Net Worth Update: December 2010 – And So it Was

Net Change: +$3,944.14 Net Cashflow: +$825.46 Investment Performance: +$3,188.68 October 2010 S&P Performance: +5.2% Dining Out Spend: $ (313.79) This month, I barely noticed that the new year had come around, mainly because I had my head buried in essays and business school application forms.  But when it was all said and done, I hit … Read more

Is Education the Next Market Bubble?

I recently came across the above chart from Clusterstock’s Chart of the Day.  It shows the education “market” versus the rest of the market, during a period where we went through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  The question proposed by this chart is same one that was asked about real estate many … Read more

Net Worth Update: July 2010 – Blind Optimism

Net Change: +$5,485.64 Net Cashflow: +$2,571.20 Investment Performance: +$2,914.44 July 2010 S&P Performance: +6.9% Food Spend Monthly Improvement: $ (52.36) Dining Out: $ (308.03) Groceries: $ (217.55) What a difference one month makes.  Now the market is my best friend.  ;)  My Net Worth Goal (+$25K this year) would be easy to reach if I … Read more

Problems When Switching Over From Money to Quicken: Part 1

Before I made the switch over from Money to Quicken, I had heard a number of horror stories about people who had already gone through the process.  Everything from computer crashes and forced reboots to complete file corruption and loss of data.  You always have to take all of these with a grain of salt … Read more

Money Tips from CNN

CNN Money recently had an article titled “21 Best Money Tips Ever,” showing money tips from various well known pundits.  They included staples from the personal finance and investing world, with sage advice from both Jack Bogle and Warren Buffet.  After going through all the words of wisdom, my favorite came from Mark Cuban: “Unless … Read more

Should I Use My Flex Spending Account (FSA)?

The answer to this question for most people is undoubtedly YES, regardless of what medical expenses you expect to incur in the upcoming year. If your health insurance plan offers a Flex Spending Account, or FSA, in addition to your regular health insurance, it’s almost always wise to opt in.  An FSA allows you to … Read more

Net Worth Update: April 2010 – The Sky is Falling

Net Change: +$1,673.29 Investment Performance: +$277.14 Net Cashflow: +$1,396.15 Dining Out: $ (356.56) Groceries: $ (252.37) A good month overall, but as I write this, I already know that most of these gains have been wiped out by May’s poor investment performance.  This week the Dow dropped 1,000 points before recovering and ended the week … Read more