Fiscal Zen - Investing, Personal Finance & Smart Spending

Newest Deals - November 30th

Randy — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:20:34 -0500

Interesting Bits Around The Web - November 28th

Randy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:42:41 -0500

Alpha Consumer suggests three ways to give thanks through charity
Jamie Dlugosch argues that you should buy Lennar before it's too late
Even though most retailers are taking it on the chin, Huffington Post points out that there's strength in Green Retailing
Free Money Finance lists out some dirty jobs that pay well
U.S. News and World Report covers 10 Low-Tax Places to Retire
Looking for a few deals on grocery products? Here are a few grocery deals and coupons from Deal Linker

Stay on Top of the Best Deals with Deal Linker

Randy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:09:42 -0500

I'm pleased to announce that a new bargain aggregator site, Deal Linker, has gone live. Still in beta, Deal Linker makes it easy to keep tabs on the best deals by pulling together data from leading bargain sites and retailers; and then analyzing the collected data and establishing a baseline rating for each deal

Users can view the best deals directly on the home page, or browse them by category or store. In addition, site members can vote for their favorites through the on-site rating system.

If you have a moment, check it out!

Interesting Bits Around The Web - November 26th

Randy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:37:49 -0500

mental_floss talks about the history behind the foods we eat at Thanksgiving
Opera Phantom explains how Professor Max Bazerman convinces his MBA students to buy a $20 bill at well above face value. It’s a really interesting example of loss-aversion
The Amateur Economist offers up some suggested sites to help you with Black Friday
But what will happen if you don’t get the gift you want? WalletPop grades the return policies of the top retailers
Bloomberg points out that stocks are currently at their cheapest value since the Reagan era. But that still doesn’t mean that you should buy
Looking for something fun and free to do during the Thanksgiving holiday? gHacks offers up a list of the best free first-person games

Newest Deals - November 25th

Randy — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:42:29 -0500

Four Sites That Help You Make The Most Out Of Frequent Flyer Points

Randy — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:40:24 -0500

Almost everyone has them: points that have accrued over time from airline travel. However, using them isn’t always easy. Infrequent travelers are sometimes stuck with a handful of points that cannot be redeemed for a full ticket. Or perhaps the airline you use has limited availability of seats, so it’s difficult to use the points that you do have.

Several sites are available that help users make the most of the points that they’ve earned. Each, however, take a different approach and fill a specific type of need. These sites include:

ExpertFlyer.com – Intended for frequent flyers, this subscription service ($4.99 basic, $9.99 premium) allows users to search for awards and upgrades across multiple airlines from one site. In addition, it can alert you when awards and upgrades become available.
Points.com – Provides a single location where you can monitor your accrued points, as well as earn points through various promotions, swap points between programs, or even redeem points for gift certificates. Probably their most interesting feature, however, is a new program called GPX that will enable users to trade points through an exchange.
LoyaltyMatch – Still in beta, LoyaltyMatch enables users to trade points, or convert them to cash or merchandise. Available merchandise includes everything from magazines all the way up to a luxury Porsche driving experience.
Yapta – Currently beta-testing a service that allows users to plan potential trips; and then the service will alert them when award seats come available for fewer points.

Newest Deals - November 24th

Randy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:41:06 -0500

Interesting Bits Around The Web - November 23rd

Randy — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:27:46 -0500

Quick Reminder: If you want to take advantage of the free shipping offered by many websites, order early so you can ensure your shipment arrives before Christmas
Given all of the talk about rampant fraud during the housing bubble, Tech Ticker rightfully asks the question “Why isn’t anyone in jail?”
artofthecoupon.com offers up 10 fun and quirky ways to save money
Famed commodity investor Jim Rogers discusses his perspective on the economic crisis
Timeless Lessons suggests 10 painless ways to escape being squeezed by your plastic
Slate argues that our current financial state is nothing like the great depression

Newest Deals - November 22nd

Randy — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:42:39 -0500

Learn Trading and Have Fun With These Seven Fantasy Investing Sites

Randy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:10:56 -0500

NPR had a segment this morning that talked about the recent surge in popularity of fantasy investing sites. These sites allow you to learn and test your trading acumen by competing against other would-be investors without risking real-money. I’ve talked about Wall Street Survivor in the past, but there are a number of other free simulators, including:

The features of each vary slightly, so it’s best to take a look at them all so you can pick the one that is best for you. If there’s a downside, it’s that you tend to make riskier trades since you know the money isn’t real. However, it’s still a fun way to learn.

Newest Deals - November 21st

Randy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:58:24 -0500

Good News Among the Economic Doom and Gloom

Randy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:54:03 -0500

There’s no doubt about it: the economy is a mess. The job rate continues to rise and it seems like just about everyone is asking for support or a handout from the government. In addition, it seems like 300 and 400 point drops in the Dow are becoming the norm.

It turns out, however, that there is some good news that could end up having a positive implication for the economy at-large:

Ambac (ABK) is a company that insures bonds. Traditionally, they’ve provided bond insurance to municipalities as a way of guaranteeing high ratings for those bonds. Over the past few years, they and their largest competitor, MBIA (MBI) began to insure mortgage debt; and when the market began to tank last year, ABK and MBIA were among the stocks that were hit the hardest…due mostly to the mark-to-market write-downs that they have had to take on mortgage-based assets and the expectation that they’ll have to pay out large sums on the mortgage-base securities that they insured.

This caused a huge problem within the municipal bond industry. Traditionally, the bond insurers have been extremely stable. But they’ve seen their credit-ratings slashed in concert with their write-downs, meaning that it costs municipalities and other organizations that use bond insurance more to borrow and insure their bonds.

But here’s the good news: Ambac announced yesterday that they had reached an agreement to cancel some of those mortgage-based liabilities in exchange for a one-time payment. This will allow Ambac to reverse some of their write-downs and in parallel with that, their credit ratings should also improve. Ultimately, that will have a positive effect on municipalities, as their balance sheets will also strengthen.

And the best part? It’s expected that this transaction is just the beginning. Both banks and the insurers have a vested interest in canceling as much of these liabilities as possible. As this happens, credit markets will improve.

Newest Deals - November 20th

Randy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:21:51 -0500

Wednesday Quickies - November 19th

Randy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:30:52 -0500

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a bit absent from the blog, recently. I’ve been working some heroic hours in order to wrap up a project before Thanksgiving; and am hoping to resume a more regular posting schedule in the near-future. In the meantime, here are a few quickies:

Thanksgiving will cost more this year: According to Forbes, the cost of a typical Thanksgiving dinner will rise by about 5.6%. Even though commodity costs have been falling, producers find themselves in the fortunate position of being able to raise their prices.
Security software providers get some competition: Microsoft has announced that it will offer free anti-malware with every copy of their operating system. In concert with this, Microsoft will also be ending their paid security service, OneCare.
Looking for Gift Ideas this Holiday Season? MakeUseOf.com has compiled a list of 50 tools and resources to help you pick out gifts, cards, and everything else you’ll need this season.
Money Saving Tips for a Turbulent Economy: Bill Sardi over at LewRockwell.com has compiled a list of money saving tips that are all based on the notion that you can save money by buying higher-quality, more durable goods.

Thanks to Chris for the suggestions!

Newest Deals - November 19th

Randy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:04:52 -0500

This Week's Carnival of Personal Finance

Randy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:58:58 -0500

Money Ning hosted this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, which included my recent posting on 12 Fun and Free Entertainment Websites. Among the more interesting articles were:

Chief Family Officer’s holiday shopping tips for the coming season
Fire Finance’s investing article on which stock market indexes to choose
Just Thrive offers up 5 recession-proof ways to get hired
The Happy Rock offers up a tip on how to Get 25% Cashback on eBay Purchases

If you have an opportunity, check them out!

Newest Deals - November 18th

Randy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:27:00 -0500

Interesting Bits Around the Web - November 17th

Randy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:32:31 -0500

Christian PF offers up 6 tips for a debt free christmas
Reuters reports that the mortgage portfolio owned by Bear Sterns is generating cash as expected. This means that the mortgage debt could be worth a lot more than people think, and that the fears of Bear Sterns failure back in March may have been unwarranted.
The Wild Invester points out that when times get tough, people turn to cheap forms of entertainment. Perhaps it’s time to buy Nintendo stock?
Million Dollar Journey lays out 7 financial tips for newlyweds.
And finally, Financial Ramblings offers up a simple tip to help keep your home warm this winter.