July 2009

Money happens…

July 12, 2009

SDXB, a fellow who found his way clear to jump off the hamster wheel in his late 40s and never went back to the workplace, is fond of saying that “money happens.” By that he means that he never seems to lack for money (and it’s true he lives well, despite having little or no [...]

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The not-enough-long-green blues

July 11, 2009

{sigh} Over at Room Farm, Chance was  down in the dumps yesterday, worried about paying off the ginormous debt and feeling overwhelmed by all those little chores given to piling up if your attention is even briefly distracted. Annoying computer is again not letting me speak on Room Farm…some days it works, others it doesn’t. [...]

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Moments of Fame

July 10, 2009

w00t! Funny made editor’s choice in not one but two of this week’s carnivals: the Carnival of Personal Finance at Darwin’s Finance (with What’s a Master’s Degree Worth?) and the Carnival of Money Stories at My Journey to Millions (with Identity Theft: Three Ways to Fight It). Meanwhile, Adam at Your Money Relationship kindly included [...]

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The DIY Dog Food Chef: Should you feed bones to your dog?

July 10, 2009

As regular readers know, I feed Cassie the Corgi real food: a carefully calibrated combination of starch, vegetables, and cooked meat plus canine vitamins. Easy to fix and unlikely to be contaminated with adulterants such as melamine. It being summer, we’re both developing cabin fever: when it’s 105-degrees plus, the pavement is too hot for [...]

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Foil debit card hacking and balance inquiries

July 9, 2009

Did you know you can use your debit card without entering a PIN? Identity thieves hacking into merchants’ hardware and software and stealing customers’ PINs have made using a debit card risky business. And some merchants, such as gas stations, transmit balance inquiries each time you use a debit card, racking up bank charges. Here’s [...]

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Update: Programmable thermostat vs. electric bill

July 9, 2009

Comes a new electric bill in the mail. You may recall that last month I had another kitten because the revered Salt River Project presented a bill that was $37 higher than the June 2008 bill, when (all things being equal) last winter’s 3 percent rate hike should have delivered a $13 increase. Two factors [...]

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