personal finance

Hard letting go…

Today I wrote my biggest check I’ve ever written out of my account. I wrote a $2,000 check to my employer to pay for my 2008 ESPP contributions. I know I looked at that check more than 20 times before I put it in the envelope before I mailed it off. Even […]

Two surveys on Christmas spending, Two totally different views

I found this article interesting because it says that Americans are more conscious about their spending during Christmas and many plan to use cash for their purchases. Also 73% of people surveyed plans to have their Christmas debt paid off within 3 months. Well we know people plan a lot of things, they […]

Pulling The Trigger And Letting Go

Over the past few weeks I’ve felt like I need to liquidate some of my holdings and have some more cash for now.  I’ve struggled trying to figure which of company I wanted to pull the trigger on and let go.

Middleby - this was my largest gainer… well only gainer with over 22% gain in […]

Financial Checklist for Your 20’s

Here is a financial checklist I found by Kiplinger.com I thought you might find helpful. Most are common sense, but it’s always good to be reminded of things.
1) Identify Your Goals
2) Get out of Debt
-Pay off everything by the time your 30
3) Prepare for an emergency
-Get auto, health, life, and homeowners insurance
-Have a cash […]

Ten Tips for Shopping and Banking Online

 
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Sharebuilder bought out by ING Direct

Monday I got an e-mail from Sharebuilder telling me that they were bought out by ING Direct. I don’t think its a bad thing as long as things don’t change because I haven’t had a problem with Sharebuilder so far in the over 2 years I’ve been with them. I actually hope that […]

Tipping for the Holidays

When I first started this blog I did a post on tipping and how out of hand it has become in todays society. Unfortunately I accidently deleted that post when making changes to my blog during the summer. So I’ll restate some of my feelings on tipping again with a video on tipping […]

Christmas Bonus Time

Today I received my paycheck a week early along with a $750 Christmas bonus (more like $500 after taxes were taken out).  It’s good to get the money early for shopping, but now I don’t get paid for 3 weeks.  It’s just psychological because I’m getting next weeks paycheck early, but 3 weeks seems like […]

Doesn’t look like Friday will be a good day for my portfolio…

I checked on one of my holdings after closing and I saw where Coldwater Creek has fallen about 16% in after hours trading.   I’ll be getting my ESPP statement next week. I’ll be posting my numbers from that.  Also I’m trying to save up $2k to pay for my ESPP in one lump sum for […]

Ever heard of…

Allied Capital Corporation (NYSE: ALD)?  I’ve been looking for new places to put some of my money once I get out of my current holdings.  I’m looking for a somewhat more permanent home that pays dividends.  I want to start in January setting about half of my left over money into dividend paying companies and […]