I have used mturk to earn some money. However i can not cash it because mturk doesn't send payments to my country bu i can exchange it for a Amazon gift cad and buy something.
You made some excellent points regarding certain financial lessons in It's a Wonderful Life. A few additional thoughts to consider:
1) the $8,000 shortfall referenced in 1945 Bedford Falls (Christmas Eve, 1945) is the same as misplacing $102,320 today (see Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator).
2) the single greatest financial lesson is in the Building and Loan lobby when George Bailey explains Fractional Reserve Banking (though he never uses that term), as he makes it clear that only a small fraction of depositors' money is actually held by the bank; the rest of it is loaned out for other peoples' mortgages. In a financial panic, like that of September 2008, fractional reserve banking, unwinding in reverse, was an unmerciful accelerating force in the developing catastrophe that fall.
3) An additional lesson comes from George Bailey's attempt to explain to the lobby crowd that Potter "isn't selling, Potter's buying". Financial panics always cause two things: a mass wave of assets being sold at fire-sale prices ... and an equal number of assets being bought (the same ones) by people who keep their wits about them, as they buy all those ridiculously cheap assets . . .
-- JL Eaton, Personal Capital (available on Amazon)
I loved giving my family a 32" HDTV for $8 because I earned gift cards online. Not as good as saving $21,000 on our mortgage by refinancing in 2011, but not too shabby!
I got a small inheritance from my grandmother and with that and some savings, I paid off the mortgage on our house. It was great to write that last mortgage check!
We had gotten out of debt last year, and saved a little money when we faced a 6 month lay-off. We were so used to surviving on a minimal budget, we weathered the storm without touching our savings. Great year!
In 2012, I accomplished a personal 10-year goal of mine -- I earned my Masters Degree in Accounting in an online degree program. Ten years ago I planned to enroll in a local university, but with my workload and limited time schedule this didn't work out. In the subsequent years, I started saving because I knew that I would like to get this Masters degree someday. Last December, 2011, I went online and started checking out online Masters programs. I discovered such a program which required 10 courses, or 30 credit hours, and I could finish it in a year. My last course was finished on December 14, 2012. I finished with no debt because of my planning and saving for this goal. My advice -- set your goals and immediately start saving for them. You'll have the money in hand and won't need to go into debt.
Our best money moment of 2012 was paying cash for a car. No car payments! The runner-up was re-financing our home loan, and rolling a higher interest loan we had for rehabbing the house into that loan.
After 8 years of driving a minivan that had long been paid off, I bought a new Toyota RAV 4. It's much sportier, more fun to drive, and I'm saving a lot on gas compared to what I used to pay with the minivan.
Anytime credit card companies start to make more money off credit card usage, its bad for the consumer. By definition, users will have LESS disposable income as a result.
Credit card holder and credit card issuer CANNOT both win.
I have used mturk to earn some money. However i can not cash it because mturk doesn't send payments to my country bu i can exchange it for a Amazon gift cad and buy something.
Our best money moment was when my siblings & I sold our Mom's house, and no longer had to maintain it. Sad, but it was time to let go...
My best money moment was finishing off the year with a zero balance on our credit card :)
You made some excellent points regarding certain financial lessons in It's a Wonderful Life. A few additional thoughts to consider:
1) the $8,000 shortfall referenced in 1945 Bedford Falls (Christmas Eve, 1945) is the same as misplacing $102,320 today (see Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator).
2) the single greatest financial lesson is in the Building and Loan lobby when George Bailey explains Fractional Reserve Banking (though he never uses that term), as he makes it clear that only a small fraction of depositors' money is actually held by the bank; the rest of it is loaned out for other peoples' mortgages. In a financial panic, like that of September 2008, fractional reserve banking, unwinding in reverse, was an unmerciful accelerating force in the developing catastrophe that fall.
3) An additional lesson comes from George Bailey's attempt to explain to the lobby crowd that Potter "isn't selling, Potter's buying". Financial panics always cause two things: a mass wave of assets being sold at fire-sale prices ... and an equal number of assets being bought (the same ones) by people who keep their wits about them, as they buy all those ridiculously cheap assets . . .
-- JL Eaton, Personal Capital (available on Amazon)
I loved giving my family a 32" HDTV for $8 because I earned gift cards online. Not as good as saving $21,000 on our mortgage by refinancing in 2011, but not too shabby!
Thanks! now i dont need to buy another dvd player.. just hacked my own!
PEACE!
Well, that's pretty easy, finding a new job with a 40% raise.
Toally debt free!
I was able to pay off one of my credit cards!
My best money moment is easy--I paid off my grad school loan and am now completely out of debt! It feels wonderful.
I got a small inheritance from my grandmother and with that and some savings, I paid off the mortgage on our house. It was great to write that last mortgage check!
We had gotten out of debt last year, and saved a little money when we faced a 6 month lay-off. We were so used to surviving on a minimal budget, we weathered the storm without touching our savings. Great year!
I was financially able to be with my sister fighting cancer.
In the same 2 weeks, I bought a house AND took my mom on vacation to Alaska using frequent flyer miles for the tickets!
My best money moment was the deal I scored on my new car!
In 2012, I accomplished a personal 10-year goal of mine -- I earned my Masters Degree in Accounting in an online degree program. Ten years ago I planned to enroll in a local university, but with my workload and limited time schedule this didn't work out. In the subsequent years, I started saving because I knew that I would like to get this Masters degree someday. Last December, 2011, I went online and started checking out online Masters programs. I discovered such a program which required 10 courses, or 30 credit hours, and I could finish it in a year. My last course was finished on December 14, 2012. I finished with no debt because of my planning and saving for this goal. My advice -- set your goals and immediately start saving for them. You'll have the money in hand and won't need to go into debt.
I got a great deal on a laptop.
I created an emergency fund and paid off my debt
Our best money moment came when we had our financial review and we found out we had extra money left over from our budget to invest!
Scraping together a $1,000 emergency fund that was used for new tires!! Then rebuilding it back up!!
Our best money moment of 2012 was paying cash for a car. No car payments! The runner-up was re-financing our home loan, and rolling a higher interest loan we had for rehabbing the house into that loan.
Decided NOT to buy the Canon S100 (Amazon deal) even though I love geo-tagging my photos. It was all-day decision, emotion (want) vs logic (need).
After 8 years of driving a minivan that had long been paid off, I bought a new Toyota RAV 4. It's much sportier, more fun to drive, and I'm saving a lot on gas compared to what I used to pay with the minivan.
Anytime credit card companies start to make more money off credit card usage, its bad for the consumer. By definition, users will have LESS disposable income as a result.
Credit card holder and credit card issuer CANNOT both win.
Yes, that's why option number 7 was "recycle"!