Coupon Industry Fights Illegal Extreme Couponing
Couponing is more popular than ever but the show Extreme Couponing has been advocating some pretty underhanded and illegal ways to save money. More »
30 Year Mortgages Are For Suckers
I hope to never have a 30 year mortgage (unless I use it strategically) because I know that they are a rip off...and if you have one, you might just be a sucker. More »
Four Ways to Upgrade Your Teen’s First Car on a Budget
Okay your the hand me down car that you gave to your teen has sputtered and died. Time for a newer car, but how to upgrade without spending a fortune? More »
Go Green: Five S’s for the Spring Vegetable Garden
Now is the perfect time to begin planting your Spring vegetable garden. Get out there and watch what you plant grow! More »
Spirit Airlines Charges $100 Baggage Fee
$100 to take a bag on an airline? Yes! That is exactly how much Spirit Airlines will charge you come November. Is it worth it? More »
Top 5 Reasons Why Baby Boomers Are Screwed
I love the Baby Boom generation, but their spending and saving habits have many set for a rude awakening then they are ready to retire. More »
Cheap Things To Get Mom on Mother’s Day
I’m not a mom, but my mother is. 
And for Mother’s Day she’ll be expecting some sort of a gift. Oh, I try to avoid doing it since I think that my mom makes out like a bandit with this gifting stuff (anniversary, Valentines, birthday, Mother’s Day and Christmas in that order) and she wouldn’t miss one gift out of the year. I was wrong. My brother’s girlfriend is pretty good about buying a gift and slapping all of our names on it. She knows that my brother and I probably wouldn’t do it so she runs with that torch.
Social Security Statements Move Online
As of 2011, your annual Social Security statements are no longer being mailed to your home. Did you get that memo? I didn’t and neither did you since the Social Security Administration didn’t send one. What they have done instead was introduce online access to your statements beginning the week of May 29, a move that could save the government more than $70 million each year. According to a Reuters article, more than 130,000 individuals have signed up as of May 10.
Stay At Home Dads on The Rise
I’ve discovered a new term, the “Mancession” – a reflection of how badly the recession affect employment for men. One of the more pleasant, but unforeseen result of the recession is the number of men playing the role of stay-at-home dad. Although women still earn less than men on average, Liza Mundy, author of the book, The Richer Sex claims that “almost 40 per cent of working wives out-earn their husbands” – and this number was rising.
As the main breadwinner in my family, I know that it can take a bit of a mental adjustment for men who are bring out-earned by their wives. My BF and I have already discussed that he would be the stay-at-home parent if we decide to get married and have kids. It’s a role that we would both be comfortable with, and many couples share our view. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24% of kindergarteners were cared for primarily by their dads in 2006, up from 16% in 2005.
Below is a video on this rising trend. Please watch the video and then tell me in the comments, would your family be comfortable with this reversal of the traditional parenting roles?
Why I’m Buying Rental Property While Still In Debt
I mentioned in my review of April that I’ve been considering purchasing another investment property. I’ve come to this decision after a very long thought process and a multitude of discussions with my brother. We’ve crunched the numbers together and what came out at the end made so much sense to us, that I’m willing to share it here with you.
If you listen to the news, it would make you run in the opposite direction of buying property at a time when you probably should be running directly to real estate. Apparently many of you do not watch the news either because, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development, existing home sales were up 5.3% in the first quarter of 2012 versus the same time last year. The housing affordability index is at its best, because of low housing prices and record low mortgage interest rates. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.88% during the first quarter of 2012. If you’re in a stable financial position and have been waiting for the right time, now might just be the best time to buy.
Spirit Airlines Charges $100 Baggage Fee
Spirit Airlines has officially lost its damn mind. They have come up with a scheme to charge you up to $100 for a carry on bag beginning in November! Yes, you read that correctly, one hundred dollars for a piece of luggage. Spirit has adopted a strategy of nickel-and-diming passengers for everything they can think. Apparently it’s working because Spirit made a profit of $76.4 million last year – with a full third of its operating revenue coming from fees for carry-on and checked bags, choosing seats in advance and extra legroom.
Can I Afford To Get My Master’s Degree?
Many graduates are so buried in debt by the time they earn their Bachelor’s degrees they are hesitant to pursue their educations further. Once they enter the job market they are hit with the cold truth of the Catch 22 of the American job market—it’s hard getting a good job without a Masters degree and once you get your Masters degree it’s hard finding a job that can pay off the debt.
Tuition bills and the costs of living seem to keep rising while average incomes continue to stagnate. So what’s the answer? Should graduates give up their dreams of working for a top-notch law firm or medical facility? Should they hunker down and work even-steven jobs in order to pay off their debts? This is a personal decision that each student will have to make on his/her own. Here are a few options to consider that you may find illuminating:
May 1 Debt Check In
It’s May Day and time to see how I’m doing with my finances.
You already know that I had a hacker take my site down for some time. I’m over it, so I won’t let it bug me one tiny bit. Whether someone is messing with this site or not, I’m always, always focused on my debt. It’s not an obsession…okay, maybe just a little bit. But I’m so FOCUSED that I can literally feel the blood pumping in my veins. Do you remember that excitement that you had on Christmas morning as a kid? That’s how I feel now. I’m so excited at the prospect of ending this year in a far better financial position than I began it. It’s weird, but exciting.
Move Along, Nothing to See Here
It’s been a full two weeks since anything new has hit this site. I’d call that a record! Believe me when I tell you that it was not on purpose. I’ve had a wonderful hacking incident which crippled my access for a week and then took the entire site down for another week. It’ was not fun.
There are people who like to prove how smart they are by ruining things that others have created. So, they go about attempting to destroy what has taken years to build.
For a moment there, I actually thought about giving up. I mean, this is the second time in as many months that I’d been hacked. This time was by far the worst. Was it worth losing sleep over? I mean, my life is busy enough. Would you guys even care?
I literally dropped everything. I deleted my e-mail account, and was ready to let everything go. But, I had started receiving phone calls from my family members who, gasp, read and enjoyed the blog. And I received private Tweets. And I received e-mails.
Fine, I thought. I’ll try this one last time.
Go Daddy couldn’t fix anything. I couldn’t anything. All was lost. But then I remembered that I had downloaded and entire copy of the entire site the last time that it had been hacked. Yesterday, I uploaded those files, and WHAM! We were back in business.
So, let’s try this again, shall we?
Hi, I’m Sandy, and I’m in a crap-load of debt. Follow along as I beg, borrow and steal try to figure out different ways of making money online while sharing some financial insights along the way.
And hacker, I win.
Food Labels And Terms That Fool You
The American public is interested in eating better quality foods. The proliferation of “organic” foods and the success of specialty supermarkets dedicated to foods considered “healthy” have made success stories of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. The problem is that everyone is looking to cash in on terms that make food appear to be healthier than they are, in order to justify higher prices and to entice you into picking up that item instead of a competing brand.
Now that I’m working in the food industry, I get to hear a lot of the industry terms and jargon that essentially mean absolutely nothing, but they’re designed to help you make a healthy connection when reading the words on a food package. Here are a few of the most popular repeat offenders:
4th Annual Earth Day Is My Birthday Giveaway
I have the distinct honor of sharing my birthday with Earth Day on April 22. For the past three years, I’ve celebrated by giving away cash and featuring articles with a “green” theme all Earth Week. I’m continuing the tradition this year as well by giving you a chance to win up t0 $105 without jumping through hoops.
It’s pretty simple! I’m randomly giving $50 to one confirmed e-mail subscriber to this blog, so sign up below!
