My Money Blog

Amazon Mastercard Promotion: 15% Off Subscribe and Save

Posted on October 17, 2012 // 5 Comments

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]

American Express Serve Opening Bonuses

Posted on October 17, 2012 // 69 Comments

Updated. American Express has a product called Serve - a combination of their prepaid credit card and a Paypal-like online payment service. No credit checks, no monthly fees, and one free ATM withdrawal per month (the ATM itself may charge a … [Read the rest]

Savings I Bonds September/October 2012 New Rate 1.76%

Posted on October 17, 2012 // 9 Comments

New inflation numbers were just released for September 2012, so here's the usual semi-annual update. New Inflation Rate March 2012 CPI-U was 229.392. September 2012 CPI-U was 231.407, for a semi-annual increase of 0.88%. (CPI-U increased 2.0% … [Read the rest]

Market Timing Prediction + House Payoff Focus

Posted on October 16, 2012 // 40 Comments

As you probably know, I'm not an advocate of market timing. Jumping in and out of stocks is usually based on fear - either fear of missing out on hot returns or fear of more losses. However, if you're going to do it, I figure you should announce … [Read the rest]

LevelUp Mobile Pay: $5 Referral Bonus + Free Store Credits

Posted on October 11, 2012 // 1 Comment

Mobile payments are hot, and start-up LevelUp let's you pay by scanning a QR code from your smartphone that is linked to your existing credit or debit card. You know what that means... venture capital spent on customer acquisition! New users can … [Read the rest]

FreedomPop Review: Unboxing, Download Speeds, Size Comparisons

Posted on October 11, 2012 // 46 Comments

I ended up ordering a FreedomPop mobile hotspot last week for the 500 mb in free wireless internet each money, and have been playing with it for a couple of days. Here's a review including what came in the box, hotspot size comparison, download … [Read the rest]

What’s Inside the Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund?

Posted on October 10, 2012 // 10 Comments

The Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is designed to track the entire spectrum of US bonds (well, those that are publicly-traded, taxable, and investment-grade). It is the second-largest bond fund out there, with $160 billion in assets and … [Read the rest]

FreedomPop: Free 4G Mobile Wireless Data, 500 MB Every Month

Posted on October 4, 2012 // 17 Comments

Here's another potential way to cut those monthly expenses. FreedomPop is a start-up offering wireless 4G data service with a free basic plan including 500 megabytes data per month. You can earn more free data by referring your friends or doing … [Read the rest]

Fix Your Stuff: Repair Cafes, Fix-It Collectives, and Free Online Repair Manuals

Posted on October 3, 2012 // 4 Comments

These days when you inquire about repairing something, you're often confronted with a $50-$100 minimum diagnostic charge with no guarantee that it'll be fixed. Combine this with carefully planned obsolescence by the manufacturers, and it's no … [Read the rest]

Your Job Search Expenses May Be Tax-Deductible

Posted on October 2, 2012 // 8 Comments

Here's a friendly reminder for those on the hunt for a new job. Many job-search expenses may be tax-deductible, so knowing the rules can save you money at tax time. As you might expect from the IRS, the rules aren't straightforward: You have … [Read the rest]

Recent Investment Returns By Asset Class – September 2012

Posted on October 1, 2012 // 8 Comments

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. See August 2012 asset class … [Read the rest]

Retirement Rule of Thumb #537: Age-Based Targets at 35, 45, and 55

Posted on September 28, 2012 // 18 Comments

Here's yet another retirement rule-of-thumb, this time by Fidelity Investments. [...] the average worker may replace 85 percent of his pre-retirement income by saving at least 8 times his ending salary. In order to reach the 8X level by age 67, … [Read the rest]