Every smart llama needs a financial plan. To put that plan into place, you need to have some core principals relating to money - principals that you stick to no matter what. Or, at least do your best to stick to. Sometimes real life emergencies and situations come up to throw our plans off. But [...]
Popularity: 20% [?]
Recession. Mortgage crisis. Subprime meltdown. Credit crunch. Falling dollar. Stock market crash. Inflation.
If you’ve turned on the TV or opened a newspaper this year, then you’ve been bombarded with these terms. The media is all over these terms, and they’re playing it up as they are prone to do. Granted, we do have some serious [...]
Popularity: 22% [?]
I’ve been writing Llama Money for three full months now - since November 1, 2007. In that time I think I’ve written up some pretty good posts. I’ve certainly laid everything on the line with regards to my financial picture - my net worth updates each month are quite detailed.
My readers, however, seem to [...]
Popularity: 22% [?]
Many employers these days offer something called a Flexible Spending Account, or FSA for short. What this basically does is allow you to set aside money for healthcare expenses, in a pre-tax manner. Meaning, if you set aside $2,000 for expected health costs, that amount of your income will not be subject to the federal [...]
Popularity: 17% [?]
After last weeks’ unexpected .75% rate cut, you had to figure that the Fed was done playing for awhile. Not so. Today, at their scheduled meeting, they announced an additional .5% federal funds rate cut - that’s a total of 1.25% in a single week. Before this rate cutting madness, the federal funds rate stood [...]
Popularity: 17% [?]
HSBC has announced a rate drop on their Online Savings Account. Their new rate is 3.80% APY. When I first opened up my HSBC Online account, the rate was 5.5% APY ( I think ). 3.8% is a big drop from 5.5, and a part of the reason that I moved my funds elsewhere. Granted, [...]
Popularity: 17% [?]
Though I’ve been blogging here for awhile now, I’ve never really shared my financial history. I’m going to take you back to the year 2004, when my financial house of cards finally collapsed.
The Beginning
Back then, I was living on the military base where my wife worked. That meant no rent, but also no BAH pay, [...]
Popularity: 26% [?]
The US Federal Reserve is panicking. They’re in full-blown panic mode, and their latest rate cut proves it. Rather than holding the federal funds rates steady, or cutting it by a quarter point, they went all-out with a .75% rate cut. The new short-term interest rate is 3.5% - the lowest it’s been August of [...]
Popularity: 18% [?]
I own a small side business that earns a little money for me on the side. I couldn’t quit my day job with it ( at least not yet, anyway ) but it’s a nice supplement to my regular income. One of my tools is the small business credit card you see to the [...]
Popularity: 15% [?]
As the year winds down, a lot of people are turning their thoughts to New Years Resolutions for 2008. I’ve never been one to make resolutions, and most people that do don’t keep them. However, goals are a different story - I’m down with keeping goals. I’m going to hold myself accountable, or at least, [...]
Popularity: 22% [?]
