Archive for the ‘Finances’ Category

Blog Feature: Len Penzo dot com


06 Oct

I should have featured LenPenzo.com a long time ago. Not because I have been reading him for a long time, but because I should have been reading Len for much longer than I have been- if for no other reason than that he does a weekly 100 Words On post (there are other reasons). That is right- he uses this format, too.

I had a chance to meet Len at FinCon, and he is a great guy. Unsurprising that he has a great blog and makes use of a fabulous concept. This week’s 100 words was on avoiding burn out.

Your Money Friday: Company Charity Drives


05 Oct

It’s that time of year again, the time when charities really ramp up their efforts to get people to donate. For some people, it’s not enough just to know which charities they personally support and are willing to give money to- their companies also have charities they partner with. And those companies sometimes push donations, setting high company wide participation goals.

So how do you decide where you charitable dollars go? If you don’t donate to your company’s chosen charity, do you think it might hurt your chances of career advancement? Should companies ever even ask their employees to donate?

Your Money Friday: Money Lessons from Pets


28 Sep

To go along with yesterday’s post about craziness at work, that also means that I have not had time to really read or take part in any threads over on the Your Money message boards this week. Still, I want to maintain the Your Money Friday focus, so I am instead highlighting this article from Liz Weston about Money Lessons from our Pets.

It’s about the simple stuff- discipline, the ability to do nothing, how powerful compounding is (with bunnies and money) and more.

Our pets can teach us a lot, as long as we have the patience to learn.

Living in the Land of Spreadsheets


27 Sep

In case you haven’t guessed by the fact that yesterday and today’s posts have come at night, it’s been a crazy couple of days at work. I left work Tuesday night thinking our department was under budget and arrived Wednesday morning to an email from our VP asking us to cut over $XXXk. As the person with access to all the different budgets in our department, I’ve spent the last two days putting budget documents together and meeting with the members of the management team, in order to help them come up with a plan to meet the budget gap.

Blog Feature: @AffordAnything


22 Sep

Paula of Afford Anything gave one of my favorite talks at FinCon12, earning her her spot as this week’s Blog Feature.

Since C really wants us to own rental property someday, I find this post on how the costs of renovating one of her rental units spun out of control really valuable. And also how even a fairly experienced landlord can have a hard time figuring out what to price a unit at.

The place looks great and she has a tenant, which in my mind is a win-win scenario, especially if she can increase the rent in one year.

Your Money Friday: Help an Inventor Out


21 Sep

Everyone knows how much I love the new crowdfunding craze. In fact, I can’t wait until we actually get to really invest in some of these products and ideas instead of just donating for prizes. Because of that fascination, this week’s Your Money thread gives us a different look at the crowdfunding game, that of the inventor (vs the investor). The poster has an invention up on the indiegogo site and is trying to get funding, but so far, no one’s really bitten. By asking the message board their opinions, he is actually crowdsourcing his crowdfunding pitch. I love it.

Your Money Friday: Coming Home For College


14 Sep

With the college school year having just started or about to start, here’s you question of the week. Is it okay for a kid who went away to college to decide they want to come back home after only one semester or one year? Plenty of people return to their hometowns after college. Is 4 years “away” really that important? And if it is, what about those kids that don’t leave for college- the ones that stay local and do not move until after graduation, or the people who never live outside their hometowns? Do they never actually grow up?

Crowdsourcing Medical Care


12 Sep

If you’re a regular here, you know I’m a huge fan of crowd source funding. I like it for creating new projects at Kickstarter. I like it for making loans at Prosper. I like it for a charitable combination of the two at Kiva. And now I like it for donating to help those in developing countries get the lifesaving/improving healthcare they need through the new charity, Watsi.

Watsi is embracing the power of the good in people. It allows those who can to help pay for medical care for those who would otherwise have no chance of getting treatment.

The Space Elevator


11 Sep

I recently linked to the 16 Kickstarter projects that could destroy civilization. One of those projects was the re-birth of the Space Elevator. Michael Laine of LiftPort Group was looking for $8,000. He got $70,000.

Believe it or not, this is a problem. While $70,000 is a lot of money, it’s really nothing when it comes to the costs of building technology needed for a lift system that one day will carry things into space. He’s hoping the backing of 2,300 ordinary people will impress angel investors enough to convince them to give him the kind of money he needs.

Blog Feature: PT Money


08 Sep

This weekend I am in Denverfor FinCon12, the annual conference for financial bloggers. You can bet I’m having a great time hanging out with a number of the bloggers I have gotten to know over the last not quite 2 years. But as a blog feature, I feel it is only fair this week to highlight PT Money, the blog of the host founder of FinCon, Philip Taylor. The site is filled with practical advice, written by Philip and his contributors. I love this recent guest post 5 Financial Moves to Make Immediately After You Get a New Job.

100 Words On

topics explored in exactly 100 words