Is it me, or is the highest ratio of renting/owning of any product? I can ...
About My Credit Card Debt
Newer readers may be alarmed by my high levels of credit card debt. I’m actually borrowing money for free, putting it in safe investments that earn me 5-6% interest, and keeping the difference as profit. Along with other things, this helps me earn extra side income of thousands of dollars a year. Recently I put up a series of step-by-step posts on how I do this. Please check it out first if you have any questions. This is why, although I have the ability to pay the balances off, I choose not to.
Commentary
August was still a very transitional month with starting new jobs, meeting new people, and getting used to ...
It’s becoming our weekly ritual to browse Open Houses on Sundays. We usually try to have a theme, from “cheap condos we’d eventually outgrow” to “houses that would be a stretch, but we could live in forever”. Last week, we actually did “beautiful multi-million dollar homes we’ll never afford” just for fun and possible remodeling ideas.
More and more short sales
One common theme that we’ve been noticing across the board is more short sale houses. Whenever you see a house listed for sale that just seems too cheap, it’s likely a short sale. A short sale is a type of pre-foreclosure situation where the buyer is already in default of the mortgage loan, but the bank has not ...
For a while now, online payment service PayPal.com has offered an extra reason to keep money in their accounts - a money market fund paying around 5% interest annually. I get asked about it regularly, and here I will explain in detail why I do not recommend keeping any significant amount of money in this account.
Now, when you think about a money market account, what are the top three things you look for? Here are mine, from most important down to least important:
Safety. This is cash savings, so the top priority is that you don’t want any risk or chance of loss. Liquidity. This is not a certificate of deposit; You want to be able to access the ...Here are some happenings from the blog festivals and carnivals that I’ve participated in recently:
The Carnival of Personal Finance included our Roth or Traditional 401k decision process.
My pick from this Carnival was the sarcastic Ah… The Joys of Home Ownership by Grad Money Matters. He talks about how the accessories for a microwave can cost as much as the microwave itself! I found this timely as we were looking at washing machines the other day, the optional pedestals they come with cost upwards of $200! Is it me, or are these things just empty metal boxes. You could buy a entire new washing machine for around $250.
The Festival of Frugality at FILAM Personal Finance included my MagicJack Phone ...
You and your significant other love each other. Still, I bet there is still something that one of you loves spending money on that the other simply doesn’t see any value in. It might be manicures, gadgets, designer clothes, online poker, or Star Wars collectibles. If you have joint finances like we do, this can cause some resentment. Why is our money being spent on Yoda PEZ dispensers??
One possible solution to relieve such stress that we are currently trying out is the Adult Allowance, where each person is given a certain amount of money that they can spend with no questions asked. I’ve seen it in a few places, including Him and Her over at Make Love Not ...
Archive for Jonathan.
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