The end of the 2nd quarter of 2006 brings me a nice $135 deposit from my MBNA Fidelity 529 Card into my 529 account. Paying for everything humanly possible with credit cards has its rewards!*
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Everyone who sent me their Form #2 in May for my Emigrant Direct Referral Bonus should have been paid. If not, please e-mail me. If you're interested in moving to Emigrant Direct's 4.80% APY with no minimums, why not get up to $20?
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
My local grocery stores (mainly Safeway) are having some great prices on BBQ staples competing for your July the 4th money. Check if yours is too, and stock up!
Ground beef - 5 lbs for $5 ($1/lb.)
Salmon fillets - $4/lb.
Chicken breasts - $1.29/lb.
Coke - Four 12-packs for $10 - $10 mail-in rebate = Free
Mmm... meat, fish, and soda. Grill-tastic! By the way, our no-grocery-shopping month went very well. We only spent about $20 on produce and fruit instead of the usual $200-$300, and we cleared out a lot of various stuff. It was like Spring Cleaning for our cupboards.
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
I found out that a friend of mine's parents have been retired in Mexico for years now as US expats. Supposedly the housing and living expenses are affordable, taxes are low, and the healthcare is reasonably good. I have no idea if any of these things are true, and obviously this is not for everyone, but according to him they are very happy there. Good weather, nice people, and so on.
I wonder, where are other popular international places to retire? I doubt that I would really want to retire away from family, but the idea has a certain charm.
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
That was fast. Ten days after going to 4.80%, HSBC Direct is now at a solid 5.05% APY. [HSBC Direct Opening Review]
Oh, and the little peep you hear is ING Direct inching up from 4.30% to 4.35% APY. Come on, ING! [ING $25 Opening Bonus]
Tools: Rate Chaser Calculator
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
While our current cars are running fine (even though one is 11 years old), I find myself very intrigued by the new 2007 Honda Fit. One of many perky new compact cares, many people may assume that it's just a response to recent gas prices, but the Fit has been sold in Japan and around the world as the Jazz since 2001.
I like it because it just seems simple and useful. It's got decent seating room due to it's shape. Check out the different seating configurations, or 'modes', that it has. The rear seats actually fold flat like in an SUV, giving you lots of storage space. And it'll be easy to park.
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
The Big G is rolling out Google Checkout today, and there is a new promotion with Citibank credit cards to go along with it. If you register and make a purchase by 9/15/06:
» Citi Dividend Card users will get 5 Dividend Dollars (the one that gives you 5% cash back on gas, groceries, and drugstores).
» Cards with the ThankYou Network (such as the Citi Professional Card I have) will get 1,000 points
» All other Citi cards will get a $5 statement credit.
Technically, if you already have other ThankYou points, 1,000 points could be worth $10 towards a student loan or $10 in gift cards. The beauty is that you can do this with every Citibank card you have, as the terms say ...
I realized just now that there is only about one year left in my wife's training program, after which she will be geographically mobile again and we plan on moving back close to family. This also means that we have only one year left before we plan on buying a house. Scary! I haven't been keeping a particularly close eye on the real estate market, just kind of reading the newspaper and talking with friends.
What will housing prices be like in a year? Who knows for sure, but here are my thoughts on housing prices, from a late-20s guy who's never owned a house. I think that housing prices are set by supply and demand like everything else, and people buy what they can afford. ...
In addition to my monthly net worth updates, I've decided to also take snapshot of my investing portfolio and my overall asset allocation. I want to also track any fund or ETF purchases so that I can better calculate my actual returns over time.
I haven't decided whether to do it monthly or quarterly, but here's my retirement portfolio as of today:
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
The efficient market hypothesis contends that it is not possible to consistent beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, as overall people are rational and all of the information available is already priced in the investment values.
On the flip side, the field of behavioral finance contends that humans are inherently irrational, and we, well, do stupid things. Here's a list of such stupid things. I don't know about you, but I think some of them definitely apply to me.
[ and the at MyMoneyBlog]
