Search results for getting started
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Posted
Aug 10 2009, 04:52 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Kris called me at 7 the other night, just as I was sitting down to write the Friday "Ask the Readers" post. I was sorting through the week's questions when the phone rang.
"Are you busy?" she asked. "Can you do me favor?"
"Maybe," I said. "It depends on what it is."
"Ryan's car broke down," Kris said. "He's stranded here at the lab and can't get home. Can you give him a ride across town?"
"Sure," I said. But I did the mental math: The trip would take me a couple of hours. Because I hadn't yet started on the morning's post, I knew I'd be up late.
I drove to Kris' office to pick up Ryan. Ryan's a young man, just out of college. He did some temp work in the construction industry before getting a job as a scientist. He and his girlfriend are getting married in two weeks. They rented a house together and were supposed to have moved out of their apartment by tomorrow. With Ryan's car in the shop, that was going to be difficult.
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Posted
Aug 07 2009, 01:52 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Trust us. Monevator is not your run-of-the-mill personal-finance blog. "The Investor" can deal with rather high-brow topics like "the uncomfortable truths" of quantitative easing.
His ruminations on whether to buy an iPhone -- plus his analysis of his analysis -- probably exceed the mental energy some people expend before buying a house.
And this UK blogger has never had consumer debt. "The closest I've got to the D-word was in my second year at university, when I borrowed money from a friend between grant cheques to buy a stereo," he writes.
So, we were delighted interested to read that The Investor has made some money mistakes, just like the rest of us. But his are not typical.
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Posted
Aug 07 2009, 11:52 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What's life like for professional poker players, particularly those who earn their living online? An anonymous pro sheds some light on the occupation in a guest post at Budgets are Sexy.
It's a fascinating read, and enough to convince us we'd rather work at Wal-Mart than embark on multi-table tournament play. Too much stress. Too many possibilities to go broke going for broke.
Oh, and did we mention that while the legal status of online poker appears to be somewhat murky, the people who really count -- those at the U.S. Justice Department -- insist it's a crime?
According to The Associated Press, the Poker Players Alliance is lobbying Congress to pass a bill to license and regulate online poker, and return $30 million in poker winnings the government recently froze in the accounts of payment processors.
Here are some of the highlights from "Confessions of an online poker player":
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Posted
Jul 31 2009, 04:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
Recently the Tough Money Love blog had its first anniversary. To help me celebrate, I invited my blogging colleagues to tell us about a personal-finance lesson he or she learned the hard way. Many responded with their own versions of the hard truth.
I encourage you to read every one of their contributions for their entertainment and educational value.
Patrick at Cash Money Life writes:
I learned about high mutual fund expenses the hard way when I made my first mutual fund purchase. The fund was front-loaded and came with a 1.5% annual expense ratio. It gets worse. The fund basically mimicked the S&P 500, so an index fund with an expense ratio of 0.20 or less would have been a much more efficient way to go. It was an expensive lesson, but I learned that brokers do not always act in your best interest. Since then I have taken it upon myself to learn as much as I can about the basics of personal finance and investing.
Pinyo at Moolanomy shares his story about falling into vending machine hell:
The worst one I made was going to a "free" business opportunity seminar. This one was about candy vending machines. Got all pumped up about the opportunity without doing any research whatsoever. Then fell for the classic "buy your equipment today for half off -- a one-time-only deal." Well, you know how the rest of the story goes.
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Posted
Jul 28 2009, 01:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Jobless Jon Kolbe of Florida used every Internet avenue to find new employment -- Facebook, job boards, LinkedIn and Twitter. He created a Web site and an online contest called "Help Jon Kolbe Find a Job."
Nada. Nothing, until a stranger's tweet helped land his best lead in many months, The Miami Herald reports. It's more proof that Twitter is becoming a hot source for jobs. According to the Herald:
There are so many job messages being sent on Twitter that tools like TwitterJobSearch.com have been created to sort through jobs in various industries. There are more than 5,200 results for social media jobs and another 20,550 for the health care industry.
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Posted
Jul 28 2009, 10:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
As employers continue to cut jobs and with few signs of a hiring resurgence on the horizon, new job search statistics reveal an increased willingness among out-of-work Americans to pull up stakes and relocate to wherever positions are available.
If the still-budding upward trend continues, it could help reignite home sales in some areas of the country, particularly those with more job opportunities.
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Posted
Jul 24 2009, 02:44 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Providence, R.I., police were investigating information that girls under the age of 18 were working in local strip clubs. The cops were ready to make a move, but something stopped them. In the staid New England state, police were surprised to learn, stripping by 16-year-olds is legal.
File this under unseemly employment news. The Providence Journal reported that 16-year-olds can't legally run power saws on the job or work as roofers in Rhode Island -- or buy porn or be photographed in sexually suggestive ways -- but they can do a pole dance for pay, as long as they're not on the clock past 11:30 on school nights.
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Posted
Jul 21 2009, 04:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
How many job candidates have experienced the pain of rejection simply because they didn't know how to behave at an interview? Plenty, we'd guess.
And, after reading a post called "Top interview blunders" at My Life ROI, we suspect many applicants don't understand some interview basics. For instance, consider this real-life scene presented by blogger "MLR":
However, things got weird when he reached down and unzipped his backpack halfway through the interview.
What did he bring out? A deli sandwich, a bag of combos, and a bottle of soda. And he started eating his lunch while interviewing. I was polite and finished the interview, but he did NOT get a call back.
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Posted
Jul 21 2009, 11:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Tall men on average earn more than their shorter counterparts, a new Australian study says. How much more is the pay of a man who has a commanding stature?
"Nickel" at FiveCentNickel reported, "In fact, a two-inch height difference corresponds to an average income difference of nearly $1,000 a year."
This isn't the first time height has been found to have a relationship with income. A 2003 U.S. study said an extra seven inches of height equated to $5,525 more a year.
APA Online said that study also found that "the biggest correlation between height and salary appeared in sales and management positions -- careers in which customer perception has a major impact on success."
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Posted
Jul 17 2009, 01:19 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want to get rid of the alligators in the New York City sewerage system? Turn loose a couple of 25-foot Burmese pythons. Think of it as a mini Predator vs. Alien.
OK, alligators don't live in the NYC system, although the urban myth somehow persists, according to Snopes. But Burmese pythons, native to Southeast Asia, are thriving in the Florida Everglades. A census is difficult: Estimates have ranged from 10,000 to 150,000, but the one most often repeated is 100,000.
And they're eating everything in sight, not good for the environment. "Some have been found with grown bobcats and alligators inside them," said Tallahassee.com. Well fed, they can live to be 60 years old. (We found details about one alligator meal. The snake died when the ingested alligator pierced its body from within.)
The federal government has opened up nearby Big Cypress National Wildlife Refuge to a volunteer brigade of licensed python hunters, the Miami Herald reports. Also, the state is issuing permits to volunteer herpetologists to trap the snakes in the Everglades.
But there could be income opportunities in the future. ABC News reports:
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