Posted August 4, 2009 - 05:00 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
I got a notice from one of my credit cards a bit ago, announcing that they were raising the interest rate. It's only of theoretical interest to me, of course--I use credit cards for transactions, not to borrow money--but looking at the rate they're charging reminded me that there are really three interest rates.
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Posted December 23, 2008 - 05:33 by Will Chen
Credit Cards
Debit cards might be better than credit cards because in theory, you'll spend less if you are only paying with money you have. But how do debit cards stack up in terms of fees and fraud protection?
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Posted April 28, 2008 - 05:08 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
Do you need a kick in the pants to get you saving for retirement? Do you need someone to wave their arms and run around screaming that your whole future is at risk, in order to motivate you to put some serious money aside and take the time to learn how your 401(k) works? If so, this is the book for you.
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Posted January 6, 2008 - 06:40 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
You don't hear much about the rentier class any more. Perhaps that's because we all expect to be members by retirement age. Perhaps it's because even the very wealthy now all seem to work at something, if only at being a celebrity for our entertainment. Whatever the reason, I recommend that you take advantage of its modern social acceptability, and join the rentier class sooner, rather than later.
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Posted September 3, 2007 - 03:39 by Philip Brewer
Green Living
Low interest rates generally lead to inflation, which is bad for everybody. But if inflation were really low, then low interest rates would tend to follow, and in that situation, low interest rates just might save the world.
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Posted July 29, 2007 - 17:22 by Andrea Dickson
Cars and Transportation
Last August, I decided to purchase my first new car ever. I had only ever owned used (and entirely paid-for) vehicles prior to this. I researched the type of car that I wanted and settled on a 2007 Mazda3. It's a sexy little hatchback. It's sporty, zippy, and has all the trimmings. Problem is, it's busting my budget. I decided to ask three of my favotire personal finance bloggers for advice on whether or not to sell.
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Why bother with middling details, like the interest rate? Just go ahead and get that card. Bank of America can help!
I do most of my banking at Bank of America. I don't adore Bank of America, but they've always been pretty good. Customer service is handy and friendly, and they've never really tried to screw me over. That's why I was surprised, while visiting my local branch, to see a big dry erase board behind the counter with the words "WANT 20,000 FREE AIR MILES? ASK US HOW!" written on it.
Continue reading "I'll have one Visa credit card, hold the APR"
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Looking for a dull, but financially eye-opening home project? Great! Today, we're going to build an amortization schedule. All the tools you need are: 1) an electronic spreadsheet with PMT (payment calculation), addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication capabilities (I use Excel) and 2) this guide.
Let me go ahead and answer the questions you may have after reading this guide and completing your project:
Continue reading "How to Build Your Own Amortization Schedule"
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Posted April 10, 2007 - 19:49 by Andrea Dickson
Personal Finance, Extra Commentary
Money, to me, is often something to just be tossed at problems. I don't look at my receipts after buying groceries. I don't worry about being charged too much, since I figure that carefully studying my receipts makes me look petty. In fact, this is an attitude that gets me nowhere. I don't protect my money. Maybe I would if I thought of it like a kitten.
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