photo credit: Felix Francis

It’s a steamy 90 degrees here in DC today, but I love it, lazy albeit hot Sundays rock!

The PF Bloggers have all written great articles this week, please check them out!

Living Almost Large

$250k for sex? - “…a student at Sacramento State is selling her virginity for money.  Apparently she’s in student debt hell and wants to go to graduate school…  The feminist in me says, well that’s what we are fighting for.  The right to do what we want.  The the liberal in me says, she is her own individual to make her own decisions.  Plus think about all the sex you gave away for free???  The practical side of me says, maybe she’s a capitalist and who is dumb enough to pay $250k (she’s hoping $1 million) for sex?  Finally, I guess worrywart side.”

Frugal Baby Tips - “HotCouponWorld which has great tips for shopping. When I was looking for deals on my last minute gift buying trip, I skimmed over the baby section.  It’s an amazing resource for understanding the diaper deals.”

LivingAlmostLarge

Creating Wills online - “Being a blended family really confuses things.  If my husband and I were to die at the same time, is there a place in the will where I can state I want my kids to go to two different people?  My daughter would go live with her dad, and my son would go live with my husband’s relatives.”

Switching to Paperless Statements to Save Money, Time and the Planet not only is this the smart choice for those with regular computer and internet access, but the green, environmentally-friendly choice.

Master Your Card

10 Places To Put Your Money When Saving Rates Suck - “If you need access to your cash for short-term reasons or you’re deathly afraid of losing money, then you may settle for .10% to 2.50%, and there’s nothing wrong with that if it’s right for you. However, most people want a little more.”

Enjoy!

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• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
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This was an unusually busy weekend, but I don’t think we could have asked for a better one.

Friday night, the Girls Just Wanna Have Funds Meetup had their first happy hour in DC at Zengos.  Unfortunately, it will our last trip there as the customer service was horrible and many members have vowed never to go back.  Still, we had a great time, I almost want to say we didn’t want to leave.  I like being able to connect with new people in DC who share the same goals and ideals.  We laughed through the nonsense going on with the staff there at Zengos, but I’ve written a letter to their Corporate offices in hopes that they will be able to get a handle on how the staff there treats paying customers.  Here are some pictures:

We then traveled to NYC early Saturday morning to hang out with family and my husband’s fraternity annual BBQ.  For those familiar with BGLO’s, Omega Psi Phi.  As usual they put on a great show for us GDI’s and we took pictures for them and uploaded video.  They get together like this once a year so when they ALL converge, you might as well sit back and watch the show.

We then drove back to DC for the annual Jamaican concert down on Constitution Avenue today.  We ate, hung out and listened to the band play and carry on with the usual antics.  I’m surprised we weren’t too tired after driving six hours but hey, fun times!

Einstein and I hung out for a bit, great minds think alike, what can I say

Now we’re home relaxing on the sofa, vegging out in front of the TV.  Don’t worry, it’s lights out for me pretty soon.  Scotch missed his daddywaddy

In the mean time, please check out some of the posts from my fellow PF Bloggers:

$4 ice cream cone - frugal or not? @ Living Almost Large

*snicker*  I will confess that I have a serious love affair going on with Maggie Moos and their Mooberry flavor.  At least once a week I head over th Pentagon Row and treat myself to sushi and ice-cream with my girlfriend.  Not sure Im ready to let that go either because, well, I like it.  It’s one of the few things that gets me through the week.  So sushi and ice-cream it is.  I realize it’s not frugal though because as LAL puts it, you can really buy a tu of ice cream from t he supermarket for the same money.  But there’s something about hanging out with the girls, chatting it up over sushi knowing that a large double scoop of Maggie Moos Mooberry is coming up.  I know I know :-)  The first step is admitting you have a problem and I know I do

What does your bank statement say about you? @ Wide Open Wallet

Interesting take as I’ve never quite thought of it from this angle.  Ours would probably say that we need to trim the summer fat!  Maggie Moos, $650 grocery bill (thanks to Yodlee for showing that on the monthly report!), Nine West…ZipCar…well you get the point…  But we’re back on track as of August.

We’re On a Rollercoaster Ride!

When I read this I kept nodding my head because I can totally relate.  Our property taxes went up which increased our overall mortgage payment, the bank screwed up on the escrow so they took the extra payment due to them unexpectedly, car repairs, Zipcar rental, random trips to the grocery store totaling $600+, travelling to NYC to meet with Meetup HQ and the list goes on and on.  Thankfully, we weathered that storm and now have a budgt back in place.

Can you really help someone?

Sometimes I think it’s best to show someone how to “fish” and then leave them to sink or swim.  Most recently I learned that it’s best to let people work out their own financial situations because in the end, they are the only ones who can fix it.  You can lend money, you can give advice and you can even try to help them out directly by retooling their budget, but if they are more concerned with keeping up appearances then there’s nothing you can do.

7 Ways Students Ruin Their Credit @ Master Your Card

Good information for those just getting started in the real of credit.  Boy do I wish this information was around when I started college.

How was your weekend?

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• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?

• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices
• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• Guest Post: Why Every Woman Needs Mad Money
• It’s a Woman Thing: Men Are in Recession, Women Apparently Not
• Women, Men & Money: How Are We Different?
• Tricia Walsh Smith: Reason #1 Why Women Should Marry Smart
• Get Your House Together: African-American Women and the Foreclosure Crisis
• The Five Mistakes Married Women Make

Those of you in the DC Metro area may be interested in our Meetup group, Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, a women only group that discusses all things related to money such as debt, budgeting, frugality, wealth building, real estate etc etc.

Questions? Shoot me an email via the contact form.

Most Popular Posts

• Grocery Bill Doubled In 9 Months: We Have A Problem
• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?

photo credit: gierszewski

How to Be Wealthy While Young!

This is a great article for those of us like myself who sometimes think that I’ll be 60 before I see real wealth. I can especially relate to reducing the cost of the wedding and investing the second salary as this is our plan when I finally graduate and get full time work LOL! We’re living on one salary now so when I do get a real job that will be extra which we plan to invest.

What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up?

As always Millionaire Mommy Next Door keeps me on my toes with her thought provoking articles. This week she asks What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? She asks the hard and important questions. I’ve decided to make this an exercise and see where it takes me. I want to be able to work for myself within a few years so this is worth reading.

Frugal & Fabulous in the City?

Dr. Yakini talks about being Frugal and Fabulous in the City. She says “Frugality can even be fun! And it can also help you sleep more peacefully at night, knowing that you are not in debt over that second and salmon pair of Jimmy Choos you charged to your Visa because you just HAD to have to have them in eggplant purple ” AMEN!

How to get the cheapest flight every single time.

AUBlog talks about how to get the cheapest fight every time. While these are tactics I already use being the consummate cheap flyers we are, I was really impressed by the resources and information in the comments area of the post. People really know what they’re doing and I was quite surprised to see everything else that we can do to save money on flights. This is a must read!

Examples of how poor people can get ahead financially

I thought of a commenter that comments regularly on various personal finance sites including mine at one time. He/she seems to think there is no way out of the rut they seem to be in but this article proves otherwise. Hard work, determination, and a can-do attitude make all the difference and I hope MW reads this article. So many of us think we are doomed to remain in our present situations and this is just not true. Make a plan, work at it until you see results.

Comcast Bills for Two Months of Service on First Bill

I was a bit fired up about this post, not the post itself but about Comcast. I really wish that they’d get their act together but I am so turned off by their customer service that our FIOS install date can’t get here fast enough. I appreciate them making an outward effort to troll the Internet and say IM SORRY, but that doesn’t help if you still employ the inept customer service reps which give us the impression that you don’t care about your customers.

College Loan Consolidation - 5 Routes to Relief

Luke @ RealWorldReally gives us solid information on how to consolidate those pesky student loans. Plan ahead!

Most Popular Posts

• Grocery Bill Doubled In 9 Months: We Have A Problem
• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)

It’s real easy!

*Start Copying Here*

Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially!

The benefits of Viral Linking:
- One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!
- Increase your Google PageRank fast
- Attract large volume of new traffic to your site
- Build your community
- Make new friends!

The Strategist Notebook ~ Link Addiction ~ Ardour of the Heart ~ When Life Becomes a Book ~ The Malaysian Life ~ Yogatta.com ~ What goes under the sun ~ Roshidan’s Cyber Station ~ Sasha says ~ Arts of Physics ~ And the legend lives ~ My View, My Life ~ A Simple Life ~ Juliana RW ~ Mom Knows Everything ~ Beth & Cory’s Mom ~ A Mind Forever Voyaging~ enjoying the ride ~ Jennifer’s thoughts ~ Mom of 3 Girls ~ Amanda ~ Don’t Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys ~ ExPat Mom ~ Just Jessie ~ Wilson Six ~Krisitn ~ Nuttier Than You ~ Shonnte ~ Summer’s Nook ~ Laura Williams Musings ~ Melissa’s Idea Garden ~ Confessions of an Everyday Housewife ~ Blah Blah Blog ~ Stop the Ride! ~Soap, Blings & Girly Things ~ It’s All for the Best ~ Keeping Feet ~ Junky Love in Freehand ~ Getting Out of Debt ~ Free From Broke ~ Money Matters ~ Arohan’s Investing Life ~ My Investing Blog ~ Finance and Fat ~ Iowahippiechick ~

My Five Links

Real World Really~Writers Coin ~ Stretchin My Dollas ~ Fabulously Broke in the City ~ My Financial Journey

Hey, Im just following the leader! Have fun! Now its your turn!

photo credit: aussiegall

Most Popular Posts

• Grocery Bill Doubled In 9 Months: We Have A Problem
• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?

• The Key To Making Money Online? Diversification, Baby!

• The Prosperity Game: Play the Game and Find New Money. For Real

• Growing My Own Food…In My Apartment

• Feeling Stuck? 100 Ways to Change your Life

FreeMoneyFinance

• Buying a House You Can Afford is a Key Financial Move

  • I can totally relate to the things one should consider when purchasing a house. But they say your first home gives you a chance to really get it right on the second go around.

• Testimony that Living in a Low Cost-of-Living City Makes Financial Sense

  • Makes me wanna move to Beijing! DC Metro’s cost of living is no where near this!

• How To Become A Millionaire (In 6 Easy Steps!)

  • I like to collect posts like these because my goal is to become a millionaire.
    

Enjoy!

Most Popular Posts

• Grocery Bill Doubled In 9 Months: We Have A Problem
• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?

Millionaire Mommy Next Door

“It may be late for a lot of homeowners to read this, but here it goes anyway: It’s risky and bad planning to have too much of your net worth in your principal residence. No prudent stock-market player would put 60% or 70% of a portfolio in just one stock, but millions will hold that much or more of their total net worth in just one house.”

“Mortgage interest is rent that you pay to your lender for the use of its money rather than to a landlord for the use of his house.”

 

WiseBread-How The Banks Were Fleeced–A Primer To Mortgage Fraud

“…in the past few years lending standards have become so loose that literally anyone with a pulse can get a loan even if they are a NINJA (No Income, No Job, and Assets).”

CNN’s Millionaires in the Making

Jeanette Courts

Age: 38
Occupation: IT specialist at the Pentagon
Salary: $94,000 a year

Government Thrift Savings Plan: $107,000
Roth IRA: $6,000
Savings Bonds: $2,000
Online savings account: $10,000
Brokerage account: $1,000
Other savings: $4,000
Home equity: $190,000

Her friends say her commitment to her finances borders on obsession. Her neighbors may chuckle when she drops $400 on bulk detergent and toilet paper in a single shopping trip. But Jeanette Courts’ budget-minded habits have put her on track to becoming a millionaire. Courts, a 38-year-old single mother and information technology specialist at the Pentagon, has stashed away $113,000 towards retirement and has built up $190,000 in equity in her 3-bedroom townhouse in the Washington D.C. suburb of Bristow, Va.

Financial Zen: How To Get Financial Peace of Mind

.”..our finances are one of the things in our lives that stress us out the most. If we’re trying for a stress-free life — with stress-free productivity, working and living environments, waking early, morning routines and the like — then we need to address our finances and find routines that will keep the stress of money to a minimum.”

Ten Commandments of personal finance

1. Thou shalt create a savings plan
2. Thou shalt not spend more than you make
3. Thou shalt not try to keep up with the joneses
4. Thou shalt limit the amount of debt on credit cards
5. Thou shalt pay monthly bills on time
6. Thou shalt avoid get-rich-quick schemes
7. Thou shalt protect thyself against risk
8. Thou shalt teach your children to handle money wisely
9. Thou shalt plan for retirement
10. Thou shalt legally protect thyself and thy family

Build Wealth with a “Virtual Employer”

I like this concept a lot. My girlfriend and I read this post over a few times and discussed how we would implement this into our own strategies towards savings and debt reduction. I know its an older post, but its still good information.

A tale of two employers
My real-life employer direct-deposited my paycheck into a money market account. This account used an automated bill-payment service to make deposits into my regular checking and savings account every two weeks. This last set of accounts was used for ATM transactions, and for paying all of my bills. Income into this account was my “salary”. I had to live within my means just like I ought. However, it was like I did not work for my employer, but for a fictitious employer. Once a year, I gave myself a raise by changing the amount of the bi-weekly salary that went into my personal bank accounts. My income kept rising, just a bit more slowly than in my real-life job. I never felt that I was scrimping.

LOVE IT!

Facing a Real Emergency with No Emergency Fund

I haven’t had any real emergencies in years so I assumed that I could put off saving for another month, that is until today. I just found out that my cousin was killed last night due to an accidental gun shot wound to the head and I can’t go home to say goodbye. I’ve been curled up on my couch angry for not preparing for the unexpected and hoping that my family is as understanding and I believe them to be. Last but certainly not least and a favorite: Fabulously Broke in the City. FB is a fresh perspective in the realm of female personal finance bloggers as she tends to be balanced in her posting. Read: She talks not only about money and debt reduction but fashion, food, dining out, decorating etc etc. All the things a girl like wants to keep up with while reducing debt.

Frugal Ways To Update Your Home
How about New Pillows or Linens

Assuming you aren’t going for the $2000 bedsheets, new sheets could be what it takes to make your bedroom more inviting to you. Or replacing your beaten down, flattened pillow with a new soft fluffy one from Bed Bath and Beyond.Or pillows as decoration is a great idea. I had a grey couch before, and I decorated it with deep emerald green pillows with touches of white and blue. The effect was great, and very comfortable to lounge on. Again, IKEA had some silk striped pillows I really loved, so it helped.

I happen to agree with her especially on this tip. I LOVE Smartbargains for this very reason but they along with Target are the debil. So watch your spending, still they have fabulous prices on high quality thread count sheets.

Enjoy!

Most Popular Posts

• Grocery Bill Doubled In 9 Months: We Have A Problem
• DNC 2008: Know Your Power: Don’t Let Anyone Discount Who You Are
• Put On Your Lace Gloves: Get The Car You Want At A Price You Can Afford
• Stay At Home Wives: The New Status Symbol?