Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
With all of the attention on Haiti the last few days and the powerful destructive capabilities of an earthquake, it’s probably worth asking the question whether you should buy earthquake insurance. For years I questioned whether we should have the insurance and I felt as if I was living on the edge a bit. For those of you that haven’t spent much time reading through
Nickel over at Five Cent Nickel put up a post today about choosing a mortgage lender. A reader contacted him with the following question: “If bank A offers me a certain APR with roughly $3,000 in closing costs, while bank B offers me a lower APR with roughly $3,000 in closing costs, but bank B is a no name bank, which do I pick? In
As I was sitting back looking at my financial goals for 2010, I couldn’t help but focus on being ready for the unknown. Both my wife and I are very well employed and aren’t feeling as if there is an imminent danger of losing our incomes but with all the gloom and doom around, it’s easy to find ourselves focusing on “what if”. Rather than
It’s a new year so that means it’s time to set a few goals for our finances this year. We are still fortunate to both be employed so our budget has been comfortable so far. As I read the multitude of articles about people suffering through financial hardships, I feel bad for each and every one of them. Each article reminds me to do all
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year. It’s been quite a year on the economic front. I hope you have weathered the storms! If you haven’t, may 2010 bring you new prosperity and great opportunities! Merry Christmas!!! On a separate but related note. I just checked outside and, unfortunately, Santa did not leave a new BMW or Lexus
With the changing regulations on credit cards, banks are giving their card fees and rates a makeover. The latest bank to do that is First Premier Bank, which caters to the subprime market. Previously the bank charged a whopping $256 in first year fees for a credit line of just $250. Incredible. Now, due to changing regulations, they are capping their fees at the maximum
It didn’t take long for me to remember why I hate banks and love credit unions. In October, we finally bought my wife a car. She had been driving her Honda Accord for nearly 10 years and we decided now was the time to take advantage of great deals on cars. After doing a lot of research, we purchased a Honda CRV in October. While
I was doing a little browsing and stumbled upon this graphic. There is a lot of truth to this simple comic. It’s rare to find someone who is satisfied with what they have. I’m no exception. I am always thinking of what I want next, where I want to go, what I’d like to do etc etc.. In the graphic, each person takes for granted
As I’ve said more than a few times on this blog, have you considered a credit union? CNNMoney has an article on their site today that points out some of the benefits to switching to a credit union if you are unhappy with some of the changes that banks are making to their credit cards. As regulations tighten on banks and financial institutions, they are
For those of you that would love to have a Snuggie for Christmas but just don’t feel like parting with the $13, I’ve got a hot tip for you: Take any old fleece robe that you have in your closet and put in on backwards. Presto! It’s a homemade Snuggie. Happy Thanksgiving!