Category: Saving and Investing ideas

The graphic to the right, showing the top stories on MarketWatch recently, reflects how mixed views on the market outlook really are. Some experts predict a continuing boom, some a crash and some both. No wonder retail investors like you and I are confused on what to do. Stock market…

Year-end is deal time as dealerships rush to clear old inventory and shift their bottom lines from red to black. So many would argue that buying a car, particularly a current year model, is best done nearing year-end. In addition to timing your auto purchase, here are even more great…

Using credit cards has become a way of life for many of us. For the most part, credit cards do offer a convenient way to make purchases, and they enable us to walk around without mounds of cash in our pockets. In return for this and other conveniences like reward…

Many of us dream about how it would feel to not have a monthly mortgage payment. Owning your home free and clear is the aspiration of numerous homeowners. But even without – in most cases – that hefty payment leaving your checkbook every 30 days, there are actually some reasons…

It’s hard to believe than another holiday season is upon us. With all good intentions, most of us will make a promise to ourselves that we will shop early and shop smart. But unfortunately, in most cases, life's routines and little emergencies usually force us to shop at the last…

After lots of money printing and pandemic relief stimulus payments (free money) by the Government over the last few years, things are starting to look more bleak with high inflation, global conflict and rising energy prices. All these portend to signs of a recession in the not too distant future,…

Free checking is coming to end thanks to new Financial reform regulation that will force banks to cut overdraft and ATM fees, which traditionally covered the cost of providing free checking accounts. Bank of America and Wells Fargo, US banks with the largest branch networks, have already started to discontinue…

Trying to find the right investments for your 401k or IRA retirement plans can leave you feeling like you are lost in the middle of a maze. Your retirement plan provider (via your employer or directly) may offer a ton of investment options including stocks, stock funds, bond funds, and…

After about one year of incorporation of my solopreneur business, I have managed to build a decent amount of savings that was earning exactly 0.01% in my checking account. While I like the features of the checking account, it was not making my business savings work for me. So after…

There has been a lot of debate over health care reform the past year and how to control rising health care costs.  While many experts are unsure whether the passed health care legislation will actually control costs, Americans can still work to control their own medical costs by shopping around…

Google plays a big part in my life and my blogging business. Apart from it's Adsense publisher program which provides the bulk of this blog's income, Google's search engine provides the basis and background for a number of the topics that I write about. I am not alone with 70%…

[Updated following SOU speech] President Barack Obama has proposed a new round of stimulus spending in 2010, focused on middle class families struggling to pay bills and care for their families. The initiatives in the new stimulus package are a product of a middle class task force headed by Vice…

I recently got my auto insurance renewal policy and was shocked when I saw it was more than double my prior renewal amount. This prompted me to look at factors which drove this increase - market driven or related to my specific situation - and to see if there is…