Common Cents

Do record setting temps = record setting bills?

2005-07-27T10:34:54-08:00

My electric bill hit an all-time high of $208.61 for the month of June. I should receive my July bill shortly. I'm almost certain that the record heat in North Carolina will cause another record electric bill. Are you feeling the heat too?

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Another Month, Another Record: New Home Sales

2005-07-27T10:15:02-08:00

According to a Census Bureau report, New Home Sales in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.374 million vs. market expectations of 1.3 million. May sales were revised up to 1.321 million from 1.271 million. Does this tell us anything?

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Stupid Investment: Diamond Rings

2005-07-22T11:04:21-08:00

When I purchased the engagement ring back in February, I gave no thought of it as an investment. I hope I never have to sell the thing - I don't want to find out if if appreciates or not. Chuck Jaffe of MarketWatch tackles this topic today.

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July 2005: pf Dashboard

2005-07-21T09:29:16-08:00

I'm late in posting my July dashboard numbers. These are updated on the 15th of every month. My net worth did grow, even though it did not grow by a lot ($800). My MBA tuition for this semseter is due, so that's hurting my numbers for July. My 401K and ...

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National Savings Rate

2005-07-20T11:48:04-08:00

Many folks are writing about the National Savings Rate. What are they saying? What is the Natinoal Savings Rate? These questions and others are answered below.

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No Size Fits All

2005-07-20T08:51:22-08:00

What do the following have in common? "Get rich quick" schemes, "retire a millionaire" books, and "do this now" advice from finance blogs .... they're all forms of personal finance education. Although any can change your life and help you on the road to financial success, nothing should be viewed ...

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End-of-Month Updates

2005-06-29T14:11:42-08:00

There's only one day left in the month (and in the sales quarter). This is a big deal to sales folks and is the primary reason why I haven't posted much this week. Here are a few updates:

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Wheat Pennies & Morgan Dollars

2005-06-28T07:40:20-08:00

I spent the past weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. That's where my bride-to-be was born and raised. Unfortunately, the main purpose of this visit was to start working on cleaning up the house she grew up in -- she and her sister will be selling it later this year ...

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China isn't Cheap!

2005-06-21T14:33:34-08:00

Nope, this isn't a discussion on Chinese prices. We have almost finished the process of creating our gift registries for the wedding. That's a good thing, since the wedding is in September and wedding showers are starting in a couple of weeks. I found registering for gifts to really not ...

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End of Quarter Push

2005-06-21T11:10:11-08:00

Working in an enviroment that pays for performance can be challenging and rewarding. I'm in a situation where a portion of my pay is determined by the amount of software I sell on both a quarterly and annual basis. Commission-based selling is definitely challenging & rewarding, but can sometimes be ...

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Damaged Goods make Good Deals

2005-06-17T07:53:14-08:00

Here's a Friday fun story that details what I had to deal with earlier this week. The lesson of the story is to not be afraid of asking for a discount, the worst they can say is no.

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Financial Conversation for Newlyweds

2005-06-16T10:33:13-08:00

We're 86 days away from the wedding. Here's a conversation that took place over e-mail today between me and the bride-to-be.

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June 2005: pf Dashboard

2005-06-16T10:07:40-08:00

I have completed my Financial Dashboard and Retirement Tracking tool. I will begin publishing the results monthly -- on or around the 15th of every month. I haven't figured out an easy way to post this as a table, so this month the results will be listed out. I'm excited ...

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50 Things to do with your $$

2005-06-10T12:59:01-08:00

Buy running shoes, go back to school, buy quality stocks .... These are all things you can do with your hard earned money. Do they make sense?

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Summer Reading

2005-06-09T11:46:32-08:00

Summer has hit in North Carolina. Daily high temperatures have been in the 90's all week, with high humidity and scattered severe thunderstorms. I found that writing down my June financial goals helped me to stick to them. I figure it's reasonable to believe the same would hold true if ...

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pf Ratios for my Dashboard

2005-06-08T09:32:21-08:00

I'm making progress on my Personal Finance dashboard, which was discussed in my June pf Goals post. This process has been an eye-opener and many ways and I encourage everyone to build something to track your financial results. I'm working on ratios now -- what can financial ratios tell me?

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Monkeys need Pfblog too!

2005-06-08T07:37:24-08:00

Dubner and Levitt (authors of Freakonomics) take on the idea that monkeys can be taught to use money as a means of trade. If that's the case it proves my point that personal finance is 90% common sense. I wonder if the monkeys read pfblog?

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Fidelity Measures Retirement Savings

2005-06-07T15:23:59-08:00

Fidelity announced today that the typical working American household has $18,750 saved for retirement. Fidelity plans to measure this and other retirment investment figures and release their findings twice a year.

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Emergency Savings

2005-06-06T08:14:29-08:00

Do you have a set amount of savings dedicated for "emergency" situations? If so, how is that level determined? Is it a percentage of net worth -- or dependent on the amount of money you would need for X months? In the past I have put as much money away ...

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Calculating Home Equity

2005-06-03T09:32:11-08:00

I'm working on a method to track my Net Worth on a monthly basis and display my personal finance key indicators on a dashboard. Part of this process is figuring out a way to calculate Home Equity. The factors I'm taking into consideration are discussed within this post.

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Entrepreneurial Idea: Framing & Matting

2005-06-02T09:28:00-08:00

I have always wanted to start my own business. Over the years I have created plans in my mind for everything from fly-fishing shops to appraisal services. That's the problem though, I have never taken the next step of actually doing something with my mental plan. Will this time be ...

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June '05 - Pf Goals

2005-06-01T11:23:53-08:00

This is my first month of setting financial goals and tracking my progress via the Common Cents blog. The items below is what I plan to work on during the month of June. I'll update my progress along the way.

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Take your vacation days!

2005-05-31T08:18:03-08:00

Do you take all of your paid vacation days throughout the course of a year? Surprisingly, most Americans let their vacation days on the table. Why do we do that? And what are we missing out on by doing so?

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Why Common Cents?

2005-05-27T14:34:48-08:00

I introduced Common Cents on May 17th. In my inaugural post, you will find a brief introduction of me and a 30,000 foot view of what I want this blog to be. Now I'd like to describe the reasoning behind the name Common Cents.

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Solar Window Film battles High Heating Bills

2005-05-27T11:13:19-08:00

The building I work in has a glass exterior. This allows for great views from the inside, and gives the campus of my employer a modern look. I have always wondered 2 things about these buildings -- why are they reflective, and how does the company afford to keep the ...

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$50 Baseball Cap

2005-05-27T08:53:27-08:00

Here's a Friday-fun post. I'm going to spend $50 dollars on a baseball cap this summer. No, it's not an ebay sports memorabilia purchase or cap made of gold, rather a brand new baseball cap from my favorite team -- the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Couldn't I get one at ...

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Plan to win the Lottery

2005-05-26T07:30:42-08:00

Would you quit your job & purchase a small carribean island if you won the lottery today? Or maybe give it all to charity? Planning to win the lottery can be an important personal finance exercise.

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Clicking for Carats

2005-05-25T09:26:43-08:00

Would you buy an engagement ring online? A recent article from CBS MarketWatch gives the pros and cons of clicking for carats.

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Economic Indicator - New Home Sales

2005-05-25T07:58:18-08:00

Another record setting economic indicator was released today -- new Home Sales in April reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.316 million. Sales surged 37.2% in the Northeast market and rose 2.8% in the West. Sales fell 5.3% in the South and dropped 0.5% in the Midwest. What does ...

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$30K Wedding Budget?

2005-05-24T13:33:13-08:00

My wedding is 3 months and 17 days away. We are paying for the majority of the wedding -- and we have not discussed a budget. Are we just days away from an all-out meltdown?

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Economic Indicator - Existing-Home Sales

2005-05-24T08:36:42-08:00

The National Association of Realtors reported a new record for existing-home sales today. Sales of existing homes rose 4.5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.18 million. What does this mean? -- and how does this relate to personal finance?

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In Sickness & In Health

2005-05-23T13:38:40-08:00

I've spent the better part of the past 5 days in the hospital with my bride-to-be, due to her having an emergency appendectomy. We talk openly about finances and the merging of our financial ideas, but I realize there will be many interesting -- if not entertaining -- situations that ...

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Advancing Common Cents

2005-05-17T11:37:04-08:00

Welcome to Common Cents, my experience in blogging. I have joined the PfBlog network to promote the importance of Personal Finance in our lives. I'll discuss why I chose the name "Common Cents" later on this week. For now, please read on below to find out a little more about ...

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