excellent point

It’s open enrollment time for many health insurance plans. And that means you are finding out that premiums, deductibles and co-pays are probably on the rise. In some cases, benefits are shrinking as well. Many new health insurance plans won’t kick in until the new year, though, so that leaves a little more than a [...]

I began investing in single family homes with a good friend and business partner about 4 years ago. In that time, we’ve purchases and remodeled 5 single family homes, all of which are rented by reasonably reliable tenants. Over that time we’ve learned a thing or two about investing in real estate. In this article, [...]

In the credit card world, scam operators are taking money from innocent customers without adding value, misrepresenting claims and simply performing shoddy service. Fortunately, customers have an avenue to complain and the FTC has also taken pretty tough actions. Below are some examples of the actions that the FTC has taken against some shady companies. [...]

As a new parent, I am sure you’re painfully aware of how expensive college is, and will be.  You may wonder how in the world are you going to save that huge sum needed for your child’s college education. This article is design to help you walk through each step — e.g., getting your finances [...]

In this  Ask the M-Network article, PJ shared information about his home and his desire to buy a house that just came on the market. Should he refinance is current home, or sell it to buy the new one? Should he buy the new home and rent out the old one? Here’s the question from [...]

When saving money for college education, you should be aware of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). EFC is how much money your family is expected to contribute to your college education — the lower your EFC, the more financial aid you will receive.
A Brief Note From Plonkee
One of the great things about not having children [...]

About six months ago I entered into a Fantasy Baseball League with a group of personal finance bloggers. I had no idea what I was doing at that point and intended to learn as I go.  However, there were too many things going on in life and I never got into it.  The program picked [...]

News and Highlights

Brip Blap – I’d like to congratulate Steve at Brip Blap. His blog just reach the 1 year anniversary milestone — a fantastic accomplishment.
eFinPLAN — I will announce the winner of 1-year eFinPLAN financial planning software subscription giveaway on July 15th. To enter, please subscribe to my blog via RSS feed or email [...]

Wow, time flies when you are having a great time. I was hoping to share our family vacation story yesterday, but I was busy putting together the Money Hacks Carnival #19 due to a last minute problem with the carnival host. In short, the vacation was excellent considering we have a 2.5 years old and [...]

Following the success of previous Frugal of Cheap Test, I am going to throw another one out there for your enjoyment. I hope that you’ll like this Financial IQ Test as much as the last one and find it somewhat educational as well. Please note that I’ve included a link or two for some questions. [...]