Think You're Cheap?
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273
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
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House -
Utilities
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Written by livecheap staff
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 02:35 |
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If you didn't need or want a new car and passed on the Cash for Clunkers program, you still have a chance to save with the new Cash for Appliances program. Unlike Clunkers, the new program is  run at the state level with each state getting an allocation and the ability to design their customized program. While some states like New York have already begun, others such as Florida, Texas, and California won't begin their programs until mid-April. Here's the lowdown on the new program and what it will mean for you.
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Read more: Cash For Appliances: Now and Coming Soon!
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271
(2 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Credit Cards
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 11:12 |
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A question from LiveCheap reader J E: "I have a $20,000+ loan currently at 17.99% interest rate for 55 months and I am considering refinancing it with a peer-to-peer  lender at 11% plus a $500 origination fee for 36 months. The payment on the new loan will be $681 vs $570 on the old loan. I am leery of peer-to-peer lending. I am a nurse with plenty of opportunity for overtime and I plan on at least paying double the payment, if not $800 or more. Can you tell me anything about peer-to-peer lending and whether I can trust them?"
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Read more: Does Refinancing Into a Peer-to-Peer Loan Make Sense?
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269
(3 votes, average 4.67 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Investing
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Friday, 05 March 2010 02:29 |
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There are many theories about why markets go up and down and become dramatically overvalued or undervalued. There are cycles of greed followed by fear that often explain the huge  variations in valuation. Take for instance the recent boom and collosal bust in housing. While academics tried to explain housing price increases based on demographic factors, we all know that greed and the bandwagon had a far more to do with it. And the inability for housing prices to stop their fall today, inspite of massive government intervention, low interest rates, and decade-low prices in some areas, has more to do with the fear that keeps people on the sidelines than any logical calculations on the cost to own vs. rent. One theory I like is what's refered to as the "Strong Hands - Weak Hands" view of market. It was created in the 1930s after the stock market crash. If you understand the theory, you'll understand why most of the gibberish that you hear on CNBC or the popular media is dead wrong.
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Read more: Strong Hands, Weak Hands: Live Cheap to Be Strong
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267
(4 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Taxes
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Tuesday, 02 March 2010 02:54 |
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One of the key problems with understanding our national debt is how huge it is --- over $12  trillion dollars. Most people can't fathom it. A trillion is so big that nobody really can get their arms around it. And we have 12 of those trillions in debt. Here are 7 ways of visualizing the national debt to give you insight into how obscenely large it is.
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Read more: The National Debt: 7 Different Ways to Visualize How Big it Is
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270
(3 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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Food -
Restaurants
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Monday, 08 March 2010 03:03 |
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Over the last two years, I have increasingly used Yelp to help me make dining decisions. And  generally speaking, I've benefited from being able to use it to find new restaurants. It helped me locate one of the best, cheapest Chinese restaurants in town and a nice spot for Jamaican food that I had written off under prior management. But a recent experience clued me in to one of the dirty little secrets behind Yelp's business model that many people are calling extortion. It literally and figuratively left a bad taste in my mouth and made me question whether Yelp can be trusted.
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Read more: Can You Trust Yelp?
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268
(4 votes, average 5.00 out of 5)
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House -
Buying Real Estate
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Written by Omie Ismail
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 08:18 |
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While you can debate whether it is better to buy a home or rent, there is no debating that on average, Americans save very little. Before the recession kicked in, Americans spent 2 to 5 percent MORE than they made. In other words, collectively, we had a negative savings rate. One of the most important features of buying a house is that it forces you to save money every month at ever increasing rates. Here's how it works and how to make sure that you don't get off the savings path with home ownership.
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Read more: Your Home: A Forced Savings Account
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266
(4 votes, average 4.75 out of 5)
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Personal Finance -
Education
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Written by livecheap staff
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Monday, 01 March 2010 02:54 |
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When you are poor, managing your expenses is fairly easy. If you don't have money, it's hard to justify buying anything non-essential. Lack of money breeds a mentality of cheap living out of necessity. But as your household income grows, your ability to spend on non-essentials grows with it. How many people have seen their income double over five to ten years but have nothing to show for it?
The problem is that as income increases, our mindset changes. We begin to think we are wealthier and our tastes and expenses undermine our income progress. Over years, we develop a sense of entitlement from thousands of hours of hard work. After all, we earned it, didn't we?
But it's that sense of entitlement that keeps us from becoming wealthy. If you want to get rich, you have to mentally act as if you are poor, even if you are a long way from that. Here's five assumptions you can make that will help you build wealth by curtailing your expenditures.
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Read more: 5 Ways to Act Poor and Build Wealth
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