Update February 2011: Use coupon code FICO25 for 25% off! The last time I actually paid for my credit score was before I bought my house, and that was basically a fit of paranoia to make sure it was crazy-awesome before the lender pulled it. There … [Read the rest]
Google Offers Free PC-to-Phone Calls To US & Canada
Posted on August 27, 2010 // 14 Comments
There was a lot of media coverage yesterday when Google announced that they would offer PC-to-Phone calls to US and Canada numbers for free from their Gmail interface. To try it out if you haven't already, just log into your Gmail email … [Read the rest]
Getting Organized In The Google Era (Book Summary)
Posted on August 26, 2010 // 8 Comments
I ran across Getting Organized in the Google Era in an airport bookstore last month, and while I wasn't enamored enough to pay the $23 retail hardcover price, I did add it to my library want list. The author Douglas Merrill was formerly the Chief … [Read the rest]
$4 Movie Ticket at Fandango via Groupon
Posted on August 25, 2010 // 5 Comments
Groupon is currently offering any ticket on Fandango.com for $4 (up to $12 value including all fees and charges). If the value is over $12 (NYCers?) then you just pay any additional difference. If you don't have a Groupon account already, please … [Read the rest]
New Marketing Trick: Short-term FDIC-Insured Bank CDs With Really High Rates
Posted on August 24, 2010 // 21 Comments
If you still read newspapers like me, you may have come across an advertisement like this one recently touting an abnormally high 3-month or 6-month CD rate in last Sunday's issue: According to Bankrate, the current national average for a 6-month … [Read the rest]
Consumer Reports Car Reliability Charts
Posted on August 23, 2010 // 18 Comments
The auto review issue of Consumer Reports is always very popular, due in part to the fact that they can be more impartial by actually buying all the cars they test anonymously and not accepting any outside advertising. (This is not the case with any … [Read the rest]
Awesome Space-Saving and Multi-Tasking Furniture
Posted on August 18, 2010 // 6 Comments
Thinking about simplifying your life and living in less space? Perhaps you already live in a small space. If you haven't heard of Resource Furniture, you should definitely check out this video of space-saving and transforming furniture from … [Read the rest]
LendingClub P2P Loan Investment Returns Update 2010 Q3
Posted on August 17, 2010 // 14 Comments
LendingClub.com is a website that securitizes person-to-person loans so that you can lend money to other people in as little as $25 increments, and you collect the interest after some fees. The idea is to replace banks and credit cards as the … [Read the rest]
Morningstar Admits Fund Expenses More Important Than Star Ratings
Posted on August 17, 2010 // 12 Comments
A funny thing happened when Morningstar performed a study on whether expense ratios or Morningstar "star" ratings are better at predicting higher future mutual fund returns. Expense ratios won. Russel Kinnel, Morningstar's director of mutual … [Read the rest]
Portfolio Manager Rick Ferri Shares Personal Portfolio and Asset Allocation
Posted on August 16, 2010 // 12 Comments
In a recent post on the NY Times Bucks blog, portfolio manager and author Richard Ferri shared his own personal portfolio. As a proponent of low-cost, passive investing, it was not surprising to see mostly index funds in his portfolio, but it was … [Read the rest]
Price Relativity and Behavioral Economics [Poll Results]
Posted on August 13, 2010 // 25 Comments
After two days of polling for my Frugality and Decision Making question, here are the results of my casual survey. As with my monkey poll question, each visitor was randomly given one of two different poll questions. I really love that you all … [Read the rest]
Frugality and Decision Making Poll of The Week
Posted on August 11, 2010 // 44 Comments
Here's another poll to test your frugality behaviors and decision-making processes. There is no right or wrong answer, I promise. Just answer the poll honestly before reading further. It'll just take a second. (Due to some technical hurdles, … [Read the rest]
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