Single Step Personal Finance Challenge
July 18, 2008 :: Money :: 7 Comments
On Monday, Mrs. Micah wrote about Single Step Personal Finance Challenge and I thought that it was a fantastic idea. Many times, we look at the big picture and find it so overwhelming that we don’t do what we should. For example, running a marathon is out of reach for many of us — it’s certainly is for me. But I could certainly jog one mile a day for 26 days to cover the same distance.
Photo by vu bui via flickr
This concept is no different in personal finance. I mentioned this in my snowflaking post the other day: If you find the whole concept of financial planning too overwhelming, just commit to learn and apply one concept at a time. If you are looking for a place to start, here are 88 financial concepts that you can explore. Just go through the list one at a time and eventually you’ll learn all of them.
What about my single step?
I wrote about estate planning in the past, but I haven’t committed myself to sit down and do it yet. I have my copy of Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit sitting on my desk for a long time now. So my single step is to go through the program and finish my estate planning…I’ll shoot for within 2 weeks.
Update: Okay, I haven’t look at it so long that I can’t find the CD. The good thing is the program still work without it. Darn.
Here are other bloggers’ single step:
- Reasons to Write a Last Will and Testament at The Wisdom Journal
- Mrs. Micah’s Single Step Personal Finance Challenge at The Dangling Conversation
- Single Step Personal Finance Challenge - Pay Off Remaining Medical Debt at My Two Dollars
- Personal finance challenge at We Like Money
- My single step personal finance challenge at Gather Little By Little
- Organize Your Finances: Take Just One Step at Prime Time Money
- House insurance challenge at Plonkee Money
- First Step Personal Finance Challenge: Budget My Last Paychecks at Green Panda Treehouse
Are you willing to do just one thing to improve your finances? If yes, join the movement and share your single step with us.
Carnival of Snowflaking #10 — Everything Is A Snowflake
July 17, 2008 :: Miscellaneous :: 4 Comments
Welcome to the 10th edition of the Carnival of Snowflaking. If you’re not familiar with the term snowflaking, here’s the definition:
Snowflaking is the concept of using small amounts of savings or earnings above and beyond our normal budget to meet our financial goals. A spinoff of the Ramsey Snowball concept, this can be used for debt reduction but it also goes beyond debt to savings, investing, and more.
Editor’s Picks
This carnival editor’s picks consist of three articles that truly embodied the spirit of snowflaking:
- The Opposite of Snowflaking? posted at Uncommon Cents — Snowflaking works with both directions. If you practice snowflaking with your income, be sure to look at your expenses to see where the leaks are.
- Melting Snowflakes? posted at Dreaming of Ferraris — Snowflaking takes discipline and if you don’t take care of your snowflakes…they melt.
- Ebates Reward Equals Extra Credit Card Payment posted at The Family CEO — A demonstration of snowflaking in action…every little bits help.
Other Submissions
There are other submissions that aren’t quite snowflaking-related, but they are good financial posts.
Credit and Debt
An example of snowflaking as it relates to debt is when you put all your extra money from various sources to debt payment.
- Is Debt Just A Fact Of Life For The Current Generation? posted at Debt Smackdown.
- How to Avoid Debt With Good Budgeting posted at Becoming Debt Free.
- 5 Credit Card Fees You Probably Didn’t Know About posted at Bankaholic.
- The Right Debt Management Solution – How It Can Help You Succeed Financially posted at Debt Free.
Financial Planning
An example of snowflaking as it relates to financial planning is when you find the whole concept of financial planning too overwhelming, but commit yourself to learning and doing it little by little
- Paying off loans or retirement savings posted at Christian Personal Finance.
- Teach Your Kids Basic Finance and Economics with Monopoly - 11 Valuable Lessons posted at The Personal Financier.
- Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.
- The actions I took that created my financial peak posted at fabulous finances.
Investing
There are many examples of snowflaking as it relates to investing. The easiest example is when you regularly add money to your investment and ended up with a large sum of money in the end.
- How To Be A High Yield Savings Interest Rate Chaser posted at Money Blue Book.
- I’m Betting Against Oil posted at Free Stock Market Investing Tips — Is oil another irrational exuberance? May be it’s time to go against the grain and bet against oil.
- Property Flipping Re-Energized? posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog.
- I’d Be The Growlingest Bear on the Internet If Only I Were a Bear posted at The Shark Investor.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Carnival of Snowflaking. If you are interested in past editions, or if you’d like to be a host, please visit the Carnival of Snowflaking home page.
eFinPlan Free Trial, Freebies, and Special Offers
July 16, 2008 :: Money :: 7 Comments
To kick off the second year of Moolanomy, I have compiled a list of 7 special offers. I believe that each one of you will find at least one offer that is useful. Please take a minute to review these offers and sign up for the ones that are beneficial for you.
1. eFinPLAN, 7-Day Free Trial
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working with Kent Irwin of eFinPLAN. I am happy to announce that Moolanomy’s readers are eligible for a 7-day free trial offer on top of the 10% discount and 30-day money back guarantee.
To get your 7-day free trial:
- Visit the site using this eFinPLAN link
- Scroll down about a page and click on the “Sign Up Now” link
- Enter your information and the coupon code moola1 (for the free trial plus a 10% discount)
I encourage everyone to give this a try, but be sure you can dedicate at least a few hours to answer the comprehensive financial planning interview questions. After the interview, you’ll be able to access a PDF report made specifically for you. Trust me, it’s worth the effort to get this free report.
If you find this program useful, please subscribe to it.
Note: Your credit card won’t be charged during the first 7 days. If you’re unsatisfied, you need to notify eFinPLAN to stop your card from being charged.
2. RevResponse, Free Trade Publications
Last month, I shared with you how to get free business and finance magazines. In case you missed that announcement, the opportunity to get these free trade publications is still open. To get your free magazines:
- Use this Free Magazines link to see the magazines
- Select on the publication(s) you are interested in
- Answer a few short survey questions
You’ll receive the magazine(s) upon qualification. You can apply for as many magazines as you want, and from any industry (doesn’t have to be just business/finance).
Thousands of people already qualified for their free magazines thanks to the folks at RevResponse, so be sure to spend a few minutes to get yours today. Here are a few recommendations:
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Provides the need-to-know information and inspiration that success-driven leaders can’t get anywhere else… |
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Is a global weekly magazine written and edited for readers who share an uncommon interest in being well and broadly informed… |
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The essential technology information source for builders of e-business… |
3. MyFICO, 20% off all 3 FICO credit scores
You can get free credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com; however, you can’t get your credit score through them. For a limited time, get 20% off FICO Credit Complete — that’s all 3 FICO scores for just $38.28 (normally $47.85).
Use this special 20% off all 3 FICO credit scores link and enter promo code Summer20 when you order to receive the discount. You know the importance of your FICO score, so apply today. Offer ends July 31, 2008.
4. LifeLock, 10% discount
If you are interested in taking identity theft protection to the next level, simply use this LifeLock link to get your 10% discount.
5. Ebates, Earn $5 sign up bonus
If you like to shop online, I highly recommend using Ebates. When you sign up through my Ebates link, you automatically earn a $5 sign up bonus and earn up to 25% cashback bonuses on all your online purchases with affiliated merchants.
I already earned over $100 of cashback through Ebates, and you don’t have to pay anything. So sign up today and get your money.
6. Chase, Earn $50 sign up bonus
If you’re looking for a good reward card, Chase Freedom(SM) Credit Card is offering $50 cash back after first purchase and 3% cashback on your top 3 spending categories.
I know some of you do not believe in using credit cards, but I feel that they are an important part of wealth optimization. If you do use credit cards, please check out the Chase Freedom(SM) Credit Card.
7. Zecco, Free Stock Trades
Zecco is offering up to 10 stock trade at $0 per month if you maintain a minimum balance of $2,500. Personally, I am no longer into trading individual stocks, preferring to build globally diversified portfolio of low-cost passively managed funds. However, this is a great deal if you do trade stocks frequently.
Well, I hope you can find at least one of these offers useful. If you are aware of other offers, please feel free to share them below.
