People often debate the merits of one credit care versus another, as though certain cards have what even seems like a virtue at first glance! But is that really true? Credit cards are something of a financial iceberg—the part you can see looks almost benign—and sometimes even pleasant–but the part you don’t see is where most of the costs are hiding. And those hidden costs are buried in places we don’t often look.
Financial Blogger Conference 2011 – Meeting the PF Blogger World and More
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I woke up at the crack of dawn, if you can call stumbling out of bed, cursing the alarm waking up. Strike that, it was about an hour before dawn. At best I had four hours of sleep. I had an hour to get up, shower, and finish putting my stuff together before I hopped a cab to catch my flight to the inaugural Financial Blogger Conference. Sleep be damned, I was excited!
With complete coincidence, this article is publishing on what is my fourth anniversary, blogging with Free From Broke. Four years is like, I don’t know what that’s like in blog years! There was no iPhone or iPad when I started, that’s one thing.
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How to Prove Your Usefulness, Keep Your Job, and Maybe Even Get Ahead: Be Indispensable
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One of the lessons many learned from the recent economic troubles is that almost no one is indispensable. You never know when your job could be on the chopping block. You can, however, decrease the chance that you will be the one laid off when these decisions are made. The key is showing that you are valuable — and possibly indispensable.
Here are some ways that by being indispensable you can prove your usefulness, keep your job, and maybe even get ahead:
Cheap, Inexpensive, and Frugal Halloween Costume Buying Tips
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Halloween is great fun! I remember how exciting it was going around town in my Halloween costume
Do you remember those old Halloween costumes? You know the ones that came in a box and it was made up of a thin plastic mask with eye holes that hurt and it was held onto your head with an elastic piece that usually didn’t last the night and the body of the costume was a plastic sack-like piece you climbed into which also didn’t make it through the night? Those were great! I remember one year I was Chewbacca and another I was Yoda ( I remember terrorizing my younger sister with those masks too; I was such a stinker!). I’m sure I was Superman and Batman as well.
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Citi® Dividend World MasterCard® – $300 Cash Back | Review
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Are you looking for a cash back card that can give you up to 5% back on your purchases? CitiBank has a limited time offer on their Citi Dividend World MasterCard that can earn you $300 cash back in three months as well as 5% on rotating categories. Let’s review the Citi Dividend World MasterCard and see what else is in store for you when you sign up.
Save Money: Attend Community College First
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The cost of college is skyrocketing. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average price for public tuition, room and board during the 2009-2010 school year at a four year institution was $12,804. For private institutions, it averaged a staggering $32,184. As government funding has changed to loan-based aid, rather than grant-based aid, many students are easily left with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt when they graduate. If they find a job, which can be difficult in the current economy, they may only make $30,000 a year right out of college.
However, some students have made the choice to put off attending a four year institution and instead begin their college careers at a community college. Continue Reading
What is a Solopreneur?
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Solopreneur is a word that applies to many people and yet they don’t know it.
“What is a solopreneur,” you might ask?
Simply stated, a solopreneur is an entrepreneur who works solo; and this makes perfect sense. Now just because the word solo is in there doesn’t mean to think small – always think big.
Thanks to the online marketplace there has been an explosion of solopreneurs. Operating a business from the privacy and comfort of home appeals to thousands of people and the Internet helps to facilitate this goal. Depending on the type of business, not only is this simple to do but very little capital is required to get things off the ground. Continue Reading
Buying Physical Gold: The Basics
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Economic turmoil has many concerned about the future — including the future of the dollar.
All of the talk about another round of quantitative easing has some worried that hyper-inflation is right around the corner. Since gold is seen as a hedge against inflation, it isn’t surprising that some feel that physical gold is a protection against the problems that can come when the Fed is pumping trillions of dollars of created money into the economy.
Others are just worried that the economy is on verge of complete collapse, and that physical gold might be the best currency available if the entire economy falls to pieces.
But before you jump on the gold bandwagon, it’s important to understand some of the basics of investing in physical gold.
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Federal Reserve’s Operation Twist and Links
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This week the Federal Reserve went back to the playbook and pulled out a trick that is 50 years old.
They called it Operation Twist. In Federal Reserve terms, the twist is selling off some short term debts it is holding in order to buy long term Treasuries. The goal is to bring down long term interest rates in hopes of spurring home purchasing. A side effect of the twist is there is pressure on banks to make money through lending as the long term debt rate becomes very close to short term rates. This makes it difficult for banks to borrow short term money to finance long term debt at a higher rate. Whether or not Operation Twist will have a positive impact on the economy is yet to be seen.
Whether or not Operation Twist impacts you, you need to stay on your personal finances. These articles will help you do that:
Budgeting for Christmas Shopping Before it’s too Late
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Yes, it is only just Fall and the leaves are barely starting to change color but before any of us realize it, the snow will be on the ground and Jingle Bells will be playing at the mall (OK, the holiday music will start once Halloween is over).
Budgeting for Christmas shopping now may sound like a chore but it can be the life line you need to avert debt.
Typically when a person goes Christmas shopping and there is no budget, then this gives the illusion of having no limits – and no limits often leads to January credit card bills that hurt.
Designing a budget helps you to avoid that steep downhill in January; and this helps to keep the happiness of the Christmas holidays lasting well into the new year.
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