My Money Blog

This Is What I See When I Look at Shopping Mall Directory Maps

Posted on April 6, 2012 // 39 Comments

Here's my attempt at humor that came to mind while being dragged shopping again, in the name of baby gear research. (I get really whiny when made to shop...) 500 stores, and nothing to buy. Am I the only one? … [Read the rest]

Barron’s Top Online Broker Rankings 2012

Posted on April 5, 2012 // 12 Comments

Weekly business newspaper Barron's recently released their 2012 annual broker survey rankings. A change from last year is that now the quality and availability of mobile apps for smartphones and iPads are now part of the criteria, as well as more … [Read the rest]

First Baby New Expenses? One Family’s Experience

Posted on April 4, 2012 // 32 Comments

The following is a guest post is from Elle at Couple Money. They live on one income, and have fun with the second! When I read MMB's questions about baby expenses, I shared a bit of our own experience with him. We are just a year ahead of him … [Read the rest]

Compare Your Budget With Other US Consumers and the World

Posted on April 3, 2012 // 10 Comments

The NYT Economix blog and a new BLS report had some nice graphics comparing how the average consumer spends their money in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan. The data is from 2009. Source: BLS.gov Compared with the other … [Read the rest]

Warren Buffett Was Nearly Content With Early Retirement At 25

Posted on April 2, 2012 // 9 Comments

Here is an insightful ForbesLife interview by Warren Buffett in their "When I was 25" series. The article is primarily about how he ended up starting the investing partnership that eventually became Berkshire Hathaway. But what I didn't know was … [Read the rest]

Walgreens Pharmacy $25 For Transferring Prescription

Posted on April 1, 2012 // 4 Comments

Walgreens Pharmacy has a new promotion where you get a $25 gift card if you transfer a prescription over to them. Looks like you can do it online and have it shipped to you for free if you don't want to pick it up. I remember when it seemed like … [Read the rest]

MarketRiders Portfolio Manager Review: First Look, Asset Allocation

Posted on March 29, 2012 // 5 Comments

Time to try out another online portfolio manager - MarketRiders.com. While previously-reviewed Betterment is an website/broker/advisor combo that handles all the decisions and trade executions for you, MarketRiders is more like an online portfolio … [Read the rest]

Poll: Do You Use AutoPay To Pay Bills Automatically?

Posted on March 28, 2012 // 55 Comments

One common recommendation for new parents is to save time wherever you can. So tonight, for the very first time, I have signed up for the AutoPay feature for my most heavily-used American Express card to have it pay the credit card bill in full … [Read the rest]

First Baby! Things To Buy, Things Not To Buy? (Ask The Readers)

Posted on March 23, 2012 // 169 Comments

After a long period of trying and a month before our planned IVF procedure, we recently found out Mrs. MMB was pregnant! We were being carefully optimistic so we kept things rather quiet until now. We just had another ultrasound at 20 weeks that … [Read the rest]

Understanding the Habit Loop: Cue, Routine, Reward

Posted on March 22, 2012 // 6 Comments

Personal finance in theory is simple. Earn more, spend less. We all know that. But what makes it hard is changing our behavior, and much of that behavior is controlled by habits that we can't stop. A new book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do … [Read the rest]

Vanguard Lowers My Portfolio’s Fund Fees… Again!

Posted on March 21, 2012 // 6 Comments

There will always be debate regarding investing in actively-managed stock pickers vs. passive index followers. But even for active managers, costs matter more than star ratings and past performance. The lower the expenses, the less headwind year … [Read the rest]

AmazonLocal: $10 Amazon GC for $5

Posted on March 19, 2012 // 10 Comments

If it wasn't for the ads on my Kindle (no good offers recently... boo), I wouldn't even know that Amazon had their own Groupon-clone called AmazonLocal. I don't even bother subscribing to any new copycat sites other than Groupon and Livingsocial, … [Read the rest]