Penny For My Thoughts

Non-salary income for week ending 9/5

hedy — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:36:48 +0000

Well, it’s a little late, but here are my weekly earnings for the weekending on 9/5. For those of you who are new to this, every week I tally up the non-salary money I have earned the previous week.
Sunshine Rewards-$12.07
Blogging-$42.50
Homepage friends-$1.85 (approximately, as it’s in pounds)

Personal loan

hedy — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:52:17 +0000

Let’s say you’ve recently moved on to a new stage of life, and need some fundage to get your new lifestyle up and running. For example, let us say that you moved to a new city and you need money for a security deposit for an apartment. A better option than getting a cash advance on your credit card can be an Unsecured Personal Loans. Personal loans can be a great option because it enables you to get assistance even if your credit history is bad or non-existent. The process to apply is fairly easy, so it’s a good option to look into if you are considering it.

Net Worth as of 9/1/08

hedy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:42:52 +0000

Assets

ING-$11,994.14

Roth- $6231.79

SIP-$419.20

Emigrant-$5259.46

401K-$2678.7

Total Assets-$26,583.29

Debts

Federal Student Loan-$12,510.20

Car-$4145.54

Total Debts: $16,655.74

Net worth $9,927.55

I’m happy this month because my net worth has gone up since last month, plus compared to this time last year my Networth is up about $11,000.

Putting my money where my mouth is

hedy — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:33:25 +0000

So my sunglasses from Zenni Optical finally arrived. I don’t want to say I was doubting their quality, but when a pair of glasses is $20 including shipping, ones curiosity is piqued. I was very please with the quality, and they came with a case and cleaning cloth. I will definitely be a repeat customer.

Wednesday Wrap-up-The Sixth

hedy — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:20:46 +0000

Back from the dead-it’s Wednesday Wrap up the sixth! Once again, I bring you posts on the personal finance blogosphere that I find noteworthy.

The Simple Dollar blogs about how finance issues often seem more complex then they should

Single Ma blogs about expectations for her teenager now that she is 16

Revache blogs about finding appropriate pants I’m finding myself going hmm…my work wardrobe looks weary, oh right, because it’s two years old.

Debt consolidation

hedy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:59:39 +0000

Fellow Millenials, you may have noticed that we have picked up another charming nickname-Generation Debt. Yes, we millenials seem to be notorious for racking up debt. If you find yourself looking at your credit card, student loan, personal loans and auto loans and are feeling a little overwhelmed, you might want to think about a way to consolidate your debt. There are several options to consolidate your debt, including a consolidation loan or a credit card on which you consolidate all debt. The bonuses of choosing to consolidate debt include only having one bill to pay (rather than many), not having creditors harass you, and potentially getting a lower interest rate. Of the options to consolidate debt, I think that a consolidation loan is the best option for consolidating debt. It’s easy to apply for, and the terms are clearer than with a credit card. These days, the poor economy is one everyone’s mind. What better insurance to get to weather out this poor economy than all of your bills nestled together in one fixed annual percentage rate for a set amount of time on one bill? I think that a consolidation loan is just what someone may need for these tough times.

And this is why you check your bank accounts

hedy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:36:36 +0000

I’m gathering the data for another scintillating Net Worth post so I was over at my credit union’s website looking at my car loan. Last month I sent them two payments-my usual payment and a principal-only payment (marked as such). I generally make two payments each month (and they are SO MUCH easier to deal with regarding that than Nissan finance), and my principal payment is applied to the loan’s principal. However, $.52 of my loan payment was applied to interest. I do not know if this was because I sent my principal payment a day after my other payment, but I e-mailed them to see what is going on.

Bloggers-need domain help?

hedy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:26:39 +0000

Personal finance (and other) bloggers? Are you toying with the idea of getting your own url for your blog? Are you unsure of what web hosting service to use? Need more information? Check out the hosting rating information that is available at webhostingrating.com. They have all the information you could need on hosting companies. They even have a whole section on best blog hosting, to make it even easier for you. Their site is very clear, and easy to both navigate and use. They have a great article on how to choose a domain name and information on reselling domain names.

How to: save Money on a Walt Disney World Vacation

hedy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:12:06 +0000

So you’ve seen that ad with the parents at the computer one too many times. Maybe you just want to know if there’s an easier way to do things. These recommendations will be based upon staying on Disney Property, as that is where my experience lies.

Pick your time of year carefully. The product of a school teacher who loathes heat, my first few trips to Disney as a kid were during what Disney dubs”peak season”-peak for crowds, and prices. My last peak season trip was in March of 06-I paid more for my room then than I have in either of my previous trips.

Know your discounts-the most readily available are AAA room-only discounts (which you don’t need to book through AAA for, you can get them by calling Disney). Other room discounts include Annual Passholder (AP) rates, free dining, and other package discounts at certain times of the year. To keep appraised of package discounts as they come out, I recommend keeping an eye on a Walt Disney World message board. Disboards.com is my message board of choice, but there are other ones out there.

Weigh your options regarding tickets. Look at a ticket price chart like All Ears’-do you want the option to go to more than one park (Park Hop), do you want the option to go to waterpark or Disney Quest?

When you stay on-site at a Walt Disney World resort, you can take their free shuttle, Disney’s Magical Express, to and from the airport

Consider the Disney Dining plan. It’s never fit into my plans, but I know a lot of people love it

If not on the dining plan, do some research into meal costs and advance dining reservations (ADR’s). I like sit down meals, so for economy reasons I eat lunch as my sit down meal, and have counter service for dinner (it’s slightly cheaper that way)

Think about getting a Disney Visa card, not only can 1% of everything you charge be converted into Disney dollars but you can access promotional codes before other guests

Some use a Disney specialist travel agency to keep track of discounts for them

Think about joining a rewards program such as Sunshine Rewards for extra Disney money-there are Sunshine Rewards’ members who have paid for entire vacations with their earnings

Cheap junior clothing!

hedy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:20:33 +0000

It’s Labor Day, so it seems like everyone is going crazy back to school shopping. For those of you back to school shopping for Junior-sized females, check out Get Heavenly’s selection of cheap clothing. Every item in their store is $17.95 or less, and they have some really cute stuff! I feel the need to point out that their cheap is cheap inexpensive, not cheap as in poor quality. This top is cute, and has the bonus of not being too low cut-great if you have a tween in the house . They also have a great selection of layering tanks like this one (and it’s only $6.95!). Heavenly couture also carries dressier stuff, like this skirt . So while you’re back to school shopping, check out Heavenly Couture for Discount Clothing. They have free standard shipping on orders over $75, and are currently featuring a timely Back to School discount of up to 10%.