My Money Blog

Hotel Bidding Tools For Hotwire.com and Priceline.com Travel

Posted on February 24, 2011 // 11 Comments

I'm working on planning our next travel adventure, and discovered a few new sites to help people navigate "opaque" hotel price engines Hotwire.com and Priceline.com. In my 5-Step Guide to Finding The Lowest Rate For Hotel Rooms, I outlined the … [Read the rest]

Application Tips For Individual Health Insurance

Posted on February 23, 2011 // 21 Comments

In a NY Times Op-Ed piece entitled Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance, Donna Dubinsky shares her troubles with getting individual health insurance coverage, even though she has many millions from co-founding Palm. Based on this article, here are … [Read the rest]

Stable Value Fund 2011 Interest Rate Announced

Posted on February 22, 2011 // 15 Comments

If you have a 401(k), 403(b), or similar retirement plan, you may have an investment option called a stable value fund. Sometimes it goes by a different name like Guaranteed Pooled Fund, but they are always marked as a conservative investment. The … [Read the rest]

Prosper P2P Lending 1% Cashback + Potential Market Inefficiency

Posted on February 21, 2011 // 9 Comments

I kinda missed the boat last Thursday 2/17 because peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.com had a promotion going on for borrowers that stated that they would make a entire month's loan payment for you. A quote from their e-mail: It's our fifth … [Read the rest]

$2 for Five Movie Rentals from Blockbuster Express – Groupon

Posted on February 19, 2011 // 7 Comments

Groupon has a national deal this weekend that will get you five one-day rentals at Blockbuster Express kiosks for $2. The regular cost would have been $5. I don't really get the limitation of one per person when you can buy seemingly unlimited as … [Read the rest]

The Joys of Making Your Own Popcorn

Posted on February 18, 2011 // 25 Comments

I try to keep my life simple, but don't see myself as a serious frugal person. I don't make my own soap, and I eat out a lot. But one thing I recently fell in love with was making my own popcorn. It sounds so obvious, but it never really sunk … [Read the rest]

FDIC-Insured Bank Accounts Holding Chinese Renminbi (CNY) (RMB)

Posted on February 17, 2011 // 12 Comments

Reader Jonathan wrote in the tell me that the Bank of China (BoC) is offering FDIC-insured bank accounts that are denominated in renminbi, the official currency of China. Also referred to by the primary unit yuan, you may have heard about how China … [Read the rest]

Infographic: U.S. 2012 Budget Proposal

Posted on February 16, 2011 // 8 Comments

Here's another infographic from the New York Times illustrating the proposed budget for 2012. Rectangles are sized according to the proposed spending. Color shows severity of cut or increase from 2010 (green increase, red decrease). If you … [Read the rest]

Magazines Decoded: Best Mutual Funds of 2011

Posted on February 15, 2011 // 10 Comments

I'm catching on some personal finance magazine reading and find myself again rolling my eyes at their respective "Best Mutual Funds" lists. I've had subscriptions to all the major magazine for about 5 years now. Here's how I translate them … [Read the rest]

Tax Software Giveaway: H&R Block At Home

Posted on February 11, 2011 //

H&R Block contacted me to help give away six copies of their H&R Block At Home tax preparation software (formerly TaxCut). Specifically, you will get a free code for H&R Block At Home Premium edition ($49.95 retail value), the level above Deluxe, … [Read the rest]

Got an American Express? 5 Free iTunes Songs

Posted on February 11, 2011 // 12 Comments

American Express is offering cardmembers 5 free iTunes songs if they register online and then use that same card to buy 5 song downloads from Apple iTunes. The limit appears to be purely on a per card basis. Thanks for reader Nick for the tip. See … [Read the rest]

Restaurant.com Valentine’s Day Promo Code

Posted on February 10, 2011 // 7 Comments

I've written about Restaurant.com already in the past. As opposed to a gift certificate, these are essentially coupons. The standard offer is a $25 certificate for $10, which usually comes with a $35 minimum purchase + 18% required gratuity on full … [Read the rest]