24 Jun, 2011
Card Card 20000
Back during the housing boom, credit cards often offered ridiculous promotions to get you to start using their credit cards. There was a constant battle for share of wallet, basically trying to get a piece of your spending each month. 20,000 points just for signing up for a card was almost the norm.
These days, like with bank deals, companies are becoming savvier. Instead of offering 20,000 just for signing up and making a nominal purchase, these rich point promotions are only available if you spend a certain amount over a period of time. The idea behind this is to make the card stickier.
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24 Jun, 2011
Even with talk of possible default if a budget agreement isnt reached by August 2, many investors still believe that U.S. Treasuries are among the safest securities in the world. However, the yield on investments that are generally considered safe is usually quite low sometimes it doesnt even keep pace with inflation, resulting in a loss, in terms of real returns.
If you are interested in preserving capital, by at least keeping pace with inflation, there are some Treasury bonds that you can consider. These are TIPS and I-Bonds. There are differences between the two, and it helps to understand the differences when making a decision about whether or not to invest in these types of bonds.
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23 Jun, 2011
Promotion Promotion Code
A lot of credit card promotions require that you spend a certain amount within a short period of time (say, $3,000 in three months). What if you dont spend that much in such a short period? There are very few options out there for those folks who want to take advantage of these promotions but dont want to bankrupt themselves buying things they dont need. You can buy $1 coins from the Mint and try to deposit them at the bank (against the terms of service, but money is money) but thats a pain.
Fortunately, you can always buy American Express gift cards and simply shift your spending. American Express gift cards are gift cards you can use anywhere American Express is accepted and a valuable tactic if you need to accelerate your spending.
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23 Jun, 2011
Green Stuff Stuff
We took our second delivery today from One Straw Farm, the farm supplying the produce in our CSA (or however you describe that relationship), and this one consisted entirely of green stuff.
This weeks haul:
Last week, we had a little box of strawberries to break up the green-ness of our loot. This week, its all green, all the time and itll result in a lot of salads.
On the recommendation of a lot of people (thanks!), we decided to take last weeks scapes and turn it into pesto. The recipe is pretty simple (we modified this recipe, replacing some ingredients):
We havent used it yet, we plan on putting it on some salmon and roasting it to fine deliciousness.
Last week, there were three things Id never had before garlic scapes and the two chards.
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23 Jun, 2011
How many memberships do you have? How many of those do you use often enough to justify the fees? When was the last time you sat down and took a long look at what you were paying and whether it was still worth it? If its been a while, nows a pretty good time to do it.
The classic unused membership is, of course, the gym membership. For the month or so after New Years Day, our gym is absolutely packed with people looking to achieve their resolutions. The influx of new people only lasts about a month or two before it goes back to its pre-NY resolution levels. While the people may no longer be going, their money continues to go to the gym since gyms know about this behavior.
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23 Jun, 2011
Obama President Obama
Not too long ago, President Obama and the First Lady disclosed their financial assets publicly. Their balance sheet showed no liabilities the First Family is debt-free. Additionally, the financial disclosure includes money made on book royalties, as well as information about where the Obamas are investing some of their cash. When you look at the numbers, provided by CBS Moneywatch, it becomes evident that you can learn a few things from the Obamas.
Some things that Obamas are doing, like investing in a low-cost index fund, make sense. Other items the Obama family are doing, though, like parking a large chunk of capital in a bank account that yields very little interest, arent the best ways to maximize your money.
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