Did you watch? My mom wanted me to but I didn’t. . .oops? But she did record it so not all hope is lost that I might see it. What did you think? Did you watch?
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This week’s “What I’m Reading” is a bit different. . .I haven’t started a new book yet because I have been searching the web trying to figure out the best and smartest things to do with my money.
One thing I did, was I decided to open and ING Orange Savings account because I figured it would be a good place to stash some extra cash for a rainy day. They offer a $25 bonus for opening an account with an initial deposit of $250.00. Plus their interest rate they pay is better than I can get at Wells Fargo where I keep my main savings account. . .maybe I should rethink that? Leave me a comment and I can send you a link for the bonus $25.
My favorite places to read for money advice or suggestion are:
My Dollar Plan
Million Dollar Journey
Generation X Finance
I figure with the stock market on what seems to be an upturn in action, I just might want to make a few purchases with my limited funds in my Scottrade account (if you are interested in a Scottrade account, use referral code: QQER0293 for 3 free trades). It is nice to see things in green type instead of red for a change!
Got some sound advice? Send it my way. . .or just have some thoughts, still send it my way. . .I like to hear it all.
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(Thrifty Thursday #4)
I thought for today I would try to find you thrifty tips for each day of the week, excluding the weekend. . .those days don’t count right? I wish.
Mondays you can check out “Money Saving Mondays”, he’s had his tips up for about 5 months so there are quite a few tips for you to go through.
Tuesdays are “Tightwad Tuesdays” over at beingfrugal.net she also has being running this theme on her blog for quite some time and makes a bunch of suggestions.
I got stuck on Wednesdays, but stumbled upon this really interesting blog about a woman and her 3 kids and 2 dogs all living on $800 for the year for all food and household items. It is a really interesting challenge she is running and she has some amazing skills at money saving so check out Jane4girls.
I of course have Thrifty Thursdays. . .so no need for you to go anywhere else on Thursdays.
I haven’t actually found a Friday site for you for Frugal Fridays because I got so distracted by the $800 a year budget challenge.
What are your favorite frugal tips?
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I don’t know about you but I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around this new stimulus package especially with the news that AIG just reported a fourth-quarter loss of $61.7 billion, the worst corporate loss in US History. I hope that retreat was fun? And didn’t we just give them $123 billion, why should we give them another $30 billion, what’s that going to do? As far as I can tell this second round of bailouts for AIG isn’t covered in the $819 billion Stimulus package just passed by the House and Senate.
I want to know, where is all this money coming from. I heard Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) say in a press conference that in President Obama’s first month in office we have spent more money then we have in the war in Iraq over the last 6 years. Now I am not here to debate the war, but I do find it interesting that people have gotten so worked up about the money spent in that venture but I haven’t heard much complaining about this stimulus package spending.
If you want to see a real clear and easy breakdown of the spending check out this article in the Washington Post, they’ve got a great diagram.
I have never claimed to be a great financial mind, but I do like to think that I at least have some basic understanding of how things work economically, so here is my take on what’s going on.
President Obama is tasked with huge responsibilities similar to those that FDR faced. I can’t help but wonder if we won’t hear about a Newer Deal to imitate the government initiatives instituted by FDR that helped our country recover from the Great Depression. (One such initiative was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which my Grandmother worked for.)
When you look at the Washington Post diagram you will see that there are quite a few government generated jobs that will be the product of this stimulus plan like: repairing roads, expanding broadband services into rural areas, law enforcement assistance, etc., reminiscent of the jobs created through the Works Projects Administration or WPA. Personally this is how I like seeing money spent, in a tangible and visible way.
I am sure in the grand scheme of things giving more money to AIG is important but I don’t yet understand why, but I’m still looking into that. Too me it seems like the money is being thrown in the fire.
Much like the mortgage assistance plans I keep hearing about. I know times are tough for homeowners and in many cases to no fault of the home owner, but here’s where I take issue. I understand that in these economic times a lot of people have lost their jobs and are now unable to pay their mortgage, because let’s face it, unemployment pays you pennies on the dollar. Those people I think need assistance, but people that bought a bigger house than they needed or got suckered into an adjustable rate mortgage that has now adjusted and raised their monthly payment above their income level do not deserve a bailout.
I know that makes me sound mean and callused but the reason I feel this way is because no one is helping me so why should I pay more in taxes help bail other people out. Yes I know that if houses around me start going into foreclosure than my property value goes down. . .but maybe, just maybe this ridiculous housing bubble needed to burst to bring us all back to reality?
Like I said before, I am not a fiscal guru nor have I ever claimed to be but when it all boils down, these are the details I’m trying to sort out. . .
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On Tuesday, I was cruising around the internet on few different financial sites and couldn’t help laughing when I learned that this week is America saves week. Apparently it is a three year-old organization promoting and educating people on saving. I didn’t really get a chance to spend much time on their site but it looks like they offer a lot of good suggestions.
And. . .to update you on my no spending. . .I think I did pretty good. I started Saturday and actually did spend a little money, but I had a good reason. I got a letter a few weeks back from Discover saying they were closing my account; this was a surprise to me because I thought that account had already been closed. They told me that once I got my card I needed to go out and use it, so I bought my brother lunch and that was $6.
Sunday and Monday were excellent no money spent. But, I totally forgot that Tuesday was Mardi Gras. . .so I went out with some friends to celebrate, and only spent $10. . .pretty good, right?
I didn’t end up going to the grocery store this week, I decided to really make what I had at home last, which leads me to Thursday. . .I did spend a little money, but not much. . .so I don’t feel so bad about slipping.
I am thinking about having another no spending week next month; but definitely not the same week as St. Patty’s. Wanna join me?
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I know last week I mentioned My Dollar Plan as a site you should check out to get some good money advice. Well, I’ve been perusing the web looking for some additional sites for both myself and all of you.
This week I discovered Moolanomy. This site is also full of tons of great tips about finances, but my favorite part of this site was the: Frugalist Expense Reduction Guide. And it has inspired me. I am challenging myself to not spend any money for a week.
Here’s my plan, starting Saturday until dinner Friday night (because I have plans), I am not going to spend any money next week.
There will be a few exceptions. First off, I have set up all my bills to auto pay with my credit card so that I am never late on a payment which means it is legit if they hit my card in this time period. Second, I will fill up with gas tomorrow but, if it doesn’t last through the week I will have to fill up again so that I can go to work. Though wouldn’t it be great if that were a valid excuse? And lastly, I am probably not going to make it to the grocery store before Saturday morning but I will need to get food for next week.
So other than those few things, no spending money, no eating out, no random purchases, nothing that credit card will stay in my wallet!
Whew, okay now that my guidelines are in place, I’m set. Anyone want to jump on the challenge band wagon? It could be fun! Or send me any ideas you have for free activities.
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