CouponTrade Promo Codes – $5 off $50, 5% Off, Waived Listing Fee

Updated with new 5% off code. CouponTrade.com is another marketplace for unused gift cards. You can buy gift cards from other individuals at a discount from face value, or you can sell your gift cards (partial balances okay) at a price that you name … [Read the rest]

Recent Investment Returns By Asset Class – October 2012

Here is my monthly update of the trailing total returns for the major asset classes that I find useful. I am using passive ETFs to track asset classes, as they represent "real" investments that you can buy and sell. Return data was taken after … [Read the rest]

Beat The Market Experiment: My Money Blog Play Portfolio Breakdown

Update: Check out the monthly updates on this experiment. Do you think you're a below-average driver? Of course not. Everyone thinks they're above-average. This is why I'm a big proponent of the "Core and Explore" or "Play" portfolio. You … [Read the rest]

Top 529 Plans: SavingForCollege 5-Cap Ratings List 2012

Savingforcollege.com is a popular privately-run site for researching and comparing 529 college savings plans. In June 2012, they updated their rating system which represents their "opinion of the overall usefulness of a state's 529 plan based on … [Read the rest]

Zillow.com Adds Free Foreclosure Listings

If you've ever tried to research buying a foreclosure or short sale online, you've probably found a lot of sites either plastered with ads or charging expensive subscription fees in order to access "exclusive" foreclosure listings. Well, the good … [Read the rest]

Vanpooling: Save Money with Work Commute Alternatives

The following is a guest post contributed by reader Nathan, who recently started driving a vanpool in Chicago which saved him over $350 a month in addition to making a lower environmental impact. Thanks Nathan for sharing your … [Read the rest]

Calculating Portfolio Yield From Dividend and Interest Income

As I'm about 2/3rds of the way to having theoretically enough money to cover our living expenses, I wanted to take a closer look at the actual mechanics of living off of my investment portfolio. I'm using a 3% withdrawal rate, which means that for … [Read the rest]

Basics of ETF Tax Loss Harvesting

Tax-loss harvesting (TLH) is a technique used to minimize taxes on your taxable investments - without altering them significantly - by "harvesting" capital losses during market declines. There are many lengthy articles about TLH out there, but … [Read the rest]

The Amazing 99 Cent iPhone Case

In an effort to spiff up my now 2-year-old iPhone 4 so that at least it felt slimmer and newer to me, I wanted to switch to a thin and minimalist case. The official Apple-branded black bumper case at an Apple store looked nice but was priced at a … [Read the rest]

Target Debit Card – 5% Off, No Credit Check Required

If you shop regularly at Target, then you've been pitched the Target REDcard that gives you 5% off all your purchases at Target stores and Target.com. However, you may be hesitant to sign up for yet another credit card with limited usefulness. I … [Read the rest]

New Target Holiday Price Match Policy

Target recently announced a new "Holiday Price Match" policy that will let you price-match with select online stores between November 1st and December 16, 2012. Full details are to be released on October 22 at target.com/morereasons, but for now … [Read the rest]

Amazon Mastercard Promotion: 15% Off Subscribe and Save

Amazon.com and Mastercard are currently running a promotion that gets you an additional 10% off the first shipment of select "Subscribe & Save" items with promotional code MSTRCRD1. This is on top of the standard 5% off all Subscribe and Save … [Read the rest]