I didn't hear of any exceptional April Fools' Day jokes this year, but this one caught my eye. Many customers of Zecco Trading logged into their brokerage account yesterday to be greeted with a slightly higher buying power than before... on the order … [Read the rest]
Zecco April Fools’ Day: Million Dollar Account Balances
Posted on April 2, 2009 // 43 Comments
Last updated: October 24, 2012
New PineCone Research Sign-up Link (Paid Surveys)
Posted on April 2, 2009 // 9 Comments
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only accept applications intermittently. Here is an updated … [Read the rest]
Last updated: October 16, 2011
Places To Open A Foreign Bank Account To Store Gold
Posted on April 1, 2009 // 24 Comments
After my post about the Permanent Portfolio which included physical gold, a reader asked me where he could open up a foreign bank account to store gold. Well, in the Appendix of the book Fail-Safe Investing, the author did list specific banks that … [Read the rest]
Last updated: October 5, 2011
Internal vs. External Frugality: Different Ways of Saving
Posted on March 29, 2009 // 19 Comments
So I am trying to kick off one of my planned 2009 projects, which is to methodically go through each major expense area and explore ways to save money there. I started out last week with on housing costs (here and here), and still have a few ideas … [Read the rest]
Last updated: July 10, 2013
SEC Says Millennium Bank Was Indeed a Ponzi Scheme
Posted on March 27, 2009 // 33 Comments
Well, it was about time. The SEC released a press release yesterday stating that they have frozen the assets of the offshore Millennium Bank and its parent, United Trust of Switzerland S.A. If you don't recall, Millennium Bank offered … [Read the rest]
Last updated: October 5, 2011
Save Money on Housing: Move To a Lower Cost-of-Living Location… Like Austin, Texas?
Posted on March 25, 2009 // 49 Comments
As you may know, I own a house in an expensive area of the country. I love my house, and I love where I live, but I also admit that I occasionally daydream about moving somewhere with a lower cost of living. In my experience, many people … [Read the rest]
Last updated: October 5, 2011
Save on Housing Costs: Renegotiate Your Rent With Landlord
Posted on March 23, 2009 // 35 Comments
If you are are a renter in this market, you may be able to lower your monthly housing costs with a little research and courage. Mary Pilon of the WSJ Wallet Blog recently showed how she reduced her rent by 11% by writing a convincing letter to her … [Read the rest]
Last updated: February 23, 2012
INGCompareMe: How Do YOU Compare With Others Financially?
Posted on March 20, 2009 // 17 Comments
Here's another comparison site to waste some Friday afternoon time on - INGCompareMe.com. From their press release - "INGCompareMe makes it possible for anyone to see where they stand in relation to others on a wide range of saving, spending, … [Read the rest]
Last updated: December 29, 2014
Brightscope: How Does Your Company’s 401k Plan Compare?
Posted on March 20, 2009 // 8 Comments
Even though most people I know are too scared to even look at their 401(k) statements right now, have you ever thought about how well your company's plan stacks up to other similar companies? The problem is that 401(k) plans lack transparency. … [Read the rest]
Last updated: March 20, 2009
$750B From Federal Reserve = Mortgage Rates Dropping To Historic Lows Again?
Posted on March 19, 2009 // 14 Comments
The market news from yesterday was that the Federal Reserve announced that it would buy $300 billion of long-term Treasury bonds, along with an addition $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities. My mortgage broker sent out a corresponding e-mail … [Read the rest]
Last updated: March 19, 2009
Is Your State Prepaid Tuition 529 Plan Really Safe?
Posted on March 18, 2009 // 21 Comments
I have thought about signing up for a prepaid tuition plan, as I am leaning towards conservative investments for college savings. Lock-in tuition now, and don't worry about future hikes. However, it appears that even though 18 states have pre-paid … [Read the rest]
Last updated: March 18, 2009
The Movement To Bring Back Victory Gardens
Posted on March 16, 2009 // 24 Comments
We're still in the middle of slowly landscaping our yard ourselves, but we decided to go ahead and start a small container garden on the porch. (Okay, dear wife did. Even weeds die when I touch them.) While doing research for this, I stumbled … [Read the rest]
Last updated: February 9, 2017
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