My Money Blog

Save Towards House Down Payment or Retirement?

Posted on August 6, 2006 // 42 Comments

If you know you need a big house downpayment in a year for a $500,000 house, do you: A) Totally minimize your retirement contributions (just get your 401k match if any), and save everything else towards that downpayment, knowing at best you'll get … [Read the rest]

Converting From Movable Type 3.1x to WordPress 2.0

Posted on August 5, 2006 // 24 Comments

I am in the process of migrating this blog from Movable Type to Wordpress. If you see any errors or missing pages, please leave a comment. Thanks! The rest of this entry is not money related. … [Read the rest]

August 2006 Retirement Portfolio / Cash Snapshot

Posted on August 4, 2006 // 18 Comments

Here is another snapshot of my retirement portfolio as of market close 8/3. I haven't bought or sold any funds since my last update. I hope to use this data later to better track my overall investment returns. … [Read the rest]

Free Home Valuation and How To Do Your Own Comps

Posted on August 3, 2006 // 13 Comments

The house search continues as we try to see how much our parents' house is really worth and if we can afford to live near them. Besides Zillow.com, I also like the home valuation tool from HomeGain, where you can get a real estimate from a local real … [Read the rest]

Why I Use Yodlee Account Aggregation

Posted on August 3, 2006 // 53 Comments

As I've mentioned before, I use Yodlee, an account aggregation service, to track all my numerous accounts on a daily basis. You give them all the logins and passwords of your individual financial accounts, and it logs into all the sites for you. In … [Read the rest]

August 2006 Financial Status / Net Worth Update

Posted on August 2, 2006 // 18 Comments

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Carnival of Investing

Posted on August 1, 2006 // Leave a Comment

This week's Carnival of Investing is up at 1stmillionat33. For more information on participating and the hosting schedule, please check out the main Carnival of Investing page. I'm going to line up more hosts this week, so please let me know if … [Read the rest]

Creating A Virtual Office For Cheap or Even Free

Posted on July 30, 2006 // 46 Comments

If you're starting a side business, you probably don't have the budget for a secretary, commercial office space, or all the usual business amenities. But you can still project a professional image by using these cheap and even free services to … [Read the rest]

Emigrant Direct Website Information Updates

Posted on July 28, 2006 // 17 Comments

Emigrant Direct's rate is now up to 5.15% APY, as promised. Hurray competition! The old account numbers do work. I just sent a deposit and debit through Capital One 360, which was linked using the old account number, and it worked just fine … [Read the rest]

Finding A Good HSA Administrator

Posted on July 26, 2006 // 44 Comments

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be a great way for people to save money on health insurance, especially if you are young and healthy. I looked at compatible high-deductible plans last year but missed some deadlines, and need to start again. I … [Read the rest]

Request For Questions About 0% Balance Transfers

Posted on July 25, 2006 // 1 Comment

I have been doing 0% balance transfers for a while now, but my original three-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) about how to do them is getting a bit dated. I have also made several follow-up posts to it (like how to get a check directly and tips … [Read the rest]

Carnivals

Posted on July 25, 2006 // Leave a Comment

This week's Carnival of Investing is up at Stock Market Beat. For more information on participating and hosting schedule, please check out the main Carnival of Investing page. My Money Blog also participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance at … [Read the rest]