Personal Finance

Using Mint.com to cut through the financial static

photo credit: ArtemFinland As the year comes to a close, it is always nice to take a look at the finances. Although I love tracking our finances using Microsoft Money, the level of detail doesn’t always provide a clear look at the underlying picture. For example, our net worth is approximately the same as last year, but this is due to losses in our retirement accounts, which I am not overly concerned about. Since we are in our early 30′s, we make regular contributions and reallocate our holdings twice a year. It’s pretty much on auto-pilot. But what about...

Spending quality holiday time with family – fun and frugal ideas

photo credit: naviniea Christmas is going to be so much fun this year. Our little one is almost 3 years old, and he’s going nuts with all the Christmas lights around town. He’s been asking about a “Kees-mas tee” all week long, and today is the big day! Since all of our Christmas shopping is done, it’s going to be a very relaxing holiday season. Here are some of the things we plan on doing as a family this year. Some do cost money, but we feel they are well worth it! 1. Cut your own Christmas tree –...

photo credit: Fosforix There have been a couple of times where I have disputed credit card charges in the past, but they were relatively straightforward. Once, I was charged twice for the same item, and could not contact the company via customer service. I contacted the credit card company, and it was taken care of almost immediately. The second time, I was charged 10 times the correct price, and had the original receipt. Again, the process was relatively straightforward. Once a year, I tend to make small charges to all of our cards in order to keep them active. ...

I just finished the fun Christmas shopping

As you may know from some previous posts, we have a $250 self-imposed budget for Christmas this year. We had a budget left of $227, and I have definitely made a dent in it. Here’s the breakdown: $41 – the Christmas shopping for all of our little friends. We have three little ones that are like family to us, and I combined this with two birthday gifts for kids (the total order was $69) to get free shipping. All of the gifts are made from sustainable wood and are earth-friendly. I had budgeted $15/kid for Christmas, so I came...

Our mortgage company sent us a check for $180

In addition to getting an e-mail today letting me know that my credit limit increased on one of my credit cards (I thought things like this weren’t supposed to happen anymore?), we got a check from our mortgage company today for $180. Our escrow account was a little too high (hence the check). In addition, our payment amount is going to decrease by roughly $25 per month. We already overpay slightly on our mortgage (we just round it up to the nearest $50, so we pay an extra $48 per month), and we intend to keep making the same...

Woodburning skills lead to frugal Christmas gift!

My husband has been a casual woodburner crafter ever since we met. He’s not a master artisan, but he has made some really great plaques and gifts for friends and family over the years. I’ve mentioned in a previous post how craft stores can be great resources for gifts. I was in our local craft store today with my 50% coupon and was looking for something for the in-laws for Christmas. I found a cute picture frame that lends itself to woodburning (there is a picture of it here), and it came to $3 with my coupon. I’ll try...

Keeping our heads up in today’s economy

Everything seems to be in the crapper. With election politics heating up (and not necessarily in a good way), an economic bailout that I am pretty sure no one has a real clue about, and the American dream becoming less achievable for many, things seem to be “not so great”. Or is it? I think that perhaps we’re really at a turning point — a sort of reality check where those that have not been realistic about what they cannot afford need to come to terms with the consequences. While this is happening at a personal level, I am...

Get $10 when you sign up for Ebates

With the holidays approaching, I’ve been on the prowl for some good deals. Although I try to make most of my purchases with gift cards, I do like using ShopDiscover (when you make the purchase with your Discover Card, you get cash back), UPromise, and Ebates. The basic idea with all of these sites is that you shop online through their affiliate link and earn money back. It’s great when you’re making a large purchase, and even small purchases add up over time. Anyhow, I just received an e-mail from Ebates – if you use this link you can...

Last day to sign up for free TransUnion credit monitoring

TransUnion is offering free credit monitoring as part of the settlement in a class-action lawsuit, since they violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and sold consumers personal and financial information to marketers. Good stuff! According to the site: “The Settlement Class is defined as: All consumers who had an open credit account or an open line of credit from a credit grantor located in the United States at any time during the period January 1, 1987 to May 28, 2008.” This pretty much means that any adult is eligible! Today (9/24/08) is the last day to sign up at...

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Money, Love, and Change

Personal Finance

Using Mint.com to cut through the financial static

Spending quality holiday time with family – fun and frugal ideas

Disputing credit card charges

I just finished the fun Christmas shopping

Our mortgage company sent us a check for $180

Woodburning skills lead to frugal Christmas gift!

Keeping our heads up in today’s economy

Get $10 when you sign up for Ebates

Last day to sign up for free TransUnion credit monitoring

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