<$Monday, July 7, 2008$>
I signed up for Social Spark!
 It's no secret that I sometimes use this blog to pull in some extra income, mainly via paid posts. The idea of accepting compensation to blog about something is a bit controversial for some; mainly, I think, for those who confuse personal blogging with professional journalism. But being that this is a personal blog, and a blog about personal finance (among other, related things), which includes finding extra streams of income, I think paid blogging fits right in. I only do it part time, because I only have a limited amount of time to devote to it, and also because I can get a little burned out on blogging as a whole if I do too much of it at someone else's pace. But the money is good. As an established, if not wildly (or even just kinda) popular, blogger, I pull in an average of $30/hour. Considering I only devote about an hour a week to it, for me that's also an extra $30/week. That may look like chump change, but you'd be amazed at how much progress I've made paying down my credit cards already just by applying these little weekly paid blogging "debt snowflakes" to my balance. Of course, those who devote more time to it make significantly more. I started out doing it through PayPerPost, where last year I made over a thousand dollars--a teensy fraction of what some of the full-time Posties pulled in. So it's only natural that I signed up for SocialSpark, the newest venture from Izea, Inc., the people behind PayPerPost. SocialSpark is Izea's attempt to once again revolutionize the paid blogging market by turning it into a social network, thereby gaining even more exposure both for bloggers and the products they advertise.   What I like most about this new network is that, unlike PPP, I don't have to keep refreshing the opportunities page all day long in the hopes of grabbing a good one before it's snapped up by my competition. With SocialSpark, I just reserve a slot, and they e-mail me to let me know when they're ready for me to write my post--after which I have twelve hours to get it written and posted. And if I see an opportunity I like that doesn't have any openings, with SocialSpark I can contact the advertiser and request that they open a new slot just for me. This is my first post for SocialSpark, so it remains to be seen if it will work out as well for me as its predecessor did; but I have high hopes for it, and high expectations for how it will change the paid blogging biz.  Labels: disclosure, extra income, PPP |
<$Tuesday, March 11, 2008$>
Product Love: Naked Naturals Shampoo
 I'm having a great hair day, if I do say so myself. A couple of weeks ago I was given samples of naked naturals shampoo and conditioner, and I finally remembered to take them to the gym with me this morning. Specifically, I was given awapuhi and lavender shampoo for color-treated hair. I used to color my hair pretty regularly, but it's been quite a while since I've bothered, mainly because of all the swimming I do. The chlorine can be pretty rough on my hair, though, so anything that targets any kind of chemical damage is a good thing. What's more, I've finally got the hang of putting on my swim cap (not as simple as it sounds, trust me), so between that and finding a great shampoo & conditioner, I'm planning on trying out a henna treatment sometime in the next couple of pay periods.For today, though, my hair is softer than it's been since pretty much before I started swimming. It's more manageable than it's been in a long time, too. I'm not generally one to believe claims that shampoo can magically give you better hair, but this one almost has me convinced. After a single use, my hair looks better than it has in a long time (and it smells great, too. Mmm, lavender), so I'm guessing that regular use of this stuff would give me some pretty great-looking hair. That this all natural shampoo is environmentally friendly is icing on the cake. I just wish it was available in the places I normally shop. You can buy it online directly from the source, but the MSRP of $9.00 is frankly too steep for my Suave-level budget, no matter how great the shampoo is. Walgreen's price of $7.99 is a bit more like it, and there's one right across the corner from my office. That's still more than I'd like to spend, but between coupons and watching for sales, I could probably squeeze it into the beauty budget. If and when I do start coloring my hair again, I definitely will, because I'm pretty confident that it will not only protect and strengthen my hair, but also help preserve the color longer, which will mean more time between touch-ups, which will only save me money in the long run. Labels: beauty, disclosure, green, product love, reviews, shopping |
<$Monday, March 10, 2008$>
Product Love: Dymo Labelers
I think now I can finally justify getting one. As I move deeper into home business territory, it makes sense to invest in certain pieces of home office equipment, especially since the new systems go way beyond simply printing labels. With the ability to buy online stamps and print my own postage, I could eliminate the need to spend my lunch hours standing in line at the post office to ship my eBay and Etsy orders. I could create my own address and shipping labels without having to fight with Word... and, yes, I could even label my cats. Oh, the fun we could have with a new Dymo labeler. Although I'm not sure the new models would give me quite the same sense of visceral satisfaction I used to get from squeezing out one letter at a time from those old fashioned embossing models, so I might have to keep one of those on hand for nostalgia's sake. Labels: disclosure, entrepreneurship, home office, tools |
<$Thursday, February 14, 2008$>
Review: Creditloan.com
| I'm generally loathe to recommend borrowing money to anybody. There are of course circumstances where getting a loan is usually a necessary part of the process, such as going to college or buying a house. It can also be a really good idea to refinance and/or consolidate existing debts into a new loan with a lower interest rate. On the other hand, taking out a loan just so you can buy stuff, be it a new TV or a Wii for the kids or to satisfy your iPhone lust, is just a bad idea. Somewhere in the fuzzy middle are emergency and payday loans. I don't advocate them, but I'd be lying if I said I've never had to get them. I now know from experience that it's much, much better to use extra money in prosperous times to build up an emergency savings fund to get you through the lean times, rather than relying on credit cards or fast payday loans to cover emergencies and tight spots. Before you think I'm getting holier-than-thou about this, here's a shameful confession: I once used a payday loan to buy comic books. Yes, really. I was young, I was stupid--REALLY stupid when it came to money, and I had an addiction that I have since curbed. I knew the comic shop would only hold my stash for so long before they put it back up for sale, and that "so long" didn't stretch to my next payday. So, yes. I got a payday loan. I was at least smart enough to pay it back in full the day I got paid, though, so it's not a complete black mark on my financial record. It's more of a dark gray smudge. At any rate, I understand that there are LEGITIMATE reasons that people have for needing loans and not feeling like they have any other recourse. If you feel you're in such a situation, creditloan.com is a pretty good educational resource for information on payday loans, bad credit, debt consolidation and/or counseling, auto loans and more. It has a lot of ads from companies looking to sell you a lot of those things, but if you ignore those and read the articles, there's a lot of good information there, and some good resources to educate yourself. Because the best thing you can do before deciding to borrow money for ANYTHING is to study up and know exactly what you're getting yourself into, so that you can plan a strategy for getting yourself out. Labels: credit cards, debt consolidation, debt reduction, disclosure, loans |
<$Tuesday, February 12, 2008$>
Wikinvest
| Something else I lack confidence in is investing, especially in the stock market. Trying to make heads or tails of it all just makes my head hurt. I can't even figure out whether now is a good time to jump in and get started or not, what with the market fluctuating all over the place. If you're one for braving the market, though, you might want to check out Wikinvest, the investment wiki with plenty of info and research on just about every aspect of the market. The research articles on various companies provided there are pretty informative. Their research on Best Buy, for example, tells me everything I (or, more likely, my financial adviser) would need to know to make a decision about investing with the company, including a breakdown of their sources of revenue. Of course, it's no surprise that their biggest revenue source is consumer electronics at 41%; but I would have expected services such as Geek Squad and home theater installation to generate more than 6% of overall revenue. See? Shows how much I know. This site looks like a pretty good source with which to educate myself about the stock market. I'm way too risk-intolerant to try that kind of investing now, but maybe in time, after the economy, the market and my finances all become more stable, I'll be willing to give it a try. Labels: disclosure, educational, investing, resources |
<$Friday, February 8, 2008$>
Speaking of mortgages...
| *Sponsored Post* Ameritek has a good mortgage calculator that I've been playing with for the last bunch of minutes. It's a good way to see what we can expect our monthly payments will be based on various loan amounts, tax and interest rates, which is giving me a really good idea of how much house we can realistically and responsibly afford. Thankfully, we live in an area where the housing market hasn't been affected that much, and housing prices were already pretty low to begin with. So we shouldn't have too much trouble finding a nice starter home for relatively little. I can't imagine having to buy a house in California, where houses cost about 6 times what they run here. I've known people who moved here from California who were able to sell the modest home they lived in there and afford to build McMansions on substantial amounts of acreage here with their profits. Of course, if they'd stayed put they probably could have qualified for pretty decent rates on california reverse mortgages. Ameritek specializes in ca reverse mortgages, and they also handle reverse mortgages in Oregon, Washington and Colorado--all states with high property values. We actually do hope to live in California some day. My husband spent his formative years in Long Beach and the OC, and he would love nothing more than to move back there eventually. But that possibility is still a long way off. We need to focus on what we're able to do in the here and now. Labels: disclosure, loans |
Lender searches made easy
| *Sponsored Post* I don't have the discipline to pull this off, but a lot of frugal hackers save a lot of money by making all of their purchases with credit cards that offer reward incentives. Some get to take free trips with frequent flier cards, some get cash back, and some just get a percentage instantly knocked off all of their purchases. Even I use a rewards card that offers 5% cash back to make all of my gasoline purchases--which every few months amounts to a free tank of gas. Of course, to do this and save money you have to be in a situation where you can pay off your entire balance each month. It won't save you any money to carry a balance and rack up interest. For a while there, I tried using a cash back incentive card for all of my purchases, hoping it would save me some money; but once I started falling into my old overspending habits, I had to quit. So this system isn't for everybody. But if you think it's for you, you can get a Credit Card with Centrro--a financial search engine that can quickly and easily match you up with the rewards card that's right for you. You can also get a Loan with Centrro, be it a first time mortgage or a home equity loan. They'll match you up with at least four potential lenders with the best offers. Filling out the quote request form only takes a minute. I didn't get a list of potential lenders, though--instead I got a promise that I'd hear from the top lenders with offers matching my criteria within twenty-four hours, so we'll see how that goes. We've already decided that if for some reason we don't qualify for a fixed interest loan, we'll most likely pass on buying and go back to looking for a place to rent until we DO qualify. Sub-prime and adjustable loans are what got the housing market into the mess it's in, and we're not about to exacerbate the problem if we can help it. Labels: credit cards, disclosure, loans |
<$Tuesday, February 5, 2008$>
Spam: The Next Generation
| I wish I could find a spam filtering service for my cell phone. Has this been happening to any of you guys? My husband and I have both been getting spam text messages advertising various web sites. Both of our numbers are listed on the Do Not Call Registry, but I guess it's not a "Do Not Text" registry, so these buggers feel free to text us anyway. Does this ever actually work? It makes about as much sense to me as all of the automated telemarketing messages I used to get in my receptionist days: "Please hold for a very important message from blah--*click*" Actually, with me the *click* usually comes way before they get to the "blah." How is this a good way to get customers? I will never understand how going out of your way to annoy someone is supposed to entice them to check out your product. It makes NO sense to me. In fact, with me it has the opposite effect: I will go out of MY way to AVOID your company/service/web site if you use these tactics to make them known to me. 'Cause I'm all contrarian like that. Or, y'know, just human. Stop texting me, spammers. Labels: advertising, disclosure, random, rant |
<$Monday, February 4, 2008$>
Give the ability to keep in touch.
| Pre-paid phone cards are big business these days. When I was in college--the first time, in the early '90s--they were still pretty new, and I was grateful for them. My poor college student status, combined with my lack of money management skills, meant that there were plenty of times when I didn't have phone service. These cards, whether received as a gift from my parents or bought on my own, often felt like my lifeline. I was feeling pretty down during that time of my life; I think it's safe to say I was depressed. I remember a lot of evenings spent on the pay phone outside the 7-11 near my apartment, talking to my best friend who was half the state away. Those talks saved my sanity, and I wouldn't have been able to make them without pre-paid phone cards. If you've got someone far away on your gift list, whether they're a college student, your parents, or a long-distance significant other, ESPECIALLY if it's someone who you know might be going through something that they need to be able to talk about, a phone card would make a great gift--for Valentine's Day or any other occasion. I know how grateful I was to receive such a gift back in those miserable, post-adolescent college days. Labels: disclosure, gift ideas |
<$Wednesday, January 30, 2008$>
Because free money beats borrowed money any day.
| As helpful as Husband's student loan checks are, it would be nice if he could find scholarships that he's eligible for. With his grades (straight As!), I wouldn't think that would be hard. Add in his disability and his bout with cancer, and you'd think there would be organizations out there that would throw free college money at him. We haven't found any so far, though. Even so, I plan to keep looking. Like I said, the loans are a help, but we're only delaying having to pay his tuition by a few years. It would be really nice to get some financial aid that didn't have to be paid back. Labels: disclosure, education, loans |
Do sacrifices alter your personal style?
| I used to love to wear jewelry. Costume jewelry, mainly--I've never been in a position to afford or be gifted with much of the real stuff. In my younger days working in retail, I usually ended up working in the jewelry department, surrounded by cute baubles that I couldn't resist. My jewelry was a big part of my personal style. The old me would have adored some of this wholesale fashion jewelry. But that was back in the days when I didn't think much about my spending, or about putting shiny things on a credit card. The new me hardly wears any jewelry. Other than my wedding ring and a necklace my husband let me pick out for my birthday last year, all I usually wear are a few pairs of inexpensive discount store earrings that I rotate, and often I don't even bother with those. I'm not sure when or why I stopped being a costume jewelry ho. It happened pretty gradually, although I'm sure lack of funds had something to do with it. Being forced into frugal habits had a major impact on my personal style, but I'm sure getting older (and busier) also had something to do with it. Where I used to love trendy outfits, now I wear more classic clothes that won't go out of style. I still have girly phases where I love to dress up and put on makeup, but for the most part I've got a pretty basic beauty routine that lets me get ready for work in fifteen minutes. These things cost less to maintain, too. A lot of jewelry just doesn't fit into that equation. Sometimes, this makes me sad, and I wish I could go back to my girly-girl days of yore. Mostly, though, I'm proud of myself for scaling down and figuring out how to look feminine and stylish while saving a lot of time and money. My new personal style fits in a lot better with my new lifestyle. There's no room here for the old, fashion-conscious, spendy me. Labels: bargains, disclosure, frugality, personal, shopping |
<$Tuesday, January 29, 2008$>
Real estate can still be a great investment.
| I've mentioned that my husband and I are considering buying a duplex so that we can rent one half out while we live in the other. This isn't the first time we've talked about eventually getting into real estate. On our honeymoon, during our stop in Grand Cayman, we loved the place so much that we pretty much made plans then and there to buy a vacation house there someday that we can rent out to tourists when we're not using it. We've even discussed making that our retirement home, but first we need to build enough wealth to retire on. I think it would be great if we could get into the real estate market, especially coastal properties that we can rent out to vacationers. Florida would be a great market for this. So would Wilmington, NC Real Estate. Of course, with the threat of hurricanes, our profits would be undermined by the cost of really good insurance; but considering we live in tornado alley, that's something we're prepared to shell out for no matter what. At any rate, this is definitely something we'll probably end up doing down the line. Labels: disclosure, dreaming, extra income, investing |
Dreaming is (also) free.
| I mentioned earlier that we're expecting another check from my husband's student loans to arrive soon. What I didn't mention is that we're feeling very tempted to use part of it to take a vacation. I can only bring myself to feel a little guilty about that. We haven't been anywhere since our honeymoon, and while neither of us are used to going on a trip either year, we do both work hard, and we're feeling a little burned out. Last year, all of our attempts to plan short weekend getaways fell through. Even an overnight trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the town where we got married, would be a nice change of pace. The check, though, will be large enough to finance a really nice vacation, if we chose to go that route. Of course we won't--we have too many other things to pay for that take priority, and the knowledge that we'll be able to afford to travel once in a while after our debts are eliminated is enough to help us hang in there and do the responsible thing. Still, that doesn't keep me from checking flights to Canada, where there are two different online friends I'd love to meet, or to California, where I've got another friend I haven't seen in years and where my husband spent his formative years. He's dying to take me back there and show me his old stomping grounds. Those trips are probably still out of our reach for the time being. We're better off keeping our heads out of the clouds and our tires on the ground, looking at destinations within driving distance. Of course, that conveniently includes a few major cities and a port of departure for relatively inexpensive cruises to the Yucatan. THIS is where temptation has the best chance of ensnaring us. Most likely, we'll be responsible with our loan money. It could knock a huge dent in our credit debt, plus we need to have some expensive tests done to our dog, we still need a computer, and I'm sure any extra money we have will come in really handy once the time comes to move into our own house. Even so, I'm about three Corona commercials away from booking a stateroom bound for Cozumel. Labels: disclosure, dreaming, extra income, travel |
Nature is free.
| *Sponsored post* I used to love to go hiking. I grew up in a wooded area, near some cliffs that surrounded a lake. When I was a kid, my friends and I had all kinds of adventures climbing the rocks, hiking through the woods, building forts and swimming in the lake. I live in that same neighborhood now, but as an adult, I never have the time to revisit all of my childhood hiking trails. Even if I did, the area is so much more developed now than it was then that even if I could find a place to go hiking nearby, I'd probably end up trespassing on somebody's property. It's a shame, because there are a lot of benefits to hiking. It's fun, it provides a great workout, it's a great way to get fresh air and sunshine and get away from the hecticity of twenty-first century life once in a while...and it's free. As I mentioned in yesterday's post on all of my frugal habits, I tend to reuse things for as long as I can. Both my and my husband's school backpacks have been used as overnight bags, carry-on luggage, purses, pet carriers, grocery bags, briefcases, gym bags...you get the idea. One thing they sadly haven't been used for is to tote hiking gear, despite the fact that they're ideal for the task. Whether I just want to tote a bottle of water and a light snack for a long walk, a blanket and picnic supplies for an afternoon hike down to the lake, or a sleeping bag and light camping gear for an extended hike, we've got an old backpack that's up to the task. I have no excuses. Once the weather warms up, I think I'm going to pack myself a picnic, head down to the lake and get reacquainted with my childhood pastime. An entire day's worth of activity and entertainment is almost literally right outside my back door--and it won't cost a thing other than the price of the food I take. You can't beat that with a stick. Labels: disclosure, frugality, healthy living, hobbies, recycling |
<$Monday, January 28, 2008$>
Trading debt for debt via student loans
| *Sponsored post* My husband's student loans have turned out to be a big help to us. We knew that things would be tight going to a single income while he finished school, and we budget as if my full-time job is the only income we have. I expected his loans to cover his tuition, books, and other school-related costs, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how much is usually left over once all of those things are paid for. We've been treating his loan checks as windfalls, using them to beef up our savings, put big dents in our credit card debt, and buying things we can't normally afford (like a computer that actually works). We're expecting another loan check next month; as we wait, we're trying to decide the best way to use it to help us get ahead. As helpful as his loans have proven to be, it's tempting to consider obtaining more. Student loan debt tends to be preferable to credit card debt; if we got enough in student loans to pay them off, we would then have until after he graduates to build up a lot of savings before we have to start paying them back. Of course, there are drawbacks to that plan. For one thing, we'd just be trading one debt for another instead of getting rid of debt. I'm not sure I trust the private student loan companies I keep seeing commercials for--I suspect their interest rates are too high to make them a smart option. I don't know whether he can apply for more Federal Direct Loans, or if he's gotten all he can get going that route. My own student loans are currently in forebearance, and I'll have to start paying on them again this summer. So we'll wait and see how far we can make this next loan check stretch, and how well we're making ends meet after we move. Right now, I don't believe more student loans are the answer; but it's comforting to know that the option is there if we need it. Labels: disclosure, loans |
<$Friday, January 25, 2008$>
Choose your host!
| *Sponsored Post* ETA: I just used it to run a search for hosts that cost under $10 with no set-up fee and at least 25MB of disk space, and came up with 637 options. With that much competition, a tool that helps you narrow it down will definitely come in handy. Labels: disclosure, extra income, resources, tools |
Real Estate Investing 101
| *Sponsored Post* At any rate, real estate is definitely an investment that we'd like to make someday. I don't know if we want to make careers out of it, but it would definitely be a nice source of supplemental income. So I'm wondering about the benefits of Nouveau Riche University. They were recently featured in the magazine Your Business At Home, which lends them a sense of legitimacy in a field that seems to be pretty rife with get rich quick scams. From what I understand from reading the articles, they are an accredited university, developing distance learning program, and what you get for the fee that they charge looks like a pretty good value. I don't think we're prepared to go as far as going back to college to learn about real estate investing just yet, but we are pretty clueless about what all it entails and exactly what opportunities are available. So it's nice to know that resources like this exist. I'd like to hear your opinions on whether a program like this would be a good investment of time and money. Labels: disclosure, education, investing, resources |
Furnishing my dream house
 I'm once again hypothetically shopping for my hypothetical future house. I know I really shouldn't, since it will only lead to temptation to get spendy after we move. Really, we plan to make the most of the furniture we've already got, and fill any gaps with Craigslist and thrift shop finds. I consider myself to be fairly creative, and once I get a sewing machine, between that and knitting and borrowed ingenuity from Curbly and other web sources, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to make our new house look like a cozy home without breaking the bank.One thing we do need to replace, though, is our bed. Our bed--actually, our entire fashion bed group, is a matching set of antique hand-me-ups that came to me only after a few years of rough treatment at the hands of my then teenage sister. It's all pretty battered, and not in that stylishly distressed way. I never use the vanity table, anyway, since when I'm not getting dressed at the gym I usually do so in the bathroom, and the chest-of-drawers isn't big enough for the two of us. Neither, really, is my full-size bed, with its broken foot board and aging mattress. So one thing I keep shopping around for to get an idea of how much money I need to save up is a quality bed. I figure once we get a new bed, we'll have it for at least a decade, so to me it's well worth it to shell out for something as sturdy and durable as it is comfortable. I really like the looks of these platform beds; right now they're on sale at prices that wouldn't kill us. It's doubtful that they still will be when we move, but we're not in a huge hurry. We can wait until they go on sale again, even if we have to sleep on our mattress on the floor for a while. Actually, a lot of the prices at Home and Bedroom look pretty reasonable. I'm going to have to bookmark this site for the future and remember to come back to it when we're ready to actually buy new furniture. Their Hillsdale Furniture collections include some gorgeous beds that I might consider if we decide to go with a more traditional look, and those prices aren't making me cringe, either. Once we get our 2007 taxes done, we'll finish our mortgage application and, hopefully, start shopping for a house. Our goal is to be in our own place by this summer. The thought of it is both scary and exhilarating, and despite the scary, I can't wait. This sort of web-window-shopping for good furniture and decorating bargains and dreaming about what I want my new home to look like helps me to wait patiently until it all become a reality. It can be agonizing to wait, but sometimes the best part of waiting is the anticipation and imagining what it will be like when the time finally comes. Labels: bargains, disclosure, frugality, house-hunt, shopping |
<$Tuesday, January 22, 2008$>
Catholic Homeschooling Made Easy
| *Sponsored Post* My husband and I have pretty much already decided that if we ever have kids, we'll most likely home school them. This isn't a decision I take lightly, nor is it one I ever thought I would make; but there are a lot of motivations behind it. Some of them are practical: if our kids take too much after me, they're bound to have special needs, and I feel like I'm the best qualified to teach my (hypothetical future) children how to cope with them. Some of them are fear-driven: whether it's rational or not, I don't want to put my (hypothetical future) children in a position where they might get shot. And some of it is, of course, religion-driven. Although my husband and I are Protestant Christians and plan to raise our children in that tradition, I think the St. Gabriel Catholic Academy looks like a great resource for home schooling. They provide access to online teachers and homeschooling portfolios and resources that cover a full curriculum. They include catechism training, but I would think that as the creator of your child's curriculum, you would have full control over how much of that, if any, that they receive if you're not Catholic. And even if you are, I think exposure to different traditions helps to create a well-rounded, solid foundation on which faith can grow. Labels: disclosure, education, resources |
Good Deals on Dental Care
| *Sponsored Post* My husband hasn't been to the dentist in years. He knows he needs to go get his teeth cleaned and checked, and that he'll probably have cavities that need to be dealt with. He also needs to eventually have his wisdom teeth removed. So when the open enrollment period for my employer's benefits came around at the end of 2007, I enrolled him in the company's dental plan. I didn't like it; at $35 per paycheck--$70 per month--that seemed kind of steep to me, especially when a month's worth of premiums would almost cover the cost of a cleaning. But not knowing what kind of work he'll need done to his teeth, and not wanting to be caught with our pants down if he needed something major, we bit the bullet and signed him up anyway. That's what I get for not doing my research first. Instead of expensive insurance that only pays a percentage of most procedures anyway, we probably should have checked into discount dental plans. These are different from dental insurance in that instead of premiums and copay, you simply pay a one time annual fee to receive steeply discounted services for the entire year. Annual fees run as low as $79.95 for individuals--that's a heck of a bargain compared to my $75 monthly premium--and $129.95 for entire families, regardless of how many children you have. That particular dental plan also covers prescriptions, vision and chiropractic care, and includes three extra months of coverage for the first year. It's pretty frustrating to find out about this after we committed to a year of expensive insurance, let me tell you. I'm bookmarking this site, and when open enrollment comes back around for 2009, we're going to seriously consider switching over to this. Labels: bargains, disclosure, frugality, healthy living, insurance, PPP |
Cititec
| *Sponsored Post* One of the best ways to get out of debt and get ahead in your finances is to increase your income. Sometimes the best way to increase your income is simply to find a better job. Financial IT Jobs can be a pretty lucrative career choice. If you've got the relevant education and training already, you might consider placing yourself with an Investment Banking IT Recruitment firm. In such a niche market, it seems like it would be an excellent idea to have someone who knows the job market and the industry do your job searching for you. Cititec recruits globally, so registering with them could open the door not just for a more prosperous future, but a more adventurous one as well. Labels: disclosure, extra income, PPP |
<$Monday, January 21, 2008$>
Discount Blinds
| *Sponsored post* I can't stop myself from mentally dressing my hypothetical future house. As such, I waste a lot of spare time "window shopping" on the web for good decorating and furniture bargains. Even though I suspect our decorating style will be primarily "Second-hand Chic," at least for the first few years, it's still fun to dream. One thing I must have when we move is good window coverings. Ever since my cat tore down the mini blinds in my current apartment, I haven't bothered to replace them. Well, I did once, when I made curtains--she destroyed those, too. Cats are jerks. I think by now, though, she's old enough and fat enough that we can safely hang blinds in our hypothetical future house. Although they're a bit pricier than the mini blinds, I really like the look of these basswood wood blinds. If I were buying them today, I'd get 25% off the regular price, and they would actually be pretty affordable. I also like the fact that Select Blinds has donated products to Extreme Home Makeover; sure, it's good for them in the way of exposure and publicity, but it also goes to a good cause, and I like to support businesses that give generously to those in need. Labels: charity, disclosure, house-hunt, PPP, shopping |
Pets Allowed
| *Sponsored Post* Having pets can sometimes make it difficult to plan a trip. What do you do with them while you're gone? Do you hire someone to walk and feed them, or do you board them with a kennel? Cats tend to be less of a worry--put out clean litter and a week's worth of kibble and water and get a neighbor to check in once in a while to make sure they haven't managed to somehow burn the house down while you're gone, and they'll be fine. Dogs, though, tend to need more maintenance, not to mention more company. I've always had portable dogs, so whenever feasible my favorite option has been to take them with me. Pet Friendly Hotels can be hard to come by, so I've got plenty of stories of sneaking my chihuahua into hotel rooms by hiding her in my purse. If your dog weighs more than five pounds, though, chances are you'll need to find a hotel that welcomes pets. Taking them with you can be a bit of a hassle, but you'll save on kennel and/or dog sitter fees, plus have the peace of mind of knowing your dog has the best caretaker available while you're gone -- it has you. Labels: disclosure, pets, PPP, travel |
<$Thursday, January 17, 2008$>
New Resource: Credit Exchange
| *Sponsored Post* If you have a lot of different debts, of course one of the more ideal ways to deal with it all is to consolidate them so that you only have a single payment each month. This can be easier said than done, though, especially if you have a low credit score. Credit Counseling is an attractive option for some, but those waters can be pretty murky, hiding a lot of sharks. The Credit Exchange seems more like a rescue dolphin -- okay, "murky" is starting to describe this metaphor. Anyway, they're not a debt management company, but a credit counseling and referral service. Their web site has a lot of educational tools and resources, too. I'm making pretty good progress paying off my cards with my "debt snowflake" method, but if my situation was more dire, I'd be tempted to put these folks to work for me. Labels: credit cards, debt consolidation, debt reduction, disclosure, PPP, reviews, tools |
Good News for Busty Gals
| *Sponsored Post* I'm a busty gal. That usually ends up being more of a curse than a blessing. It can be pretty hard to find full busted lingerie, for one thing. I once tried shopping at Victoria's Secret for wedding lingerie, and they didn't have a single thing in my cup size. I usually have to go to specialty stores to find things that fit, and even then, it's hard to find one-piece or paired items that fit both my top and my bottom properly. Luckily, I just discovered Biggerbras.com, where I should have no problem finding things that fit. Not only do they have sexy lingerie in my size (which I'm sure will please my husband to no end), but they also sell tops and bottoms separately--great news for anyone with ample bosoms whose ever tried shopping for swimwear that fits. They even have vintage-looking swimsuits in my size! These things aren't cheap, but I've found that lingerie--especially bras--are one thing where you usually get what you pay for. I'd rather shell out money for a quality, well-fitted bra that will last a couple of years than have to buy a new cheap bra every few months because it wears out and stops doing its job. Cheap has a way of being expensive. This is one area where quality definitely counts. Labels: disclosure, PPP, reviews, shopping |
<$Wednesday, January 16, 2008$>
Green Light
| *Sponsored post* I love the fact that going green and being environmentally conscious fits in so well with being frugal. So many things that are better for the environment are also better for my bank account. LED lights are a pretty good example of this. Inexpensive to begin with, this decorative rope light burns cooler, uses less energy and lasts longer than decorative incandescent light strings--better for the planet, better for my bank account. It's pretty awesome the way those two things tend to go hand-in-hand. Now if only I could get my mom to switch. She uses white incandescent Christmas lights to illuminate the top of her kitchen cabinets and all of the knick-knacks she keeps up there. I like the idea, but once I get my own house I plan to duplicate it using warm white LED rope lights. So far my attempts to get my mom to change out ANY of her light bulbs have met with nothing but failure. My bet is that once my husband and I get settled in our own house and we can compare energy bills, Mom will finally come around. Labels: disclosure, frugality, green, PPP |
Free Money Files: Pepperjam Network
| *Sponsored Post* Affiliate Marketing can be a great source of passive income, if you use the right tools and find the right companies with which to affiliate your blog. Unfortunately, this is harder than it sounds, which can be pretty frustrating. Most Affiliate Marketing networks are flawed in one way or another, which can make it really hard to find the right affiliate match. Even when you do, sometimes you have to go through so many hoops that it doesn't seem worth it, or sometimes you just can't keep up with all of the changes that get made to your service agreement. But there's a new sheriff in town that promises to fix all of that, or at least come really close. Pepperjam Network is a new affiliate marketing network with big advertisers along the lines of Blockbuster, among others, which promises better communication, advertiser transparency, and a clean Web 2.0 interface--and that's just a few of the improved benefits they offer. I'm willing to try them out. Take a look at their press release below to judge for yourself. Pepperjam Announces Launch of Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network |