Hi everyone, some quick blog maintenance stuff: My current provider (Feedburner) is shutting down as of July 2021.

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In case you feel like some extra reading while digesting that turkey (or tofurkey), here are not necessarily the best posts on this blog, but the ones that generated the most discussion. Certain posts may contain some outdated information.

Do You Make A Six Figure Salary? Share Your Story (413 comments)
Lots of people sharing their situations and how they achieved $100,000 or more in annual income. Sure, it’s a bragfest but there are still some interesting information and trends to be found inside the comments.

Straight Talk SIM Card + iPhone = $45 Unlimited Prepaid Plan (398 comments)
It was a big deal with Straight Talk started selling SIM cards which allowed people to bring their any GSM phone onto their $45 plan with unlimited talk, text, and 2 gigs of data. This post helped guide iPhone users to move from their existing $100+ plans and save some serious bucks over time.

DFA Funds: The Porsche of Index Funds (276 comments)
Dimensional Fund Advisors are still not very well-known outside of the investment industry, but every year they seem to grow in popularity amongst both retail and institutional investors. A bulk of the comments on this post are other financial advisors debating DFA-related topics with each other.

Is Costco Executive Membership Worth It? (269 comments)
This post needs to be updated a bit as the membership levels now cost $55 an $110, but the overall principle remains the same. There are other wrinkles, but in general if you spend over a certain amount per year, the 2% extra cash back can make it worthwhile to upgrade to Executive Membership.

Millennium Bank: Perhaps Not A Scam, But Not Safe Either (243 comments)
This was a case of pointing out that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. In 2007, I said “Bottom line, I hope you’ll agree there’s absolutely no reason to put your money anywhere near this institution.” In 2009, the SEC shut the bank down and charged it with being a $68 million Ponzi scheme. A lot of people lost their hard-earned money.

MagicJack VoIP Review: 1 Year of Phone Service For Only $40? (225 comments)
MagicJack was one of the first devices to make voice-over-internet accessible to the average consumer. These days, there is the improved MagicJack Plus that doesn’t require a computer, Ooma, and also Obihai + Google Voice. Paying $25+ a month for a landline seems so expensive now.

Rewards Checking Accounts: Higher Interest Worth The Extra Trouble? (196 comments)
These gimmicky checking accounts were a great source of high interest with the safety of FDIC-insurance in their heyday. The field is a lot more sparse now, although there are still some out there.

ShareBuilder Promotion Codes: Free Stock Trades (195 comments)
I keep this post updated whenever someone sends me a promo code that works for any Sharebuilder account. Who doesn’t like free money in the form of free trades?

Bank of America Overdraft Fee Refund (191 comments)
If you know the right number to call, it can be significantly easier to obtain a refund of those painful overdraft fees. I still get a steady stream of comments from thankful BofA accountholders.

U-Haul vs. Penske Moving Truck Rentals: Share Your Story (184 comments)
I’m grateful that it has been a long time since I’ve had to deal with moving, but this post still gets some traffic from Google. Renting from both U-Haul and Penske in the past definitely provided me with different experiences.

10 Reasons You Should Never Pay Off Your Mortgage (170 comments)
It is not actually my position that you should never pay off your mortgage, but I enjoy considering both sides of an argument. Lots of strong opinions in both directions here!

I have been blogging for over a year now, and it has been a great journey. For those that don’t want slog through all the old posts, I’ve compiled a kind of highlight reel (insert ESPN theme here):

If you haven’t already, I’d also like to invite you to subscribe to my RSS Feed or subscribe to e-mail updates.

Time flies when you’re havin’ fun. Continued from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarter flashbacks. Here are what I feel are the more worthwhile posts to read from my blog from September to November 2005.

September
» Brainstormed options for keeping an Emergency Money Fund.
» Worked out How To Predict I-Bond Savings Bond Rates, even before the official rate announcements.
» Started my very popular $10 Sign-up bonus for EmigrantDirect, a no-fees no-minimums savings account currently offering a 4% interest.
» Revealed that, once again, I am just a simple college student, trying to get by.
[Read more…]

Continued from 1st and 2nd Quarter…

June
» Finally made up my dang mind about car insurance.
» My current favorite savings account, Presidential Bank’s Premier Savings Account, was born with a great interest.
» Talked about using credit cards efficiently by getting the best cash back of 2-5% from using the right credit cards. Also here and here.

July
» Finally got serious about budgeting, and did some historical analysis and set some budget target limits.
» Revealed more about me.
» Shared about getting some free money action.
[Read more…]

Continued from December to February, here is the next installment:

March
» Started my 5 minutes of fame, with mentions in BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal online.
» Continued my 5-minutes with a blurb on television’s CBS MarketWatch. Download the video: RealPlayer format or Windows Media Player format.
» Ended it with a stint on top of Yahoo’s ‘Ten Money Blogs Everyone Should Read’.
» Provided a little insight into why I hate E-Trade, and am very satisfied with Ameritrade, even though they pulled the plug on the beloved FreeTrade.

April
» Had personal information leaked/stolen, so I made my own Identity Theft Recovery Plan.
» Re-stated my Mid-Term and Long-Term Financial Goals.
» Went to DisneyWorld!
» Picked up both Microsoft Money and Quicken personal finance software packages, and promptly got annoyed at Quicken.
» Had a little giveaway.
[Read more…]

Wow, today is the 9-month anniversary of this blog’s first real post. I’m sure most of you weren’t around then, so I’ve decided to make a bit of a flashback post collating what I think were interesting highlights of MyMoneyBlog. Here are the first three months:

December
» Opened up my financial life with my first Net Worth post
» Read two books that greatly affected my investing outlook – A Random Walk Down Wall Street, and The Four Pillars of Investing.
» Picked Vanguard as my Retirement Broker

January
» Chose Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund VTTHX for IRA.
» While thinking about where to park my liquid cash to earn the best interest rates, I discovered online banks with high APRs like Emigrant Direct.
» Stirred up the pot talking about “Good” Credit Card Debt, and How To Play the 0% APR Balance Transfer Game.
[Read more…]