My Money Blog

House Value Update Q2 2011: Mortage Loan Payoff Calculations

Posted on May 12, 2011 // 19 Comments

As part of tracking our financial status, I regularly check in to see how long it will take to pay off our home mortgage. Buying versus renting is a very personal decision, but we ended up buying our house three and a half years ago and still plan … [Read the rest]

Link Dump: Tiny Apartment, Kindle eBook Sharing, Stripper Loans, Seasonal Sales, Law School Bait

Posted on May 10, 2011 // 5 Comments

Today, I find myself staring at a bunch of links that are mildly interesting, but nothing that inspires much additional research or spewing of opinion. Maybe I'm just tired and cranky. In any case, I think they are worthy of sharing. Tiny … [Read the rest]

Questioning the Value of a College Degree

Posted on May 9, 2011 // 42 Comments

With the rising costs of college tuition coupled with high unemployment for new grads, it is becoming very fashionable to question the value of a college degree. At least, that's what this long New York Magazine article (via TML) says. Most … [Read the rest]

American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card Review – 25,000 Bonus Membership Points

Posted on May 8, 2011 // 9 Comments

American Express is again promoting their newest flavor - the Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express®, which is slightly different from their other Gold/Zync/Platinum cards. This is a charge card, so it is intended for folks that pay off … [Read the rest]

Housing Bubble History: Book Covers From 2005-Present

Posted on May 6, 2011 // 14 Comments

I ran across this funny image on Imgur and just had to recreate it with a bit more detail. All of these books are by the same author, David Lareah, along with the publishing dates of each book. (The first two books are essentially the same book … [Read the rest]

Vanguard Target Date Retirement Funds Glide Path

Posted on May 5, 2011 // 2 Comments

Inside a recent Vanguard article was a nice graphic of the current glide path for all Vanguard Target Retirement funds, which shows how the fund's asset allocation will change over time. The fund will automatically rebalance towards these … [Read the rest]

British Airways Visa 100,000 Mile Bonus (Expired)

Posted on May 3, 2011 // 46 Comments

Update: This card offer is now expired. A final reminder that this offer is scheduled to end on Friday actually more specifically on Thursday night 5/5/11 at 11:59PM EST. It is not being extended. This is the highest credit card mileage bonus I … [Read the rest]

Ally Bank Rolls Out eCheck Check Deposit: Scan Your Checks Online

Posted on May 3, 2011 // 17 Comments

The Ally Bank blog recently announced that they are gradually rolling out their eCheck Deposit service, where you can use a scanner and submit your deposits over the internet without having to visit a branch or mailing anything in. This is another … [Read the rest]

Bank of America Raises MyAccess Checking Account Fees 5/24

Posted on May 3, 2011 // 19 Comments

My very first big boy bank account was with Bank of America, opened when I first landed at college nearly 15 years ago. I realized today that even though I have probably opened and closed nearly a hundred (yes, 100) bank accounts since then and … [Read the rest]

AutoSlash.com Review: My Car Rental Experience

Posted on April 28, 2011 // 46 Comments

I just got back from my trip to Orlando, where I tried the new car rental website AutoSlash.com to book, and previously wrote an introductory summary of their features. To briefly recap, the website takes advantage of a unique feature of car … [Read the rest]

How Often Should I Rebalance My Investment Portfolio? Updated

Posted on April 27, 2011 // 9 Comments

Here's a slightly updated and revised version of an older post I had on rebalancing a portfolio to maintain a target asset allocation. What is Rebalancing? Let say you examine your risk tolerance and decide to invest in a mixture of 70% stocks … [Read the rest]

Prosper $104 New Lender Bonus – First 200 Only

Posted on April 26, 2011 // 7 Comments

Person-to-person lending site Prosper is offering new lenders a $104 bonus for the first 200 people to complete a new lender application, starting at Noon Pacific on Wednesday 4/27. You must reinvest the bonus into Prosper loan notes, which you can … [Read the rest]