Families, Finances and Dementia

It’s a nightmare for families and their financial advisers: a parent or client with Alzheimer’s and significant money to manage.

Read more about Families, Finances and Dementia…

Divvy Up Savings to Maximize Goals

Americans have finally gotten religion when it comes to savings. After dropping to 0 percent in recent years, the personal-savings rate jumped to more than 4 percent early in 2009.

Read more about Divvy Up Savings to Maximize Goals…

www.TreasuryHunt.gov | Is Your Cash Out There?

You can use the money

Got any unclaimed money out there? I’m not talking that quick cash loan with your name on it. I don’t mean the pennies from heaven that fall when you implore the universe to “Give me my cash now!” I’m talking about funds owed to you by the government. If you aren’t sure, take a look at www.TreasuryHunt.gov. It could mean money in the bank.

David Bogoslaw reports for Business Week that there are billions of dollars in unclaimed assets in the United States, held by state controllers and the U.S. Treasury. The Bureau of Public Debt goes so far as to say that there is currently more than $16.6 billion in unredeemed, mature U.S. savings bonds that are no longer earning interest - just sitting there doing nothing.

With www.TreasuryHunt.gov, you can put bonds to work that may be waiting for you. They can work at filling your wallet with cash. All you need is the original bond owner’s Social Security number. Most people don’t realize that even if the original bond holder is deceased, heirs can still redeem. Find documents at www.TreasuryHunt.gov that establish the relationship. A will or estate agreement will be necessary here, and you absolutely don’t want to provide false information. Doing so can expose you to perjury charges, according to the Treasury.

Piles and piles of money out there

Did you know that at the close of 2008, over $32 billion in unclaimed money in twiddling its thumbs in state treasuries across America? Nebraska Treasurer and National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) President Shane Osborn points out that such unclaimed money might include final paychecks employees never collected, retail gift certificates, forgotten bank accounts, overlooked stocks and bonds hidden away, consumer product rebate checks and utility deposits. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "www.TreasuryHunt.gov | Is Your Cash Out There?"

'Up' Reviews Show Pixar is Still a Powerhouse

‘Up’ reviews foreshadow box office smash

In "Up," a house gets carried away by balloons.

I checked on Rotten Tomatoes today for ‘Up’ reviews, and sure enough, it looks like Pixar’s still got it. Any film that gets 97 percent positive reviews is sure to bring in massive amounts of cash at the box office.

I’m sure you’ll see some big numbers when it comes to same day cash after “Up” opens Friday. Here are some things critics had to say in their “Up” reviews:

Stephen Witty, Newark Star-Ledger

“Up,” the latest lovely fantasy from the artists at Disney’s Pixar animation, it’s a truly fantastic adventure — a lighter-than-air daydream about a cranky widower (the voice of Ed Asner), a chubby boy and their amazing journey.

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Things are looking Up. The buoyant Pixar escapade soars, and our hearts along with it. An optimistic tale about a pessimistic septuagenarian, this lovely film darts unpredictably between comedy and adventure, defying gravity and age.

How much do I love this movie? If it were mathematically possible, I’d give it five stars out of four.

Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star

This film is lovely in attitude and execution. In a world that sometimes seems filled with mean people, mean institutions and mean humor, "Up" is friendly, affirming and deeply moving. It's funny, too, but never at anyone's expense.

They’re in the money

Pixar has proven itself, time and time again, to be a huge crowd-pleaser and moneymaker. Its first release, “Toy Story,” cost $30 million to make, and it nearly made back its production costs on its opening weekend in 1995, pulling in $29 million. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "'Up' Reviews Show Pixar is Still a Powerhouse"

I love scarves

I wear them all winter long. This last winter, I bought so many scarves that I didn't know what to do with them. I like to color coordinate them with my outfit. Of course there is definitely a standard for the scarves that needs to be met. I also have made a few scarves before. It was actually kind of enjoyable. Everyone said that crocheting wouldn't be fun and that I would hate it but I don't. It actually keeps my quite calm. I can't wait till next winter when I can wear all my scarves.

Vector Scam |Hear Both Sides of Marketing Company Story

Is Vector a scam?

The Cutco cleaver

Rumors are circulating about the latest version of the “Vector scam,” otherwise known as Vector Marketing Company, are once again circulating the Internet. We’ve all heard of “work from home” scams, and many people believe that this is one of those.

Of course, others out there will tell you working for Vector is a lucrative job. In fact, there are plenty of online testimonials from people who say they have earned great money, learned a lot and been “pleasantly surprised.”

Claims tied to Vector scam

Here’s the basic scenario: Vector Marketing advertises online that it is looking for salespeople. The job offers $15 to $16 per hour, flexible schedule, be your own boss, etc. You’ve seen it before.

The job is selling Cutco cutlery — in other words, knives. However, the jobless people who decide to pursue a career with Vector soon find out they might need some quick personal loans just to get the gig going. The money will come later, or so they think.

Why pay for a job?

Vector Marketing requires salespeople to pay for a demonstration kit, meaning they must purchase a set of the knives themselves and use them to sell said cutlery. Also, and this is where it gets shady to me, they are required to pay for training.

I don’t know about you, but I have had several jobs and in each case the company paid me for training, not the other way around. But, still, Vector says if you pay for knives and sales training you can be an independent contractor and you’ll be allowed the privilege of selling Vector’s Cutco knives. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Vector Scam |Hear Both Sides of Marketing Company Story"

Always chicken

Today I realized that when I cook my primary ingredient is chicken, and Mrs. Dash. I love cooking with chicken, it’s just so easy to cook with and you can do so many different things with it. I also go through a lot of Mrs. Dash, it’s my favorite seasoning and you can literally use it in and on everything. Right now in my oven is chicken breasts marinated in Worcestershire sauce and covered in Mrs. Dash and turkey bacon. It smells soo delicious. Chicken is just so easy to make anything with and it seems there are more recipes for chicken than any other meat out there. If you season and cook it just right it comes out very tender, juicy, and scrumptious. I love chicken!

My niece gets into everything!

Not only does she get into everything, once she’s done in one spot or I remove her from a specific spot she’s off to another area to make one more mess. It’s mess after mess after mess with her. Some days I give up cleaning up after her until she’s in bed because by the time I’ve cleaned up the first mess she’s made another one somewhere else in the house. I can’t wait till summer gets here so I can get her out of my small apartment and let her run around. If she wasn’t so cute and entertaining when she’s making a mess I would have given her away by now. Ok, not really but I do feel like that someday’s. Man kids can be a handful!

Cookies are the best treats

Think about it, I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like cookies. They come in so many flavors, shapes, and sizes. Your cookie options are unlimited. The best all time cookie has to be good old fashioned chocolate chip. They’re classic and always tasty, as long as you don’t burn them. The best part of the cookie is making them from scratch. They taste so much better when homemade and it’s a blast making them, especially with little kids. And the best part of homemaking cookies is eating the cookie dough while there’s a batch in the oven. There is nothing better than homemade cookie dough. Now I have to go make some cookies. All this talk about them is making me hungry.

Milk Bath Lotion- Provides Safeguards to the Skin

Skin is the vital part of the body. To be much more glamorous and elegant, one should take care of the skin texture. Especially during summer season, the skin surface of a person can be severely burnt and dried up by the scorching heat of the sun. The ultra violet ray is definitely harmful and detrimental to the skin texture. Therefore one should use sun screen lotion and ointment. However in this connection, milk bath lotion is very effective to bring lost luster and glow to the skin. Everyday before bathing, a person can mix milk bath lotion to the water to get the proper effect. The skin will become soft and shinning. Egyptian princess named Cleopatra preferred the milk bath to protect her skin from dryness and other skin related diseases. She was the most beautiful princess in her reign.

I love baby colors

I am referring to baby pink and baby blue mostly. That is what I am wearing tomorrow actually. I am wearing a baby pink skirt with a baby blue shirt. It is really pretty. As well as those two colors go together, they tend to be separated when babies are born. Babies are either dressed in all blue or all pink. It makes it easier to tell if the baby is a boy or girl I guess but is still kind of annoying. I never dressed my babies like that. If only people would follow my example.

Daily Links: Health, Investing, and Disasters

I had a colonoscopy today. Though 40 is young to elect to have this procedure, my family has a history of cancer (including some colon cancer). The older I get, the more I come to understand how important my health is. I used to say that your career is your most important asset. It’s not. Your health is. And so I’m becoming more concerned with preventative measures. They’ll save me money in the long run — and they’ll keep me alive!

Now that this procedure is out of the way, I’m ready to return to this blog full-time. I feel like I’ve been out of the loop lately, and that’s no fun. To begin with, here are some interesting stories from around the web:

First up, check out the latest episode of the Consumerism Commentary podast from my pal Flexo. He and Tom Dziubek interviewed me recently about pursuing passions. It was a fun conversation. (Also, the second part of my interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is up. Part one here.)

Earlier today I published a guest post that encouraged you to be more involved in your financial planning. I think this is great advice, but all the same, there are circumstances for which it makes sense to hire a professional. A recent Forbes article makes the argument (that I don’t agree with, by the way) that most investors should hire professionals to run their portfolios: “The average investor shouldn’t be managing their own money but, instead, farming it out to professionals who are going to be focused 100% of the time.” My advice? Do what works for you.

Elsewhere, a recent issue of Time featured an interview with Martin Lindstrom about how shoppers make decisions in a recession. “Consumers still do have money — at least many do — but the reason that they’re not spending it is because they’re afraid they may lose the money in the future,” Lindstrom says. “So companies are trying to find the triggers they have to pull on in order to make people feel comfortable about spending money.” You know how much I like stories about the psychology of money! I’ll have to read Lindstrom’s book.

Finally, Trent at The Simple Dollar has pulled together a great post on a subject I’ve been meaning to write about for months: preparing your information for disaster. What info do you need to gather and why? What about an emergency plan? And how should you store it? Trent’s system is similar to the one I’ve devised for myself.

—
Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

• Why It Pays to Ignore Financial News
• links for 2007-03-19
• Health and Fitness Roundup
• Daily Links: Great Lessons Edition
• links for 2007-03-13

Read more about Daily Links: Health, Investing, and Disasters…

Some people say Facebook is better than Myspace

Some people will say the opposite. I personally have my opinion. It is hard to compare them because they are for different purposes. They also spend so much time trying to copy the other one that they end up being about the same. They should have kept their differences so that people would still use both rather than one or the other. I use Facebook probably a little bit more but that's just because Facebook tends to be focused more towards adults. I mostly use Myspace to check up on my teenagers and see what they are up to. Kids really like putting their life stories online. Good thing I have one so I can get to know them.

Obnoxious children drive me nuts

They climb all over you when you tell them to stop. They ask the same question a million times until you finally answer it. They interrupt you when you are having a conversation with someone else. It is just not fun to be around these kids. I guess you could say all kids are obnoxious. I don't know any kids that don't do stuff that bothers people. I don't know any kid that understands how annoying they truly are. Even after all that, I love my nephews to death. They can annoy me but I will always love them.

Mars is my favorite planet

I am pretty sure that it would be a scary thing to go there. I know there aren't any aliens on Mars as far as we know but there could very well be aliens inside of Mars. I wish I could know all the secrets of the universe. It would make things so much easier. I bet that if all those questions were answered, we would still have more bubbling around in our heads. I don't think all the questions of mankind could ever be answered. I guess that's just how life is. I'm going to have to stay in awe and wonder.

Revealing the Hidden Cost Of Credit Cards

Credit card users who crow that they’re seldom charged interest on purchases because they pay their bills on time may not be able to crow much longer. President Obama is about to sign into law new restrictions on the credit card industry that lenders say may lead to the return of widespread annua…

Read more about Revealing the Hidden Cost Of Credit Cards…

The Boat Experience: The Means Justify the Ends

This is a guest post from Michael H. It’s the story I alluded to when I first wrote about the third stage of personal finance. I was afraid to run this story when Michael submitted it last year. I thought it encouraged foolish behavior. Now I understand that it does no such thing. Instead, it points to goals, and the reasons for our frugality and saving.

For the past 10 years, our family has gone camping with our friends Mark and Lizzie and their children. It’s really Lizzie's family trip, and we just tag along.

Lizzie's dad, David, always brings a little vintage 1972 olive-colored motor boat that can barely pull one skier — or possibly two people on sea-biscuits.  Every year on the camping trip, David has to tinker with the motor to even get it started.  This year the motor was not cooperating at all.  After a few hours of David and his brother Jim trying to get the motor out of first gear, they had finally called it quits. There would be no boating activities for this year's camping trip.
 
My wife and our kids arrived late for the weekend and noticed that Lizzie’s husband Mark and her cousin Gary were not at the campground. When we asked where they were, Lizzie told us about the frustrations with the boat. Gary and Mark had driven to the closest city to rent a boat. 

After about five hours with no signs of Gary and Mark, we were all wondering what could have taken them so long. Soon, however, we observed Gary’s truck backing down the boatramp with a shiny yellow speedboat.

Mark came over to the group and was immediately bombarded with questions.

"Where did you rent the boat?" someone asked. 

"You'll have to ask Gary," said Mark.

"That looks brand new. Did you buy a boat?" asked another. 

"You'll have to ask Gary," replied Mark. 

"What really happened in town?" asked Gary's wife. 

"You'll have to ask Gary," replied Mark.  The whole group was confused.

Money and marriage
As I walked over to the dock with Mark, he told me that he had just witnessed an amazing thing. 

On their drive to the city, Gary had mentioned his appreciation of David and Jim for the many years they had spent getting the little boat ready for the camping trip and the countless hours of energy trying to fix it so it would work just right for the kids and grandkids. Gary did not want David and Jim to have to do this any more. Gary said that he wanted to put an end to the stress and challenge of it all, and that he and Mark were going into town to buy a boat.
 
With a few cell phone calls to friends in the city, Gary knew his destination. He walked into the dealership and asked about three different boats. After hearing about the third boat, Gary asked what they wanted for it. Gary thought for a moment and made an offer lower than the asking price. The salesman went back to his manager and a deal was struck. Gary said he would be back with a cashier's check. 

Gary and Mark went across the street to a branch of Gary's bank and pulled the money off an open line of credit, received the check, went back across the street and went through the process of registering the boat and learning how to operate it. They then drove back to the lake with Gary's new boat.
 
As Mark and I were walking, I asked him what was the most expensive thing he had purchased with out discussing it with his wife. He mentioned a stereo that cost $300. I jokingly replied for me it was a 50 cent pack of gum. We pulled the boat around to where the family was located. We were all fixated on how Gary’s wife, Sally, would react to the boat. There wasn't a notable response. 

Gary invited several people on board and took the boat out on the lake. As he pulled away, Sally explained that she trusts Gary and knew that he must have had a good reason for buying the boat. She also said they had been talking about buying a boat for years and it had just never happened. She mentioned that when Gary has his mind set on something, he is going to do it, and that approach has not failed them during their 20 years of marriage. She was not alarmed or shocked by this event.

I talked with Gary later. He told me that he wasn’t really worried about Sally's reaction. He wouldn't have purchased the boat if he thought she would be upset. Instead, he was worried about how David and Jim would view the purchase. Would they see it as disrespectful to their efforts all of these years? Or would they understand that now they did not have deal with the hassles of such a frustrating event year after year? 

He quickly got his answer. David and Jim were more than happy to be the first drivers and pull Gary behind his new boat.  Both the smiles of David and Jim (and Gary for that matter) brought more satisfaction than any money could buy. 

The means justify the ends
As a successful small business owner, Gary had the means to make this purchase. He had purchased the boat on a Saturday with his line of credit, and then reallocated his finances to pay off the line of credit that next week. He also talked about the use and enjoyment he and his family would receive from the purchase. Regardless of your approval of the purchase of a boat, Gary has worked his whole life building a business and putting himself in a financial situation to make this surprise purchase.

As I’ve shared this story with others, I’ve been asked if I was jealous of Gary purchasing a boat. I’m always quick to say “no”. If I had the money, I would not choose to buy a boat, but the question makes me think. Is there a purchase or donation (for myself or others) that I would choose to make that could provide a sincere and authentic feeling of joy and happiness that Gary experienced? If there were — and I could afford it — I’d do it.

—
Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

• Reader Survey: How Do You Cope with a Limited Income?
• Ask the Readers: So Much Debt, So Little Time?
• Recurring Monthly Costs: Which Are Worth It? Which Are Not?
• Raising a Family on One Income (Part One)
• “What Next?” The Third Stage of Personal Finance

Read more about The Boat Experience: The Means Justify the Ends…

I love to read

One of my favorite things to do when I have nothing else to do is to read. I love curling up with a good book. I love getting absorbed into the words and the world presented by the writer like I’m really there. I love pretending like I’m one of the characters in the book and going on adventures with them. A good writer can bring a book and it’s characters to life. A good book can make the world inside of it seem like it’s really there. It’s great being able to relate to someone from a book like they’re you’re best friend. I read whenever I can and I’m always looking for a good book or series to read. I just love to read good books.

How much fun would it be to be able to fly an airplane?

I think it would be awesome. I would really like to learn how to fly and have my own plane so I can go anywhere I want when I want. It would be so much easier loading my kids onto an airplane for a few hours instead of into a car for a few days to visit my family. We would have to make sure that we had a door separating the pilot from where the seats are because my kids would want to push all the pilot buttons and that could lead to death. Death would be really bad. Besides that, owning and being able to fly an airplane would be awesome.

What an amazing invention dishwashers are.

I’m really glad that dishwashers were invented. Whoever thought of them and actually put them together, and figured out how they work was a genius. Having a dishwasher makes my life easier because that’s one less thing that I have to do. It would be such a pain having to wash all of your dishes by hand. I don’t know if I could do it. I like being lazy and being able to throw my dishes in a machine, push a button, and then have my dishes sparkling clean 45 minutes later. I would probably go crazy having to hand wash all the dishes we go through ever day. I have a hard enough time doing chores around the house, the last thing I need is to have to spend a few hours on dishes.

Why don't more restaurants have fry sauce?

I know of only two fast food restaurants that have fry sauce and I am more willing to go to those places and spend more money if it means I can get fry sauce. If everyone would just carry fry sauce I would have more of a selection to choose from. Besides, fry sauce is so delicious, why wouldn’t every fast food and regular restaurant want to carry it? Everyone I know who has ever tried fry sauce loves it and wishes that more restaurants would carry it. I know it’s pretty much just ketchup and mayonnaise but it tastes so good, especially on french fries.

I really like coloring my hair.

Every time I color my hair it makes me feel like a different person. Nothing can make you feel like a new person like a haircut and a new color. I think it’s really fun experimenting with different colors and seeing what you look like with those colors. Some colors can bring out certain colors in your eyes and other hair colors can bring out your facial features or the colors in your skin. Some hair colors can make you look really pale or really tan. I don’t like to stick to the same color for more than a few months, but sometimes I’ll dye my hair close to the same color as my natural hair color so I can let my hair grow out and give it a rest.

The best days are mild sunny ones.

Those are the days where I get to unleash my kids and let them go crazy in the outdoors. Every once in a while we will go to this huge park downtown. We don’t go very often because it’s so far away and you usually have to pay to park but when we do go it’s well worth it. It has a pretty big river running through it. My favorite part of the park is the geese that are very common there. When my kids are all done running around and going crazy I let them feed the geese. It’s hilarious to watch them try and feed geese that are as big as they are. Good thing they love to do it too. Can’t wait till summer so we can go more often.

Back in Kindergarten again

Today I was thinking thinking about how kindergarten was for me. There was one time in particular that came to my mind for some reason. It was story time and I had to go to the restroom so I raised my hand and asked to go. My teacher let me and when I was done I couldn’t button my pants and I guess I was really embarrassed about it so I just sat down. Then for some reason I asked my best friend to try and help me button my pants. Well anyway I guess we were being really loud and my teacher made me come to the front of the class so she could help. Don’t know why that came to mind, but it’s funny when I think back on it.

A Visual Guide to the Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve steers the American economy and yet it remains a system that is shrouded in mystery. Few understand the logic behind its policy decisions, decisions that have a profound effect on the US economy. And over the years it has operated seemingly independently of the more democratically elected arms of the US government. Its public stance, generally lacking in transparency has fueled conspiracy theories. Some even suggest its formation lead directly to the Great Depression.

So just what is the Federal Reserve? Why was it formed in the first place? And how does its monetary policy affect the lives of everyday US citizens? Here we do our part to demystify the Federal Reserve.

For more visualizations see: WallStats.com

Read more about A Visual Guide to the Federal Reserve…

Avoid a Short Term Loan By Cleaning Houses

Getting Started

If you have a talent or affinity for organizing and cleaning houses, you have the potential to earn a casual, part-time income assisting others getting organized. In fact, you can actually turn this into a business and hire employees if you want to go that route. But for now, let's just have a conversation about how to set yourself up to clean houses part time, and earn extra money to meet your bills each month.

But first…

But before getting started, you need to know how much you are going to charge, and if it is what your particular local market can bear. This is determined by the type of houses you are targeting, as well as the income level of the home owners. Generally, this is not going to be less than minimum wage. Many people, if they are buying house cleaning services, will be able to pay at least $10 per hour. You can determine your exact rate from there—either up or down depending on your market.

To obtain clients for your service, you simply need to spread the word. This may be through word of mouth by telling your friends and neighbors, or sending an announcement to a local email list. You can also put up an ad on Craigslist in the services section for your services. For this, you want to also set up a free web based email address for your reply-back information, so that if you get a lot of spam emails, you can delete your email account.

Of course, you can always pay for marketing. If you are short on cash, you can take out a short term loan online. The benefits of paid marketing may well be worth the extra cash you may earn from extra clients! ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Avoid a Short Term Loan By Cleaning Houses"

Checking in with Fifi

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost two years since I wrote about Fifi’s bachelorette party. I haven’t been seeing much of Fifi since then, but I had dinner with her recently to catch up… here’s the scoop!

As is typical, Fifi and I met at a rather upscale restaurant. I always go along with it, because it’s always someplace I’ve heard of and wanted to try, but sometimes I just sigh and think “why can’t Fifi just eat a burrito once in a while!” We went to Applewood, a small restaurant in Park Slope that offers all organic, locally sourced ingredients. The entrees range from $19 to about $25, and though the food was good, it wasn’t THAT good and the portions were on the small side. We got wine and dessert and coffee and the final total including tip came to $68 each. You’ll hear me sighing about it once more when I do my May wrap-up and my dining expenses are over budget yet again! Fifi agreed that it wasn’t quite worth the money, especially since she wasn’t with her husband, who always picks up the check.

Anyway, back to the rest of Fifi’s life. Fifi recently got a promotion– that’s good. Fifi’s job involves fundraising for a non-profit– not so good. It’s like pulling teeth to get money out of anyone these days. Fifi probably makes around what I make– just under six figures a year unless there’s a really big bonus.
Fifi’s husband, who I’ll call Bruno, works in the insurance industry. He seems to do quite well and supposedly his job is secure. I don’t know how much he makes but I’m going to guess it must be over $150,000.

Since at least 5 years or so before they married, Bruno has owned a house in the suburbs. He bought it figuring that he and Fifi would someday get married and raise kids there, but in the meantime, he was quite happy there anyway, since he worked nearby and was also close to family. But Fifi doesn’t like the long commute into the city and has always wanted to live in Manhattan. One of the conditions for them finally getting married after a long off-and-on relationship was that they would sell Bruno’s house and move into the city within the next few years. Meanwhile, Fifi had a rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn which she hung onto. Though she spent most of her time at Bruno’s house, she still kept a lot of stuff at her apartment and spent the night there occasionally, with or without Bruno. The apartment apparently cost about $900 a month, which is cheap if it’s your primary residence, but for someone with Fifi’s finances, a pied a terre i s probably not the best use of that money!

But now, Fifi will be giving up her Brooklyn apartment, and Bruno is selling the house in the suburbs. They decided to wait until they got the right offer, and despite the lousy real estate market, they got their price. They’d been looking at apartments to buy in Manhattan for quite a while, but have instead decided to rent a place for a year. They found a small 2-bedroom with fabulous views in a luxury building in Tribeca for about $4,100 a month. The landlord threw in a free gym membership, but Bruno won’t be parking his car in the building’s garage because that would be an additional $700 a month! He’ll be taking the train for his new reverse commute.
But they are both excited about the move– they’ve been walking around the neighborhood a lot on weekends, and have scoped out various restaurants and cafes that will be their new hang-outs.

If real estate prices continue to fall in Manhattan, Bruno and Fifi may have made a smart choice to rent for a year. I said so to Fifi, but she said that the real reason they’re renting is that “this is the first time we’ll ever be living together full time, without having my apartment to fall back on. This year will either make us or break us!” The response I kept to myself was “Wow! Maybe you should have tried that before you got married!”

Oh, and did I also mention that they just spent over $25,000 trying to get pregnant, without success?

It will be interesting to see how things work out for Fifi. I love her dearly, but we do not see eye to eye when it comes to managing one’s finances. I think she senses this on some level, as I hear from another friend of ours that Fifi still has a lot of credit card debt that she is either hiding from Bruno, or Bruno is unwilling to pay off for her, I’m not sure which. Fifi never talks about that with me! Either way, I do hope things work out for her and Bruno, though I suspect there will be some more bumps along the road…

Read more about Checking in with Fifi…

Chase Checking Account $100 Bonus Coupon Code

Chase Bank is offering a $100 bonus if you open a new Chase Checking(sm) account with $100 and either set up direct deposit or make five debit card purchases. Through the link, they will e-mail you a coupon with a unique code that you must print out and physically bring into a local Chase branch. Selected fine print:

Bonus/Account Information — To qualify for the cash bonus you must open a new Chase CheckingSM account with a $100 minimum opening deposit of new money (money not currently held by Chase or its affiliates). Also, within 60 calendar days of account opening, you must initiate a monthly direct deposit such as payroll, pension or Social Security, or have at least five debit card purchases using your PIN or signature posted to your account. The cash bonus will be deposited into your new account within 10 business days after the initial direct deposit or the five debit card purchases have posted to your account. Limit one personal checking account-related cash bonus/premium per customer, per calendar year.

Offer available only at Chase branded branches, excluding branches in California. Expires 6/23/09. One thing I noticed is that the “Chase Checking” account requires either direct deposit or 5+ debit card purchases each month to waive the monthly fee, something not required by the similar WaMu Free Checking bonus.

Read more about Chase Checking Account $100 Bonus Coupon Code…