Ok, I’ll admit it, I made that word up. Well, at least as it would be a name instead of an action/habit.  It occurred to me while watching an episode of Wife Swap on Friday evening.  You’ve seen it, or a show like it, I’m sure.  They take the wives from two families and then [...]

It’s officially official.  We’re in a recession.  And it started almost a year ago. Way back in December of 2007 in fact.  But how much of the recession is in current perception? How would you or I know that we were in a recession?  Well, most likely, we’d learn by being told.  Of course, it’s [...]

Did you know that you can scan a barcode at a store, run it through a program on your phone, and have it tell you whether the item is at a good price or not?  There are apps available for both the Apple iPhone and the G1 that allow just that. These apps allow consumers [...]

If you’re tired of the commercial ties that have been bound to the holiday season, perhaps it’s time you make use of a new site out there called “No Christmas Gifts This Year”.  It’s a quick and easy site that gives you the ability to send a e-card to a friend or relative stating your [...]

What’s a Winter Financial Checkup, you ask? Winter, and more specifically, the time around the holidays is when most people have the most problems with their finances.  Gift purchases throw off their budgets.  Bonuses give them a unexpected bit of cash and they spend more than they expected. Whatever the case may be, your financial [...]

ING Direct is pushing their Electric Orange Checking Accounts this month and you could be the recipient of a nice $20 bonus.  And it’s pretty simple to do too! If you have an Electric Orange checking account, you’re already enrolled.  You then only need to use your EO debit card to make at least 5 [...]

In every purchase we make, we should ask ourselves how much is it worth to me?  It’s a very simple question, but in many cases, the answer may surprise you.  And it applies to much more than items. Let’s try a few examples. I’ve been keeping my eye on LCD HD receiver televisions.  With the [...]

Up until now, we’ve all heard about the various ramifications of one Presidential candidate over the other.  We’ve heard about what differences will be made to the tax system and how it will affect you.  And sometime after midnight tonight, we’ll know which set of changes might take effect. So, now what?  Regardless of who [...]

If you’re a customer of ING Direct, you’ve likely received an email about this, but for those of you who aren’t or haven’t, I thought I’d share it.  They’ve put together a Declaration of Financial Independence that they suggest we read and, if we like, sign on.  It’s a pretty good document really. 1. We [...]

With all the major online banks lowering the rates on their online savings accounts, there are still a few that have pretty good yields.  Shorebank Direct is one that I hadn’t heard of. It looks like they started offering an online savings account in the latter part of 2007 and from what I can tell [...]