Archive for May, 2009
« Previous EntriesHow Quickly Mortgage Rates Can Change, Affecting Your Payments
Friday, May 29th, 2009Think about this for a minute…
On Tuesday, the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at about 5.03%. That same mortgage had a rate of 5.44% on Thursday. To get an idea of what this means dollar-wise, I ran some numbers. Because mortgages are such big, long-term loans, small changes in interest [...]
There’s Only So Much an Advisor Can Do…
Thursday, May 28th, 2009This is the introduction to a Kiplinger article titled, Does Your Advisor Make the Grade?
Until last fall, Pam Nintrup thought the financial adviser she had hired two and a half years before was doing a good job. He’d consolidated her and her husband’s scattered accounts onto one statement and run computer scenarios to determine whether [...]
Consider This Before You Sign Up for Credit Card Insurance
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009I read a short article about credit card insurance in today’s Wall Street Journal and thought it would be fun to run some numbers to find out how much such a program would cost.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, credit card insurance is an insurance that supposedly makes your credit card payments in the [...]
The 20 Largest Homebuilders in Houston
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009The Houston Chronicle published the Chronicle 100 a week or so ago. In the issue was a table showing the twenty largest home builders in the Houston area and their year-over-year closings. Bottome line: 2008 was a BAD year (even in Houston)!
Kiplinger’s 10 Best Cities (it’s all about the jobs)
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009Here’s a quick look at Kiplinger’s 10 Best Cities for Jobs. I’m surprised that only one city from Texas made the list. Click on each city to go to Kiplinger’s write-up on each city.
No. 1: Huntsville, Alabama
No. 2: Albuquerque, New Mexico
No. 3: Washington D.C.
No. 4: Charlottesville, Virginia
No. 5: Athens, Georgia
No. 6: Olympia, Washington
No. [...]
My Plumbing is Fixed and I’m Happy!
Thursday, May 21st, 2009Yesterday was the first day our plumbing has worked properly in a LONG TIME!
As some of you may recall, I wrote about having plumbing issues over a year ago. The first plumber to give me an estimate, told me it would cost $6,700 to solve my problem. I put off making the repairs [...]
Coming June 1st, 2009…
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009I have been talking about doing a project for months. Now I’m finally ready to do something.
Beginning June 1st, I want to do a community book review of Napoleon Hill’s The Law of Success*. A cheaper version ($10.99 vs. $30) of the book has become available and I think it would make an [...]
Survey Says: Now is the Time to Talk to Teens About the Economy
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009This is a guest post by John M. Box, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Education, JA Worldwide. I meant to post this last week while I was on vacation but never got to it. Anyway, I think Junior Achievement is an important program so I’m happy to help them spread the word.
In our current economic [...]
Larry Winget: ‘The Secret’ is a Total Load of Crap!
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Once again, Larry hits the nail on the head with his latest blog post, ‘The Secret’ is a Total Load of Crap. In case you’re not familiar, ‘The Secret’ is a book that gained lots of attention when it was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I watched part of one of the [...]
I Feel Special…I Got a Black Card Invitation
Monday, May 18th, 2009In today’s mail came a Visa Black Card invitation. I feel so special! (Please note the sarcasm in that statement.)
Here is what the letter said:
Dear Mr. JLP,
It is my pleasure to invite you to apply for the exclusive Black Card. Limited to only 1% of the U.S. residents, Black Card members are ensured [...]