Archives for Weekly Thoughts category
9
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Have you ever found yourself winning a prize you hadn’t even entered to win? Like, at a drawing at the local fair, you find out that your friends put your name into the raffle, and suddenly you’ve won a big prize, like a car, without any effort or real work on your part? You’d probably have a huge grin on your face, getting something so great completely out of the blue.
I had a taste of that feeling today. No, I didn’t win a car or anything like that; but I did have one of my posts featured in an MSN blog post. Yup, they made a reference to my post on Unemployment and Motivation when discussing the effects of unemployment benefits on motivation to find another job. Not an off-hand reference at the end of the article or on the fourth page, either; I’m mentioned by name (as Roger, the Amateur Financier) in the third paragraph, and they paraphrase my article over the next three paragraphs. All in all, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve had happen to me lately (possibly the coolest blogging thing that I’ve ever had happen to me).
Here’s the kicker, though: while my article about unemployment is being highlighted, I’m actually getting pretty close to having a job. I had an orientation meeting on Monday, and I have an interview on Wednesday. By this time next week, I could actually be employed again, in a job in my field that pays nearly as much as my last job (which does help support my argument in the article about holding out for a ‘good’ job while collecting unemployment). If this week keeps going the way it has, I might have to go out to a casino; I never have this kind of luck.
Successful Yakezie Members
I’m not the only one who’s had a run of luck, it seems; when I was looking over latest Yakezie Challenge standings, I noticed that were more than a few of my compatriots who have met their goals. At least the initial goals; there’s always more than you can do, and higher ranks to be obtained, especially as nobody’s broken 50,000 yet. Although, our fearless leader, Financial Samurai, is getting there pretty quickly.
With a combination of hard work, luck, and of course, some powerful friends, it looks like Money Funk and Punch Debt In The Face (great blog name, by the way) both beat the 200,000 ranking this past week. They have a lot of company; Planting Dollars, Sweating the Big Stuff, Monevator, Fiscal Fizzle, MBA Briefs, Early Retirement Extreme, Enemy of Debt, *takes a deep breath*, My Journey to Millions, Deliver Away Debt, and the Ultimate Money Blog, have all cleared the 200,000 Alexa hurdle already and are bearing down on 100,000. (Hopefully, I’ll join them soon.) Of those blogs shooting for 50,000, Budgets are Sexy and Free From Broke both cleared 100,000 first (although they were pretty close to that amount at the start), and Eliminate the Muda cleared both 200,000 and 100,000 in its ascent to the top.
It looks like many of my fellow Yakezie members are well on their way to dominating the personal finance blogosphere (and then the world…but perhaps I’ve said too much). In hopes of boosting up some of the members who haven’t gotten that far yet, here’s a round-up of some of the other Yakezie who are still shooting for 200,000 along with me:
Good Yakezie Posts
Pros and Cons of Being Cash Only – While I’m more a fan of credit card use myself, Red does make some good points about why you might opt for a cash only life.
Day 21: A Dull Monday Morning in Australia… – Not really personal finance related, but how can I resist a post mentioning a photographer who gathered up a bunch of nude people and got them to pose for a picture?
Avoiding Reactive Personal Finance – It’s hard for most of us, but planning ahead for emergencies is much better than trying to react once something happens.
Fix-It Friday: Know Your IRS Forms – Good advice as get (even deeper) into tax season, knowing your tax forms (or getting help from someone who does) can save plenty of time and money on your part.
The 5 Books that Changed My Money Life – As you’ve probably noticed from my weekly (or so) book reviews, I like to read, particularly about personal finance, and so these five ‘mini-reviews’ on books I’ve either read or have on my ‘to read’ list is quite helpful.
“Making Work Pay Credit” and the SAHM – An interesting look at the new tax credit available this year.
What’s Your Latte Factor? – An interesting discussion of the little money vices that end up costing us lots of money over time, using David Bach’s concept of the Latte Factor.
Where the Amateur Financier Has Been Featured
My post on unemployment and motivation was very popular this past week; in addition to MSN, it has been featured in round-ups from Well-Heeled Blog,151 Days Off, Planting Dollars, and Wealth Pilgrim
The latest Yakezie Carnival included my post on the challenges of holding physical gold, as did Monevator
That’s it for this week’s round-up; if you’ll excuse, I’m off to bask in my new-found celebrity a bit more. (Kidding; I’m just the same Roger, if a bit more shocked.)
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3
Mar
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
As you’re probably more than aware by now, I’m participating in Financial Samurai’s Alexa Challenge in an attempt to boost my blog’s visibility and influence. I’m proud, if a bit surprised, to say that in the course of less than a week, my ranking has gone from roughly 515,000 to a little more than 393,000, a jump of nearly 118,000 ranks. If I keep up this pace, I’ll meet my original goal of breaking 200,000 by the end of the month!
Admittedly, the higher I climb in the ranks, the more intense the competition becomes; it’s like going from the minor leagues into the majors, you just find yourself facing tougher and tougher opponents the higher you go. Additionally, as Financial Samurai notes, the challenge increases as time goes on. The goal of 200,000, once a ranking that put you amongst the top one hundred personal finance bloggers in the world, is no longer enough. (FS also made mention of these very round-up posts, which was certainly a nice gesture.)
All the more reason to work even harder, to do whatever I can to improve my image amongst other bloggers, and to promote the heck out of them in hopes that they will do the same. On that note, let’s get to the real fun of these round-ups; great posts from other bloggers:
Good Yakezie Posts
CARD Act: Credit Card Reform Act of 2009 – A great list of all the changes to credit card law brought about by the CARD act that recently put into place, one that puts even mine to shame.
Why Does Joe Public Love Sweatshops? – Not just getting the products from them, but the idea of working in them. I think it’s nostalgia for an older, simpler (although also dirtier, more exhausting, and more painful) time.
Why Does Everyone Hate on Financial Planners? – My guess: a combination of anger at the corrupt ones (who are a small percentage of the whole, I might add) and feelings that they (the public, not the planners) should be able to handle their own money without help.
Combat the Closing Techniques – The Power of Suggestion – Another in a series I really like, showing you how to fight back against various sales techniques.
No More ‘I Can’t Afford That’ - When you have the money, but choose not to spend it, you should be proud to say as much.
‘The Snark Handbook’ Review and Giveaway – Be sure to enter for the chance to win what seems like a hilarious book!
Should Wannabe Entrepreneurs Eliminate Debt Before Opening Their Doors? – It’s probably a good idea, but probably not necessary.
You Can’t Afford Kids – A conversation stopper right there, although it raises some interesting points about when in your financial journey you should add kids to your household.
The Reason for the Dearth of Investment Posts on ERE – A cogent reason for not posting more on investing from a fellow blogger; if I didn’t love writing about investing so much, I might just take his advice.
It’s Your Money, YOU Spend It! – How to handle being ‘volunteered’ to spend money (for special events like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)
Other Good Posts
Unconventional Personal Finance Advice – Some advice that might go against the grain of commonly cited personal finance rules.
5 Situations Where You Should Leave Your Credit Card in Your Pocket – A good list of times to use cash rather than plastic (paying taxes is one I wouldn’t have guessed)
6 New Credit Card Rules – Another article about the CARD act; a very succinct one, as well.
Can America Learn to Save From My Dog? – Dogs put aside biscuits or bones for a rainy day, why can’t we?
$3,000 Cash for Caulkers Revealed - The details of the new plan revealed, for better or worse. (Also, who do I have to write to in order to get people to stop giving these programs alliterative nicknames?)
The Amateur Financier Around the Web
The Carnival of Money Stories hosted my last Wacky Wednesday post
Monevator’s latest Round Up featured my post on Taxing Financial Transactions, as did the Weekly Round Up on Money Funk
A Weekly Wisdom round-up (great name, by the way) featured my post on Hyperbolic Discounting
If I missed any round-ups or other posts that featured my blog entries, just let me know; I want to promote the heck out of you (and not just because it’s a roundabout way of promoting myself) Good day, everyone!
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23
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Have you ever had a good idea, a wonderful idea you couldn’t wait to put into practice. Then, before you had the chance to actually carry it out, you discovered that someone not only had the same idea, but managed to put it into practice before you even got the first step off the ground. That’s pretty much the way I felt when I read this post on Evolution of Wealth.
The article itself is pretty reasonable, a round up of all the latest Yakezie posts, which is the sort of thing done by any number of blogs (including mine). It’s what’s down in the comments that’s irking me; apparently, I’m not the first person to have the idea of using a carnival to promote the Yakezie challenge, and not being fast enough to get it up and running before anyone else, all I can do is wait on the sidelines.
Oh, well; running a carnival is a sometimes tough job, and I’m just glad that there are other people willing to shoulder that sort of responsibility. I’ve already offered to host the carnival, so perhaps one week soon, you’ll see my weekly thoughts entry being replaced (or augmented) with a Yakezie carnival entry. Either way would be pretty fun…
Enough about future round-ups, though; now it’s time to share some of the good articles from this past week:
Good Yakezie Posts
Debt Free News From a Debt Free Reader #6: Some good news to kick off our list; it’s always good when someone is able to get out of debt. Go, Dustin!
How I went from No Blog to 122,661 on Alexa in Two Months: Not really personal finance, but another inspiring story nonetheless (particularly if, like me, you’re trying to make a go of this whole blogging thing.
Lease or Buy? What to Know Before Your First Car Purchase: I’ve always bought used cars (and drove them until they couldn’t be driven anymore), but this is a good overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each car acquisition method.
Russian Women and Their Money: An intriguing view of how Russians traditionally handle money. (It’s always amazing to me how many cultures have women controlling the purse strings.)
How Financial Planners SHOULD Behave and Act as a Fiduciary: A great list of things that a good financial planner should be doing for their clients.
Pros and Cons of Being Wealthy: Even with the cons listed, I’d still be willing to give being wealthy a try.
How to Get More Money Back on Your Tax Return: Apparently, it’s tax season in the great white north as well; here’s a list of tips aimed at Canadians (though there’s good advice for the US, as well).
Is Passive Income Real?: This guest post argues no (pretty persuasively), but I think that getting close to passive would satisfy me (and most people, for that matter).
Conventional Wisdom Leaves Much to Luck: Another guest post (they’re getting pretty popular, lately) about the flaws in conventional wisdom when it comes to retirement withdraws, and ways to protect yourself.
Combat the Closing Techniques-The Puppy Dog Close: One of the more diabolical marketing techniques (’Just take the puppy home for the weekend, you can return him if you don’t want to keep him’) and how to combat it.
BOND is Back!: Besides a great title line, this entry is filled with helpful information about a variety of different government bond types, from savings bonds to TIPS.
That’s pretty much it for this week; be sure to check the link in the first paragraph for an excellent collection of great articles (including mine). Enjoy all the great personal finance reading!
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16
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Today is going to be a shorter than normal collection of my thoughts, because most of my thoughts have been about things other than blogging this last week. I am going to be taking the Graduate Record Examination (R), better known as the GRE, on Wednesday. I’ve spent a lot of the past week studying various test prep materials, unfortunately spending less time than I would like on other things in my life, like blogging, spending time with my fiancee, and sleep. (Just kidding on those last few, although not nearly as much much as I would like.)
Anyway, by this time tomorrow, I’ll be on my way to take the test. I plan to do very well on it, then after spending the night attending my fiancee’s gallery opening, I’ll come home, relax, recover, and start tomorrow on blog posts for the coming week. It’ll be nice to be able to search for jobs and work on my blog without worrying about how this test will turn out.
With all of that out of the way, I hope you’ll excuse the smaller than usual selection of quality articles from this past week; when I no longer have an upcoming test (and flashbacks to standardized tests from high school), I should have longer lists, filled with all the good articles I’ll catch up on in my spare time.
Good Yakezie Articles This Past Week
Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Your Credit Card? – At one time, this might have been an easy question, but changes in ethics (foreclosure is no longer a red mark) and the broader financial picture (many houses are underwater; why put more money in when you’ll never get any out?) have changed the answer for many people.
What Are The Definitions of Liberal and Conservative? – While not directly related to personal finance, it’s good to know these terms, which get tossed around rather loosely (particularly in an election year) really mean. There’s also a link to a short quiz to find out where you stand.
Would You Sell Yourself for One Million (British Pounds)? – An interesting question, inspired by a British entrepreneur’s offer to sell 10% of his income from this point on in exchange for 1 million pounds up front. (I would do so in a heart beat, although I doubt I could fetch anywhere near that amount; although, from what I gathered, neither could he…)
The Best Superbowl Commercials for 2010 – It’s probably already been well hashed out around the water cooler, but here’s a bit more fuel for the ‘Best Super Bowl Commercial’ Discussion. (Although, I defy anyone to tell me that the beaver commercial for Monster.com was not absolutely hilarious.)
The 5 Worst Superbowl Commercials of 2010 – On the other, more horrifying side of the coin, we have th five worst commercials during this year’s Superbowl. Sadly, there were many more that could be up for this reward…
Alright, that’s about it from me; it’s back to hitting the books (and the practice test screen). Have a great day, and wish me luck!
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8
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
More than one year ago (on February 6, 2009, just in case it ever comes up on Jeopardy), I started the Amateur Financier. 367 days, 335 posts, over four hundred comments (with probably one third of those being mine), and I’m still going strong! Now that the Financial Samurai has caused me to start thinking about things like Alexa rankings and improving the visibility of my blog, I’m also glad to see that I’m the 582,563th most popular website there is (and look forward to reaching the number one spot soon! 
) Thanks for watching, and here’s to many, many more years of great personal finance writing!
This being a Weekly Thoughts column, though, it’s probably time to get to some of the good posts from the past week. Starting this week, though, I’m going to be making a few changes to the general format and method of doing these entries. First, rather than picking five to ten good articles and writing a paragraph or so about what I thought while reading them, I’m going to choose more and write less. I’m not going to go into a full list format, providing only the names of some of the articles that I liked with accompanying links as some bloggers do (I like to talk, or rather write, about my opinions too much for that), but a sentence or less with each article will probably be the extent of it.
I’m also going to be shifting my focus to my fellow Yakezie wannabes (at least the ones who are shooting for a 200,000 Alexa ranking; I’m not sure how much help the ones with significantly higher Alexa rankings already will benefit from my support), though I’ll still read, comment on, and share other bloggers’ achievements. Anyway, onto the real fun: other peoples’ quality blogs:
Quality Yakezie Posts:
Sunday Morning Musing: On Money, Elitism, and Olympics – Just when did being elite get to be such a bad thing, anyway?
Job Hunting: Finding that Thirty Point Buck – A guide to job hunting that’s easier than finding that mythical monster buck.
Do “C” Students Deserve “A” Lifestyles? - If they put other skills (sports ability, acting, or simply leadership) to work, sure.
Tried and Tested: Pay Yourself First – Compound Interest Rocks!
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Seminars a Scam? – Apparently so; Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)
Money Saving Tips that Happen to Be Green – Save the Earth AND your money!
Don ‘t Hire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes – Leading and Lagging Indicators, and why I’m still unemployed when the market is rising.
The Millionaire’s Club – Always good to see another future member!
Why You Probably Shouldn’t Hire Outside Help – A good counter-argument to an often stated axiom: that we should hire out tasks when we could make more money in the time needed to complete the task.
Other Worth While Blog Entries:
How to Smell a Money Scam from a Mile Away – Just sniff for the stink!
The REAL Reason the US Should Wait Generations Before Oil Drilling – More Proof that Darwin is a Criminal Mastermind
Make Your Own Toothpaste – Exactly like it sounds, a recipe for making your own toothpaste, complete with pictures.
A US Debt That’s Unlimited? – How much of a problem is the US’s ever rising debt ceiling?
Public Storage: Problem Ignored – If the problem is too much stuff (or stuff that one half of a couple wants to get rid of) the answer is a yard sale (or compromise), not public storage, in spite of what the commercials would have you believe.
Where the Amateur Financier has been Featured:
A blog known as Ingathered (which seems rather new, from its Alexa rating) wrote an article about Teaching Game Theory to Children that referenced my blog entry on Irrational Escalation of Commitment. That’s right, I’m starting to train a new generation!
That’s all for now; if I referenced your blog and you got a trackback, please drop a comment and let me know. I’m try to tweak my trackback system, and the only way I can do so is if I know that it works. Have a great Monday, everyone!
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2
Feb
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Happy Grundsow Day, everyone! For those of you who aren’t Pennsylvania Dutch, that’s Happy Groundhog Day! Apparently Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, which in theory means six more weeks of winter. Since it’s been snowing today, I’m willing to give the little fellow the benefit of the doubt; it does seem like plenty more winter is still to come this year.
I have a theory about Groundhog Day I’d like my readers to help me test. I am a big Groundhog Day fan, and every February, I’ve heard quite a bit about the groundhog from friends, family, and the media. My fiancée Sondra, who is a transplant from California, has absolutely no interest in the whole holiday, and has said that only Pennsylvanians care about Groundhog Day. There seems to be some truth to this; the Pennsylvania lottery, for example, has Gus, the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania, as its spokes-mammal (with the implication being understood by everyone in state that the most famous one is Phil). So my question is, did anyone from other parts of the country even realize that today is Groundhog’s Day, and actually care?
Alright, enough of my crazed existential quandaries; it’s time to cover the good posts from last week!
My Favorite Posts From this Past Week:
Getting Mad About Getting Paid – This is a completely foreign concept to me; getting mad because you got your paycheck early just seems silly. However, as Lulu points out, if you’re living paycheck to paycheck and spending money as soon as it comes in, Getting your money that far in advance could be a problem, since it’ll be gone when your rent and other bills become due. My advice: create a checking account to use as a buffer, so that you don’t have to cut things so close; living paycheck to paycheck is no way to live.
Someone Always Farts in a Crowd – I knew that I had to include this article from the Financial Samurai when I read the title in my feed reader; luckily for me (and also for you), it’s also a good, insightful piece. FS discusses the concept of moral hazard, giving examples of how our financial (and health) systems are set up so that nobody is punished for their own bad decisions. It’s kind of sobering to think about just how much passing of the buck there is nowadays.
Why 20-Somethings Hate Personal Finance – An interesting question, one that I (being a twenty-seven year old who (a) cares about personal finance and (b) writes about it for fun and profit) have a vested interest in figuring out. MD of Studenomics raises several good reasons, but I think that he misses a big one: many of the traditional sources of financial advice, such as books and magazines, are aimed at people middle aged and over. I can’t tell you how often I’ve read an article in Money or Kiplinger’s that gave advice for people at different ages, and the lowest age they start at is 35 or 40. Maybe young people would care more if we didn’t keep acting like everyone under 30 can’t be trusted to properly manage their own funds.
How to Apply for a Peer To Peer Loan – I’ve had some experience with peer to peer lending through my Lending Club Account, but that’s been entirely as a lender. The Silicon Valley Blogger shows how to approach things from the other side of the table, that is, how to get a loan. It’s an interesting process, and while I hope that I’ll never need to get such a loan, it’s good to know how to get one.
Is Being Frugal Always Being Different? – I’m not that aggressively frugal (actually, Sondra and I were discussing earlier this week how we need to curtail our spending more), so when I read about fellow personal finance bloggers like Mrs. Money and the lengths they go to save money, I definitely sense a gap between us. Apparently, she feels the same way, that she is different from the rest of the crowd; perhaps this gap will close eventually, though it could be a long time, I fear.
6 Questions to Financially Get to Know Each Other – An interesting little list of question designed to share some of the basics of your financial views, courtesy of J. Money. It’s a pretty good introduction to you view and manage money; I’ll have to fill it out and share it with you all soon. (And perhaps get Sondra to fill one out as well; it’s not a bad idea to know as much as you can about your future spouse’s spending/savings habits)
Real Hourly Wage, Visualization, and Your Finances – Finally, Mrs. Micah discusses how to calculate your real hourly wage (your take home pay divided by the number of hours that you worked) in order to put your spending into perspective. It’s one thing to spend $20 on something, but a whole different situation when you stop and consider that the $20 represents two hours of work at the job you hate. It helps to get a handle on what spending is and is not worth the effort you need to expend in order get the needed money.
That’s all for today; I hope everyone had a very merry and happy Groundhog Day (hopefully the little bugger is wrong and it’ll warm up soon, though).
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30
Jan
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
Well, this weekend is turning out to be much more exciting than I was expecting. My post on the Ten Commandments of Credit Cards is up on Free Money Finance’s March Madness post that’s active as we speak. Feel free to pop over and check it out.
Of course, I find myself wishing I knew more about self promotion and advising, so I knew better ways to get the word out and promote myself. I’m hoping that if there are any readers who haven’t yet voted, this post could spur some action; ideally, you’ll want to vote for my article, but I’m honestly happy just to be included. All I can do is continue to write the best articles I can and hope they continue to impress others.
Speaking of articles that impressed others, here’s the list of the posts I really liked from last week:
Good Articles From Last Week
Would You Do Three Years in Prison for $20 Million? – An interesting question about an extreme version of the trade we all make, exchanging our time for money. Darwin summarizes the situation of a UBS banker who is serving a jail sentence for his role in fraud, but is likely eligible for a whistleblower reward in the tens of millions of dolars. I doubt I will ever be in a similar situation, but I’d be very, very tempted to make this kind of deal; it’s an amount of money that could easily change my life.
I Went on a Cash Diet…and It Worked! – I like to report good news; there’s too much bad news in the world already. Luckily, there is still some good news in the world: Mrs. Money decided to not use cash for the past few weeks, and has noticed a major improvement in her spending habits. I might have to try the same sort of thing with my credit cards; try as I might, it’s hard to keep my spending in check when I’m spending with credit cards.
A History of Investment Bubbles – A great look at some of the many (it’s amazing how many) investments bubbles that have occurred through history. My Life ROI does a great job of showing not only the where, when, and how of every bubble from tulips to real estate, but also provides some of the take home lessons from each. Remember, if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it. (Although, you can say much the same about most of your classes, really ).
Tax Refunds Are Good For Most People – In what seems to be an ongoing quest to argue against every piece of popular investment wisdom, the Financial Samurai argues that getting a tax refund is a good thing for most people, as many people are better at using a lump sum of money properly (investing or paying off debt) rather than small amounts distributed over time. It’s an interesting argument, although I would make the counterargument that if you’re spending your time reading personal finance blogs, you probably have the discipline to save and invest throughout the year (or at least, set up an automatic saving/investment plan to do the heavy lifting for you).
Cutting Down On My Electric Bill – One of the pains of living in the snow belt is needing to have the heater on near constantly, just to keep your blood from freezing. Lulu gives some recommendations on how she cut her down on her electric bill, all good ideas for those of us who are freezing to death. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere and need to know how to cut down on your air conditioning bills, you’ll need to look elsewhere, though.
Seven Things You Must Do To Prepare for an Emergency – Lazy Man and Money provides a very solid list of things to have on hand in the event of an emergency. There’s not much more I can really add; hopefully, you’ll never find yourself in a situation where you need to use your emergency kit, but it’s excellent to have all this on hand, just in case.
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21
Jan
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
It just never seems to end, these holidays where we have to exchange gifts with our loved ones. Don’t get me wrong, I like giving gifts, particularly to my fiancee, and I’ve been known to give gifts with no occasion behind the giving at all. But it’s different when the gift is expected, all but required, as on Christmas or the upcoming Valentine’s Day.
Yes, Valentine’s Day. My fiancee called me this afternoon to let me know that she’s purchased a gift for me for Valentine’s Day, meaning that I need to get on the ball and find her a gift as well. The fact that a celebration of love and the life of a Catholic saint has turned into a major gift giving holiday just seems a little bit wrong, as does the fact that relationships can rise or fall based on what’s purchased and received February 14th. I’m all for the abolishing of Valentine’s as a holiday…if I could only get my fiancee to agree.
Oh, well, perhaps next year. For now, it’s time to consider some of the good posts this past week:
Posts The Amateur Financier Liked This Week:
Be Sloth and Don’t Roth! – A contrarian post from the Financial Samurai that challenges one of the most commonly held pieces of personal finance advice, that a Roth IRA is better than a traditional one. The arguments he presents, as well as the discussion that developed in the comments, debate the argument back and forth, with one of the best arguments being one that I reviewed earlier this week (the part about marginal tax rates). If you’ve been considering Roth accounts a retirement slam dunk, please have a read so you aren’t (unpleasantly) surprised come retirement.
How to Help Haiti – Given that Haiti is still in the news for all the wrong reasons (aftershocks and continuing problems getting people and supplies where they need to go), Baker’s advice on how to help Haiti and its people in their time of need seems quite timely. Be sure to read the suggestions he and the commentators have on giving, and give to the worthy causes trying to help Haiti.
It’s More Environmentally Friendly to Pay With Plastic – An intriguing thought, especially since I have an interest in environmentalism as well as personal finance. If you need an excuse to switch from using cash to using a credit card (or debit, if you prefer not to even risk building up credit card debt), consider Mrs. Money’s argument that using cash creates a lot of waste (in its creation, shipping, use and eventual destruction) that comes nowhere near the pollution generated from creating a plastic card. Reasonable and logical, as far as it goes; just make sure you use your plastic wisely (especially with a credit card), and everything should be alright.
Maximize Strengths or Minimize Weaknesses? – There’s only so much time we can put into improving ourselves, so Lazy Man and Money asks, do we try to build up our greatest abilities or decrease the problems we have? Personally, I think there are personal skills that are useful no matter what you do (like good personal finance and time management), where you should minimize your weaknesses, and specific skills useful for your job or other source of money (like being good at chemical testing, to use me as an example), where you can probably, but not always, make yourself more valuable by maximizing your strengths.
Invest? Borrow? Why Not Both? – Frank Curmudgeon wonders about the human psychology quirks that cause us to discount debt until we pull money from savings to pay it off. It’s one of the many parts of being human and dealing with money that make little sense, and yet they still persist. Personally, I think we just aren’t built to understand concepts more nebulous than ‘I have two coconuts, enough to last for two days’ in the course of evolution, but that’s just my view.
Where The Amateur Financier Was Featured This Week
The Carnival of Money Stories hosted by Funny About Money featured my article Fifteen Things to Tell a Younger Me (which is likely going to go down as one of my favorite articles this year)
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13
Jan
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
You’re probably well aware by now, but Haiti has been hit by an earthquake. As is frequently the case with international disasters, there is a silver lining: it’s brought out the best in people, inspiring donations and volunteers across the globe. It’s truly wonderful to see how giving people can be when they have the chance.
Unfortunately, the tragedy has also inspired some of the worst in people; scams attempting to exploit the tragedy have appeared almost as quickly as new of the earthquake. This makes it all the more difficult to ensure that your money will actually be used to help people who need the aid, rather than going to fill some scamster’s pocket. If you follow a few simple suggestions about your giving, though, you should be alright:
-DO NOT Click on Any Strange Links: If you are sent an email telling you to click a link to donate, don’t do it; there are just too many possible ways for a scammer to have those links misdirect you or use the link as an opening to your computer. Check out any potential charity sites without relying on links in the messages you are sent.
-Verify That the Charity is Legitimate: There are plenty of sources to determine whether you are donating to a legitimate charity or not. I personally like JustGive.org and the Better Busines Bureau charity site. If anyone sends you a suggestion of a charity to which you can donate, be sure to check it out on one of these sites first, to make sure it’s legit.
-Don’t Forget the Charity When the Earthquake has Passed: It’s easy to remember to donate when there is a great tragedy and everyone is talking about ‘what can we do to help’. Once the crisis is passed, though, it’s just as easy to forget about donating; instead, try your best to keep up regular donations, to help build up the coffers of charities like the Red Cross that will aid victims of disasters in the future.
In short, be cautious with your personal information (as you should be, anyway), check up on the charity, and while you’re thinking about it, consider making your donations regularly in the future. On that note, let’s cover some of other good personal finance blogging advice that’s been floating around.
Good Blog Articles
No Spend January – It’s not a bad way to try to save some money; trying not to spend any money for a month (or even a week for those of us who can’t go quite that long) can show you how little you really need to spend in order to live a good, fulfilling life. Good luck to LuLuGal of How I Save Money on her attempt at a No Spend Month this January.
Celebrate! Three Years of PTY – Stephanie of Poorer Than You celebrated three years of blogging last week. I’m incredibly impressed at her for sticking with it; I’m coming up on one year next month, and already I’ve seen how hard it to keep going with a blog like this over the long term. Keep up all the good work, Stephanie; here’s to three more great years (and then some)!
The Best Post On eBay, And It’s All About Love and Money – There are few things more integral to modern human experiences than love and money, and few things funnier than when they are combined in a witty fashion. The Financial Samurai brings back to the forefront an exchange on eBay that is one of the funniest exchanges between a man and woman I’ve ever read. Read it, laugh, then weep for the future of our species.
How To Be Successful In The New Year – An excellent list of helpful hints for being more successful in the new year from Lazy Man and Money. Apparently he initially published it last year, and is republishing it due to popular demand; good thing, because it does have lots of good advice for making your resolutions stick in this new year.
Watching Less TV Will Not Make You Rich – One of my vices is watching too much TV (in the realm of several hours a day, minimum). Apparently, there is a link between watching TV and spending more money, which is less than good. On the plus side, as Frank of Bad Money Advice points out, this link doesn’t mean that I will necessarily spend more as a result (and even if that was the case, each hour of added television is only associated with an additional four dollars of spending, which isn’t too bad).
What Is Glass-Steagall? – With the recent problems with financial institutions that are ‘too big to fail’, there’s talk about bringing back Glass-Steagall, the law that kept different financial services (investing, insurance and banking) apart, in different organizations. As the Weakonomist points out, there would be some advantages to renewing this division, but who knows how long until there are calls to repeal it again?
Why I Don’t Want to Retire Early – It’s a rare person who doesn’t want to leave their work, but apparently Mrs. Micah is one of them. She raises several very good points; if you are doing something you love, why leave? Personally, I think that reaching the point where I can retire or not, as I choose, is one of my biggest goals; more money leads to more options, and I do like having options.
Where The Amateur Financier Has Been Featured
The Carnival of Mutual Funds 3 hosted by Beat Mutual Funds featured my post on Negative Dollar Cost Averaging
The Carnival of Debt Reduction featured my post on Keeping Your Resolutions: Paying Down Your Debt
The Carnival of Money Stories hosted by Dough Roller featured my post on Looking Back on 2009
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6
Jan
Posted in Weekly Thoughts by Roger |
This is a less than desirable situation; if you are a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that last week, around New Year’s Eve, I just stopped posting. There are several reasons for this (most having to do with personal issues and the start of the new year), but needless to say, it’s set me back a little bit. I’m still trying to get caught up, both with my posts and with my blog reading, but alas, this back tracking means that I’ve been writing posts and dating them for previous days for most of the last week. (I’m writing this post on Friday, but it will be ‘published’ the previous Wednesday, for example.)
Why share all this? Well, I was hoping that my readers would want to know what was going on in my life, and I wanted to allay any fears that I was leaving the blog or not going to be updating as often (I assure you, I’m still as eager to write for the Amateur Financier as I was when I first started last year). Now that I’ve assuaged all your fears, it’s time to get into the meat of the issue, the good blog entries from last week:
Good Blog Articles Last Week
10 Best Money Moves – A guest post on The Digerati Life from Mr. Credit Card, this is a pretty good list of ways to get yourself into better financial shape this coming year (similar to my own ‘Resolution Week’ this week). I particularly like the suggestion to learn your investment returns net of fees and taxes; it’s hard to know if you should change your allocation if you don’t know how you did.
Why New Year’s Resolutions are Stupid – On the subject of resolutions, Studenomics makes a fairly good case that New Year’s Resolutions are, in fact, stupid. I do agree that resolutions, at least as practiced by most people, aren’t terribly helpful; you get a boost toward your exercise/dieting/personal finance goal in January, maybe into February, but then it falls by the wayside by March. If you can keep with it, though (or at least, don’t feel the need to wait until a particular date rolls around to get started), resolutions can be a decent way to help get yourself motivated.
8 Reasons You Should Get a College Degree – While it’s not doing me too much good at the moment, I definitely don’t regret getting a college degree. If you worry that you might, give My Life ROI’s list of reasons to pick up a college degree to give yourself a nice jolt of confidence. Plus, there’s plenty of fun possible in college itself; just keep telling yourself that and it should keep you motivated.
Since When Does ‘Clipping Coupons’ Mean That You’re Poor? – A very good question, and one I’m not sure I’d ever be able to answer. Darwin of Darwin’s Finance does a great job of explaining why coupon clipping is a good use of time for almost everyone, and provides evidence that coupon users are actually more well to do than non-clippers. Just one of those odd twists to what you think the world is like, I suppose.
2009 Success and 2010 Plans – Like most of us have been doing during this calendar roll over (not just a regular yearly one, either, but to a year that ends in zero), Mrs. Micah goes through her successes in 2009 and some of her plans in 2010. Her amazing score on the GRE (1570 out of 1600, which is outstanding) particularly struck me, since I’m planning on taking on the GRE sometime in the near future. (But more on that at a later date…)
How Much of Your Donation Makes It To The Charity? – A good question, raised in this case by the Weakonomist. If you’re going to donate to charity (and it’s definitely a good idea, especially when so many are in need of help, it’s important to know more about them from an impartial source, to make sure that most of your money goes to the needy. (Check my post on choosing charities for more on how I evaluate a potential charity to learn more of my suggestions.)
The Secret to a Great Blog and a Great Business – On the Writer’s Coin, there is a very good point made: if the content on a website is good enough, people will accept high amounts of ads (or for that matter, pay substantial fees or go through other substantial barriers) in order to access that content. Something to keep in mind for the would-be professional bloggers out there (including myself).
Do You Have Money Left Over At The End Of The Month? – It’s pretty much the most basic tenet of personal finance: spend less than you earn. J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy makes this point abundantly clear, pointing out that if you just find out how much you are gaining or losing each month, you’ll be that much closer to getting your finances under control.
That’s it for this week; although I imagine there were plenty of other good articles in PF blog land, I didn’t have time to read any of them (which sadly, is not really that far off). Read and enjoy, everyone!
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