My Money Blog

Follow-up: Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 Points = $1,000 Bonus Possible?

Posted on June 21, 2011 // 71 Comments

This is a follow-up on the previously mentioned 50,000 bonus points offer (converts to $625 in travel) for the getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Thanks to readers Paolo and AT, they shared a way to get double those points, even if you've … [Read the rest]

Are Cheap Calories The Reason We’re Unhealthy?

Posted on June 20, 2011 // 30 Comments

Unhealthy food is a lot cheaper than healthy food, on a price-per-calorie basis. This is illustrated in this chart about how many calories you can buy for a dollar from the Lapham's Quarterly magazine, which corresponds to my own research … [Read the rest]

Frugal Gardening Tips for a Small Backyard

Posted on June 17, 2011 // 10 Comments

The following is a guest post from my wife, aka Mrs. MMB. I was whining like a spoiled child about how I needed to write up extra posts for when we're traveling this week, so she kindly offered up her own tips. Jonathan and I love eating … [Read the rest]

Reader Poll: Do You Buy Entertainment Coupon Books?

Posted on June 16, 2011 // 19 Comments

You may have heard of a huge annual coupon book that is known simply as The Entertainment Book. Compiled specifically for your local area, it includes discounts for restaurants, movie tickets, movie attractions, and services like car repair or … [Read the rest]

Credit Sesame: Free Credit Score Based on Experian

Posted on June 15, 2011 // 7 Comments

Another new website, Credit Sesame, now offers you free credit scores and updates based on your Experian credit report. No credit card required, no trial required. This is not a real FICO score, but an estimate of the FICO formula that uses the same … [Read the rest]

Book Review: Keep The Change – A Book About Tipping

Posted on June 14, 2011 // 16 Comments

If you want to start a lively conversation online, just bring up the topic of tipping. Keep The Change is basically a book that interviews the actual workers in the service industry to find how they view gratuities. The author is Steve … [Read the rest]

Two Movie Tickets for $9: Fandango + LivingSocial

Posted on June 9, 2011 // 4 Comments

LivingSocial is offering up two movie tickets from Fandango for $9 today. Thanks to those who alerted me to this; Over 600,000 bought already. Looks like a good way to add new users before their own IPO... Limit 1 purchase per customer only … [Read the rest]

Reader Poll: Do You Subscribe to NetFlix?

Posted on June 9, 2011 // 26 Comments

I'll be honest, I did not see the success of Netflix coming. I thought it was a nice, cute DVD rental business that would probably be bought out by Blockbuster eventually, leaving their founders stupendously rich. But look around today: Blockbuster … [Read the rest]

Debt, Debt, and More Debt

Posted on June 8, 2011 // 15 Comments

After seeing this household debt bubble chart, I've been especially sensitive to news about consumer debt. Here are some recent stats from across the spectrum: Mortgages According to real estate data firm CoreLogic, 22.7% of US homes with a … [Read the rest]

Free 1-Year Subscription to Businessweek Magazine

Posted on June 7, 2011 // 3 Comments

Here's a link offering a free 1-year subscription to BusinessWeek magazine. I'm currently enjoying a free year of this publication from a previous offer, and I do skim it weekly and find some of the investigative articles especially interesting. … [Read the rest]

The Value of Diversification Beyond The S&P 500

Posted on June 6, 2011 // 10 Comments

Scott Burns of Assetbuilder has a new article that shows the benefit of diversifying your portfolio beyond the often-cited S&P 500 index fund that you probably have in your 401(k) plan. During the recent financial crisis, nearly every asset class … [Read the rest]

Loyal3: Easily Invest In Brand Name Company Stocks

Posted on June 3, 2011 // 13 Comments

Ready for the next new investing start-up idea? It's "customer stock ownership plans” from Loyal3. Basically, companies encourage consumers to buy shares of their stock with only three clicks of the mouse, in the hopes that this will ownership … [Read the rest]