My Blog, Your Money

Buy One Get One Free at Jamba Juice until 7/12/2009:

Given the searing heat in most of Northern California this past weekend, I’m grateful for this deal.

You can also pair this with the $1 Off Blackberry Bliss Smoothie Promotion.  All you have to do is visit www.summerblissisback.com to get The Blissful Word of the Day.  Today’s word is “SURF.”

Today is the summer solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere) which marks the beginning of the summer season.  Since now is a popular time for people to take vacations, I thought I’d share a post from the Frugal Traveler about saving money on travel: Research: The Traveler’s Best Friend.   Happy vacationing!

Oh, and Happy Father’s Day!

The subject of this post might not have much to do with personal finance, but I thought it was noteworthy: Next Test: Value of $125,000-a-Year Teachers.  I’ve always thought that teachers should earn much higher salaries so I’m glad to see The Equity Project actually doing it.  I believe that paying teachers high salaries would be a great investment in our collective future.  Six-figure salaries would attract the most talented and qualified teachers and increase the quality of education our children receive.  This in turn would lead to them being more productive members of society when they enter the workforce.  I am certain that the resulting benefits (both economic and societal) would significantly outweigh the increased cost of teacher salaries.

Sadly, reality is less than ideal with the recent economic troubles resulting in teacher layoffs or pay cuts on top of historically low pay.  That’s why, even though I am generally wary of tax increases, I pretty much support any new taxes that will benefit education.  I look forward to the day when education will get the funding it so desperately needs and deserves and teachers will get paid their true value.

Whenever a company files for bankruptcy, its stock becomes worthless.  However, with GM’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, the subtleties of this bankruptcy created a phenomenon where GM’s stock actually appreciated in value.  Closing at $0.75 on the previous trading day, the stock opened at $0.99, a 32% increase.  Furthermore, the stock sank to a low of $0.27 in the morning and then rebounded to a high of $1.01.  Investors with good timing could have made 274%, not too shabby for just a few hours.  Some people might be scratching their heads as to how this is possible with a stock that seems to be living on borrowed time (and money), but there are a variety of reasons including investors who had shorted the stock and now need to buy to cover those trades and lack of awareness that the stock will soon be worthless (if you didn’t know before, aren’t you glad you know now?).  It’s an interesting occurrence to be able to make money from a stock after its company declares bankruptcy, but in my opinion it’s too risky to dip my toe in and I’m just happy to observe it from afar.

With the housing market bottom appearing to be in sight, many people who were waiting on the sidelines to purchase a home are reentering the market and looking to buy.  With rates at historic lows and prices still majorly depressed, now just might be a good time to buy.  However, that doesn’t mean everyone should run out and start attending open houses.  You should consider your own individual factors including the amount of loans you would need, the mortgage rate, property taxes in your area, and expected appreciation in value of the home.  In many cases, renting might be more compelling.  I know that might go against conventional wisdom, but this was true even when the housing market was booming.

Here’s a handy-dandy calculator provided by The New York Times that compares the renting vs. buying scenarios.  The page also features a chart showing the average annual savings at the end of each year of owning or renting.  As for my results, renting is still a better option, but buying has gained a lot of ground.  If you’d like to get another opinion, there are a ton of other calculators out there, just do a search.  Here’s another resource by Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich discussing housing: My friend was about to buy a million-dollar house with no research.

Yesterday, President Obama signed into law new legislation reforming credit card regulations.  Included in the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act are terms to make credit less accessible to college students, restrictions on interest rate hikes on existing balances, gift card protections, and enhanced disclosures (e.g. issuers are required to disclose the period of time and total interest it will take to pay off the card balance if only minimum monthly payments are made).

Here is the White House blog post covering the credit card reform including a YouTube video and transcript of Obama’s speech.  Here is a great summary of the changes by the Consumer Union (publisher of Consumer Reports).

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Target is sponsoring free-admission events at museums and performing arts institutions.  Check this listing for the events in your area.

Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday so families across the world will be celebrating their respective moms.  Of course, like many other occasions, there’s usually some fare to purchase.  The good news is that since the date is predetermined every year as with every holiday, it’s easy to plan ahead and minimize the impact on your wallet.  Another bonus is that retailers, eager to peddle their goods and services, usually have special promotions and packages.

My plans?  My mom is going camping this weekend so I celebrated with her today and took her to lunch (helps to avoid the Mother’s Day crowds too).  One of the great things about my mom?  She didn’t even flinch when I pulled out a Restaurant.com coupon* I had lying around and was even happy that I was saving a few bucks.  Afterwards, we made a trip to the library and borrowed some DVDs for the mere price of library membership.  All in all, our Mother’s Day was a success without requiring my spending too much dough.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day!

* Restaurant.com 70% Off Code: TASTY (Expires 5/16/2009).

In times like these, sometimes it’s nice to forget all the economic dreariness and daydream of windfalls.  Whether it be an unexpected inheritance or the typical lottery victory, it’s nice to imagine the possibilities a large sum of money provides.  I was reading an article about some people who came into money and the life-changing effects.  This was accompanied by a video showing a sample of responses from people asked how they would spend $100 million.  Of course, there was a wide range of responses, from zany to impulsive to practical.  Take a look and maybe you’ll get some ideas for your own $100 million plan.

As for my thoughts, I would definitely splurge and knock some items off my Wants list.  With such a great sum of money, I would not think twice about buying a Lamborghini and a nice house in a nice neighborhood.  Those would only consume a tiny fraction of the total though so I can still be sensible and dedicate the vast majority to investments and cash.  And, if I ever were fortunate enough to stumble upon so much money, I’d have way more than I’d ever need and I’d give back generously to the various causes I believe in including education and environmental efforts.  These are just my general thoughts and I’m sure if I spent more time, I could come up with a more detailed plan.  If only this issue of what to do with $100 million were real, that would be a great problem to have.

Happy Earth Day everyone!  I’m in Washington, D.C. to attend some events and also take in some of the sights.

In honor of Earth Day, SolarRating.ca is offering free reports today.  All you have to do is log in.  Enjoy!