Back a generation or so ago, when you turned 18 or hit some milestone in your early 20s, it was time to immediately move out of the house either start college or a family.

This is not the case anymore, as more and more twentysomethings are staying at home longer than in recent memory. While it is clear the economy is forcing this in many cases and is probably a smart decision in order to not fall into deep debt, it doesn’t mean your life is over. It is what you do during this time that counts the most.

As the New York Times article before the jump states, the Pew Research Center found that 56 percent of men 18-to-24 years old and 48 percent of women either had to move back home or never left. While many are doing this because they are unemployed — 46 percent of 16-to-24 year old people living at home, according to the study — more than half do have jobs.

Now, they could be underemployed or any other reason. I lived at home for a year and a half after graduating from Seton Hall. During this time I had two short-term periods of unemployment, but most of the time I did have a full-time job and was simply looking for the right living situation before taking the plunge.

I don’t want to get into whether or not it is right to live at home rent-free (or vastly reduced rates) with your parents — I understand both sides of the argument. It is important, though, to be utilizing your time and money wisely while you are at home.

For the unemployed, don’t take this as a time to just sit on the couch and watch Maury Povich while waiting for your mother to come home and make meatloaf. Spend each day looking for work in your field — scour Web sites, send out your resume, and make a routine for yourself as if you were out in the working world. It’ll be harder to fall into abject laziness and depression at not having a job that way. Help out around the house; clean a little, help with making some dinners, and fix your younger siblings’ homework. (See? That college degree was worth it!)

You may also want to consider getting a part-time job to make some extra money. This can not only help you pay any bills such as student loans from lenders who don’t care if you are living at home without a steady income, but can also get you out of the house and feel like you are contributing.

For those who are employed, make sure you sock away as much cash as possible for an emergency fund and toward living on your own. You could very easily take all of the extra money you have now and blow it on partying, clothes, and other items. Use some of your money for that, but take advantage of not paying for rent, food, utilities, etc. while you can. I was able to sock away approximately $10,000 extra when I lived at home, and I have been thankful for every penny.

Not sure where to start when it comes to saving? First, take a look at my recent post on the topic of tangible savings. Also, this article on Wall Street Journal’s Web site goes into some of the ways we can save money now that can pay dividends later. Some of the suggestions include walking or biking to work (essentially, public transportation can be cheaper, easier, and less stressful than driving every day if you can help it), conserve energy in your home, curb vices like smoking, eat out less, and manage your credit card spending.

The money you save can go toward an emergency fund or the security deposit on that apartment that just became available — the one that’s a stone’s throw away from your new job. Your life isn’t over if you fail to find a job and have to move back home. Stuff happens. Just remember that your life won’t stop either — keep taking steps (however small) to move forward regardless of what life decides to throw at you.

PriceDoc.com – new national site that lists doctors who will post their prices and may negotiate with patients.

Upromise.com – shopping portal where merchants give percentage of sale towards a 529 education savings account, for college expenses; money can also be used to pay off existing Sallie Mae student loans.

FatWallet.com – site offers coupons and “cash back” deals with a social shopping forum that chats about bargains and deals

So did everyone survive their eating binges?  Did everyone survive black Friday?  Gee, Thanksgiving is quite the glutenous holiday, isn’t it?

Well for struggling person like me, there’s nothing better than eating at mom’s and bringing home tons of leftovers.  We haven’t had  to cook or go food shopping in days.  Sure, the taste of stove top stuffing is getting a bit old but it keeps an extra couple of bucks in the pocket so I really can’t complain.  And when we’re down to just a few scraps left of food, my advice, throw it all together and make a casserole or a fritatta.  Those really help stretching a budget.  I hope my boyfriend likes a fritatta with turkey and potatoes (sounds pretty good right?)

I didn’t brave the sales and lines of Black Friday because I was feeling lazy and bloated.  I did however, take advantage of some of the online sales happening today which is Cyber Monday.  Cyber Monday was originally started when people noticed that the Monday after Thanksgiving was the biggest day for online orders because people took advantage of the fast speed of the internet at their offices when they returned from Thanksgiving break.  Now companies are just rolling with it, even though these days everyone has a fast enough internet connection to just shop online all weekend.

Some good sales to note today include Amazon’s free shipping for orders above $25.00 (and make sure to check your gold box today for some cyber deals),  Macys.com free shipping on orders above $75, and GAP.com free shipping plus 20% off any purchase when you enter promo code: MONDAY.   Keep in mind that the gap.com offer includes all of their brands (old navy, gap, banana republic, and piperlime.)

Don’t forget to check all website prices if you’re buying dvds.  You don’t want to miss a good deal.  I check all my dvd price comparisons on http://www.dvdpricesearch.com/ so that I know I’m getting the best deal.  And on a day like today, most of the places have free shipping.

Also, if you’re like me and love to give “little somethings” to pretty much everyone they know (rough on the wallet, good on the heart) check out www.candlestomydoor.com To be completely honest, there’s no super great deal here other than a free votive with your order but small candles at outlet prices make great stocking stuffers.

Every year I say I will do the holiday shopping on a budget, hopefully with all of these sales and tools at my disposal, I can actually stick to it!

This poor blog has been a bit neglected the past couple of weeks, but my family has been well taken care of.  I am ready to get back into the swing of things and enjoy a Blessed December!

Here are some upcoming plans and posts. Tune back in everyday this week for lots of links & ideas!

~ Do you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area? There are some fun holiday activities going on and I will have a list to share.

~ There are also some fun events going on in Bloggyworld!

~ We are going to make a Jesus Box this year.

~ We are spending the afternoon creating Christmas Countdown Calendars (so I can quit answering “How many more days until Christmas?”).

~ I have lots of Advent links to share. There are so many good ideas that I’m having a hard time narrowing down what I want to do this year!

~ I like to do Funschool in December. We will be studying the history behind the symbols of Christmas. Here are my Funschool Links from last year to keep you busy until I get the new links up.

~ Are you having a homemade Christmas this year? Money is tight for many of us. I will be sharing links for lots of ideas to make for all ages.  Things like: candy & treats, gifts in a jar, toys, and lots more!

~ And of course I will be sharing lots of money-saving *Jingles* !!

Home energy saving, make solar panels at home!

http://842cdksckvbw6uc5ob855z0odw.hop.clickbank.net/

My wife and I started developing the replacement fund idea right before we started packing for our last move. As do many couples, we seemed to have a lot of things, that we either didn’t use, or only used a handful of times. As we started to pack we starting dreading packing, moving and unpacking all these things we rarely even used. We wondered why we had all this “stuff”.

Now let me just say, we live lightly. Most of our friends and family have far more “things” in their lives. My point? If we can benefit from using a replacement fund, there is no doubt most Americans could!

The replacement fund idea: Sell or shed all belongings you don’t have an immediate need for. Take the funds you raise doing this and save them in a separate ”replacement fund”. If you ever actually do have the need to use these items, purchase them using these funds! The basic theory is you won’t use all the “things” you think you might. Save the remainder, and use it for things you do actually need.

A quick note for those who like to be prepared. This doesn’t mean you need to shed your emergency supply of water, or 5 gallons of gasoline. It doesn’t mean you should be unprepared. We are simply talking about things that are not survival items, but rather everyday consumer electronics, books, and other non-life threating items.

The benefits:

• You will be keeping less things (save on storage, live a less cluttered life, can buy a smaller home etc.)
• You will be left with only things that you rely on and use frequently
• You will have funds set aside, for when you actually do need to buy something or “replace” something
• You will make interest on your “replacement funds”
• You may possibly need less homeowners/renters insurance
• You can more easily take care of the fewer items you do have
• You will view your possessions with a new perspective. “Would I rather have $30 or this old iPod we used once last year?”

You will be surprised how many things you have around that are just sitting there. First go with your large items (furniture, cars, tools). Once you get the hang of it you can move on to the smaller stuff (books, DVDs, electronics) Below are a few (of the many) items that we ended up selling rather than packing.

At this very moment, we have a little less than $2,000 sitting in our replacement fund, and we don’t miss a thing!

• Portable DVD Player (My wife’s new laptop does the job better!) (Sold for $80 Amazon.com)
• Waffler Maker we used once in the last 3 years ($25 Craigslist)
• Old Laptop in the closet, given to us a few years ago($80 ebay)
• Ti-89 Graphing Calculator from my high school days! ($75 ebay)
• Many more items! (Old CD’s, DVD’s, Books I never would read again etc)

You can see it adds up quicker than you would expect. After a month or so of liquidating our extra stuff, we started to look at our possessions with a different perspective. Is that $30 calculator getting enough use to justify not selling it? If “your item” was a $20 dollar bill would you just leave it there in the drawer? Or would you rather have it in your “replacement fund”?

Now you skeptics are thinking, that sounds like a lot of work. But How? How do we sell our things? Doesn’t this take a lot of time? What if I sell something that I end up needing? I like my stuff, and dont want to part with it…

All this and more in my next post!

Talking Point: Can you think of anything you have, that you may not use ever again?  Would you rather have a nice collection of stuff you might use, or a nice collection of cash ready to be spent in the bank?

Having just thrown what many said was a fantastic Cocktail party, here are a couple of tips.

a.  While I don’t often look at junk mail, if you are going to do a large shop, write a list and look through the different brochures. Alcohol and fruit can vary greatly between shops on opposite sides of the road, and sometimes the smaller specialty shops are cheaper.

b.  Instead of having pizzas delivered which ususally results in wastage, buy bulk frozen ones and then spread them out over the night (adding your own toppings too). This also gives the more shy guests a reason to walk around and meet others (by playing “offerer of food”).

**Viewer Discretion Advised**

Serious lack of funny

Well, if I could afford Tivo, I would really like to rewind this commercial when it comes on so I could have a second chance at finding the joke.  Seriously, I miss it every time.  Those folks over at Geico must do a really good job hiding it because I’m almost convinced there actually is no joke.

Anyways, I guess the whole point of this commercial is to show you how much money you could be saving if you switched to Geico.  What confuses me is this little money stack with eyes is supposed to represent that “money which could have been saved” but since you would have already spent that money with your other insurance company, does that mean that that money stack with eyes is a ghost of your spent money?  It would have to be a ghost because if it was physically there, then that would mean you never spent that money on the other insurance company.  And if you never spent it on the other insurance company, then you just took out a stack of money for no fucking reason and glued eyes on it, not saving anything.  Mindfuck.  But that’s just looking too far into a commercial that doesn’t deserve any type of thought.  Not only is this commercial incredibly unfunny, the song played at the end is like a parasite that latches on to your brain and forces you to replay that song over and over and over until you finally manage to forget it.  And as soon as you do, another one of this fucking stupid commercials comes on.  I really don’t have anything else to say about it because my brain has suffered enough from watching them let alone talking about them.

Verdict:  Geico cavemen are funnier, and that’s not saying much

What to do when it comes on:

Mute:  Silence it.

Look away:  You’ll be sorry if you don’t

It’s Friday afternoon about three o’clock. The sun is beating down on you as you finish packing your car. It’s vacation day and your kids aren’t letting you forget that; the constant question asking and “Daddy hurry up!”’s are hindering you from completing your goal: getting your portable DVD player to work.

That’s a scenario I’m sure a lot of families have. Maybe you can relate too. Portable electronics such as DVD players, laptops, and small TV’s are all great on road trips but they all share one fatal requirement: power. That sounds like an easy problem right? Wrong. Most portable electronics come with your standard wall plug-in, which is something that just about every vehicle doesn’t have. So now you need a power inverter – something that not very many people have just lying around.

It’s probably time to get one.

Power inverters are great inventions that are life savers if you need to plug something in on the road. Power inverters are also fun to say. Power inverters. See, doesn’t that sound all technical? Anyway, there are different sizes of power inverters so it’s a good idea to pick one that has the necessary capacity to power what you’ll be using. I personally have a 2000 peak-watt power inverter that I have hard wired into my truck’s battery, which frees up another power point to use on something like a GPS.

Since we’re assuming your vehicle doesn’t have stock DVD players or plug ins (the latter more rare than the former) we’re going to continue to assume that you’ve bought an inverter. Great, now the main thing you have to watch for is not maxing out the machine. Some inverters have displays that show you the amount of power that is being used by your devices plugged into it. That’s really handy since you’ll be able to prevent that annoying, high-pitched buzzer that will sound if you’ve overloaded it. If yours doesn’t have a display, that’s ok, just don’t get too alarmed if you hear that noise.

Now you’ve heard some scenarios and things to do with a power inverter. What’s the next step? Go buy one and take a road trip!

Author: Peter J Kenny
Source: articledashboard.com

If you are a student or have recently graduated, then there a large number of bank accounts and financial products designed specifically for you. Although students used to be much derided for the large government grants they received,, hrsaccount, those days are long gone and students today have to be financially astute, hrsaccount, in order to avoid large debts. If you are a student or recent graduate then here are some tips about, hrsaccount, the types of accounts to look for.

Why so many student accounts?

Student and graduate accounts are more and more common, and they usually have a wide range of, hrsaccount, , hrsaccount, features and good rates. Although students are generally fairly poor and cannot pay back money, hrsaccount, they borrow, banks want to offer these accounts to students in the hope that, hrsaccount, they, hrsaccount, will remain loyal to their company once they are earning good, hrsaccount, money.

Student accounts

When you go to university you might have a simple current account, but the best thing to do is to open a dedicated student account.

Student accounts offer a wide range of benefits,, hrsaccount, including vouchers and discounts for clothing and record shops. However, the most important part of your student account is the interest-free overdraft

Overdrafts

When you are at university, hrsaccount, it is likely, hrsaccount, that at some point you are going to need an, hrsaccount, overdraft facility to handle the fees whilst not bringing in a lot of, hrsaccount, money. Therefore it is essential that you pick an account, hrsaccount, with a good interest-free overdraft limit, hrsaccount, .

, hrsaccount, Try and find the, hrsaccount, bank that has the highest, hrsaccount, level of interest-free overdraft,, hrsaccount, because any unauthorised borrowing will cost you a lot of money.

Overall package

Although the overdraft limit is, hrsaccount, important,, hrsaccount, you should look at the overall account package. Look at other fees and charges that the bank applies to your account, as well as the extra benefits on offer. Some student accounts, hrsaccount, will offer students a credit card with their account amongst other benefits.

Try and find the best overall account package for your needs.

Dedicated support

In, hrsaccount, addition to the account benefits, you need to make sure that, hrsaccount, the student account you choose has dedicated support, as this can help you when times are tough. An even better option is a bank that has a branch on your campus, because a dedicated student bank, hrsaccount, , hrsaccount, manager is more likely to be sympathetic to your financial difficulties. Online banking is also something to look out for, as this can help you move funds and pay bills quickly when you need to, as well as helping you to closely monitor your spending.

Graduate accounts

Once you have finished university, many banks will offer you an upgrade to a graduate account. It is worth looking at these when you get your student account, as the right student and graduate package can really help you to move smoothly from student to worker. Whatever package you choose, don’t be afraid to move accounts and banks, and shop around before you make any decision.

Can I just say I’m an AMAZING gift giver.

I give the best gifts ever(because I will shop for DAYS to make sure you get from me something you will love.) And also because I hate giving gift cards .

But Im not judging if you do.

*Cough* Hell, I think I’m going to go that route for three family friends this year.

But for those of you for whom gift giving is stressful, I’ve heard some good things about this site.

I think most of the things are American, but hopefully it shouldn’t be to hard to find similar items on this side of the border.

If nothing else it’ll get your mind thinking of new ideas, right?

Monday, November 23, 2009 1:51 PM

A page one, top-of-the-fold New York Times report Monday warns that U.S. debt is rising so fast that the federal government is careening toward a “payment shock” in the not-too-distant future.

The Times lead headline read: “Federal Government Faces Balloon in Debt Payments: At $700 Billion a Year, Cost Will Top Budgets for 2 Wars, Education, Energy.”

The Times headline appears eerie just as the Senate moves to push forward on a radical healthcare reform — with CBO estimates for a final bill costing nearly $1 trillion dollars over the next year.

The national debt now stands at over $12 trillion and the White House estimates that the cost of servicing the debt will rise to more than $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year. The Times suggests that $700 billion annual payment cost may be conservative.

The additional $500 billion a year in interest payments would surpass the combined budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security, plus the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times observes.

Treasury officials face not only huge new debts incurred in response to the economic meltdown but a balloon of short-term borrowings coming due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are certain to return to normal levels when the Federal Reserve concludes that the fiscal emergency has passed.

Link to Article

I’ve finally started my Christmas shopping!!!

I just bought a CPB for my nephew as a Christmas present.
He may not even be two yet but school is hella expensive now – just IMAGINE how much more its gonna be in 16 years *faints*.

Anyway I’d never heard of them before until recently and thought I’d share.

So whats a Canada Savings Bond (CSB)/Canada Premium Bond (CPB)?
The Canada Savings Bond/ Premium Bond is  a secure loan made to the GoC that they pay you interest on as well as repaying the principal on the maturity date. 

 CSB’s can be redeemed at any time during the year so if you buy one in November 2009 but need to cash it out April 2010, you can. They have a ten-year term of maturity with interest rates announced for shorter periods of time (a year) and remain in effect for the duration of that period.

CPB’s can only be redeemed each year on the anniversary of the issue date and 30 days after. So if you bought your bond November 1, 2009 you can only redeem it once a year from November 1 – 30. Because of this they have a higher interest rate (relative word considering today’s economy) that are announced for three years when issued and stay in effect for the entire three years. The interest rates can go up if the economy improves, but it won’t go lower than the fixed amount.

Both are available in regular and compound interest and can be bought for as little as $100 (i.e makes a good gift).

PS – They only go on sale once a year from about early October until April, so if you’re looking to buy any start researching now.

For more information visit the CSB site

FYI – This isn’t a paid post or anything of the sort. It’s just a new discovery I made that I wanted to pass along to the rest of my Canadian friends.

Have a great weekend everyone!

If you are a fiduciary for your employer’s retirement savings plan, you already know that life isn’t getting any simpler. Lawsuits against plan fiduciaries are on the upswing, and some fiduciaries have been found personally liable for plan losses under ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

What you may not know is that neither your company’s directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance nor the bond that all retirement plan sponsors are required by law to carry will indemnify you for claims involving benefit plans. The former excludes such claims; the latter covers only plans themselves. Instead, you need fiduciary-liability insurance, and if you don’t know whether you have it, you should find out.

This wasn’t such an urgent issue a decade ago. But the litigation landscape began to change in 2004 when 10 former outside directors of Enron Corp. were together forced to cough up $1.5 million of their own money, without recourse to insurance or indemnification, to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor. The suit alleged mismanagement of employee retirement funds, which were heavily invested in Enron stock that became worthless after the company imploded in an accounting scandal. Prior to that time, the idea that corporate officers or directors might have to open their own wallets to settle such a case was virtually unthinkable.

Since then, the floodgates have opened, with plaintiffs’ lawyers filing dozens of lawsuits against retirement plan sponsors and their executives who, they claim, committed a variety of fiduciary mistakes, from countenancing exorbitant vendor fees to stocking their plans with inappropriate investment options. Some of the cases have been dismissed, but many continue to grind their way through the court system. All the while, defense costs are accruing.

Link to Article

By Jeff Clark
Stowe, Vermont

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll have a mania in gold. And because the gold and especially silver markets are so tiny, the rush into them will be like trying to push the contents of Hoover Dam through a garden hose. Our positions will go absolutely ballistic.” – Doug Casey, September 2009

There’s certain to be a rush into gold and silver, and buying before Main Street catches gold fever is the only way to play this trend. Because when Midas fever hits, prices will explode to the upside, for both the metals and the stocks. How do we know that?

First, let’s look at gold. If we added up all the gold ever mined on the planet, its total value would equal no more than $5 trillion at today’s prices. Yet, look at how this compares to the debt and bailouts and other monetary mischief of current governments…

Let’s make this chart very clear. Of the $5 trillion in gold ever mined…

• The US government has thrown over twice as much at the economy in the past 12 months.
• The US debt is more than double this amount so far this year.
• Total global government bailouts are almost four times larger (and this is a conservative figure; one estimate puts it at $24 trillion).

I intended to include annual gold production as one of the comparisons, but the chart isn’t big enough and neither is your monitor: 2008’s global gold production equaled about $73 billion, and to make that figure discernable on the chart would require the Global Bailouts bar to hit the ceiling above your head. That’s how small the gold market is.

The implications are undeniable: when the greater public rushes into gold – whether in response to inflation, dollar woes, war, whatever – the price will be forced up by an order of magnitude.

While physical gold will protect our wealth, it’s the gold stocks that can potentially make us wealthy.

Once again, to get a sense of the Lilliputian size of the gold industry, I compared it to several other leading industries and stocks.

The value, as measured by market capitalization, of all gold producers around the world is less than Wal-Mart’s. Every gold stock would need to nearly double just for the industry to match ExxonMobil. The oil and gas industry is about 12 times bigger.

When your neighbors and relatives and co-workers and friends all start clamoring to buy gold stocks, the pressure on prices will be enormous, rocketing our positions upwards.

Meanwhile – and admitting we’re first and foremost gold bugs – the picture for silver is even more dramatic. The potential for silver stocks is jaw dropping.

If the gold industry is tiny, then silver’s $9 billion market cap makes it a nano industry. The entire silver industry is over 21 times smaller than gold’s! If gold explodes, silver will go supernova.

Consider these macro-facts about a micro-market and what they reveal about silver’s enormous potential:

• There are over 200 companies in the S&P 500 with a market cap larger than the entire market of silver producers.
• There are five times more gold stocks than silver.
• Total silver production in 2008 was valued around $10.3 billion (at today’s prices). That represents just 1.5% of the $700 billion bailout last year, and 0.006% of the current US monetary base.
• Of the 20 largest silver producers, only five actually call themselves a “silver” company, due to the fact that about 73% of all silver mined is a byproduct of other metals mining.

Any flood into the silver market would overwhelm it. In other words, the rise will be stunning. While it’s not going to happen tomorrow, I strongly suggest you get on board before that rocket ship takes off.

Just putting these charts together stirred my feelings of restlessness, making me anxious for the mania in precious metals to arrive. But the timing is not up to us. Be patient, because if you’re invested in gold and silver and the respective, high-quality stocks, you’re on the right side of this trend.

Regards,

Jeff Clark
Senior Editor, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report
for The Daily Reckoning
By Jeff Clark
Stowe, Vermont

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll have a mania in gold. And because the gold and especially silver markets are so tiny, the rush into them will be like trying to push the contents of Hoover Dam through a garden hose. Our positions will go absolutely ballistic.” – Doug Casey, September 2009

There’s certain to be a rush into gold and silver, and buying before Main Street catches gold fever is the only way to play this trend. Because when Midas fever hits, prices will explode to the upside, for both the metals and the stocks. How do we know that?

First, let’s look at gold. If we added up all the gold ever mined on the planet, its total value would equal no more than $5 trillion at today’s prices. Yet, look at how this compares to the debt and bailouts and other monetary mischief of current governments…

Let’s make this chart very clear. Of the $5 trillion in gold ever mined…

• The US government has thrown over twice as much at the economy in the past 12 months.
• The US debt is more than double this amount so far this year.
• Total global government bailouts are almost four times larger (and this is a conservative figure; one estimate puts it at $24 trillion).

I intended to include annual gold production as one of the comparisons, but the chart isn’t big enough and neither is your monitor: 2008’s global gold production equaled about $73 billion, and to make that figure discernable on the chart would require the Global Bailouts bar to hit the ceiling above your head. That’s how small the gold market is.

The implications are undeniable: when the greater public rushes into gold – whether in response to inflation, dollar woes, war, whatever – the price will be forced up by an order of magnitude.

While physical gold will protect our wealth, it’s the gold stocks that can potentially make us wealthy.

Once again, to get a sense of the Lilliputian size of the gold industry, I compared it to several other leading industries and stocks.

The value, as measured by market capitalization, of all gold producers around the world is less than Wal-Mart’s. Every gold stock would need to nearly double just for the industry to match ExxonMobil. The oil and gas industry is about 12 times bigger.

When your neighbors and relatives and co-workers and friends all start clamoring to buy gold stocks, the pressure on prices will be enormous, rocketing our positions upwards.

Meanwhile – and admitting we’re first and foremost gold bugs – the picture for silver is even more dramatic. The potential for silver stocks is jaw dropping.

If the gold industry is tiny, then silver’s $9 billion market cap makes it a nano industry. The entire silver industry is over 21 times smaller than gold’s! If gold explodes, silver will go supernova.

Consider these macro-facts about a micro-market and what they reveal about silver’s enormous potential:

• There are over 200 companies in the S&P 500 with a market cap larger than the entire market of silver producers.
• There are five times more gold stocks than silver.
• Total silver production in 2008 was valued around $10.3 billion (at today’s prices). That represents just 1.5% of the $700 billion bailout last year, and 0.006% of the current US monetary base.
• Of the 20 largest silver producers, only five actually call themselves a “silver” company, due to the fact that about 73% of all silver mined is a byproduct of other metals mining.

Any flood into the silver market would overwhelm it. In other words, the rise will be stunning. While it’s not going to happen tomorrow, I strongly suggest you get on board before that rocket ship takes off.

Just putting these charts together stirred my feelings of restlessness, making me anxious for the mania in precious metals to arrive. But the timing is not up to us. Be patient, because if you’re invested in gold and silver and the respective, high-quality stocks, you’re on the right side of this trend.

Regards,

Jeff Clark
Senior Editor, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report
for The Daily Reckoning

By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 — 9:50 pm

As the number of problem U.S. banks swells to the hundreds, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is increasingly hard-pressed to fill in the gaps where institutions have put depositor’s funds at risk.

Unfortunately, a dire prediction made by government officials in early 2009 has come true: the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund is now broke, according to published reports.

“The deposit insurance fund dropped by $18.6 billion during the third quarter of 2009 to negative $8.2 billion, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. set aside $21.7 billion in provisions for additional bank failures,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “This is the second time in the agency’s history that the balance has fallen into negative territory.”

In March the FDIC took steps to stave off the possibility that its insurance fund would run dry, instituting new fees on banks, forcing them to pay to protect consumers.

The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair, wrote to bank leaders declaring that “without these assessments, the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year.”

According to the FDIC’s most recent quarterly report, there were 552 “problem” banking institutions in the U.S., the most since the end of 1993.

“In its state of the industry report, the F.D.I.C. reported that banks posted a $2.8 billion gain in the third quarter, after a $4.3 billion loss in the previous period,” The New York Times reported. “The number of bad loans of nearly every stripe — credit cards, mortgages, small business and commercial real estate — continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace.”

BizJournals added: “Fifty institutions failed during the third quarter, bringing the total number of failures in the first nine months of 2009 to 95. As of Nov. 21, 124 banks have failed nationwide.”

“The FDIC has not yet accessed a temporary $500 billion fund of capital it has available to it from Treasury for the insurance fund,” Marketwatch notd. “The FDIC estimates that bank failures will cost the agency as much as $100 billion over the next five years, with the majority of the losses taking place in 2009 and 2010. The agency may require banks to pay additional assessments to cover losses to the fund if bank failures expand in greater numbers than anticipated by the agency.”

When banks insured by the FDIC are seized or declare bankruptcy, the agency returns depositors’ funds up to $250,000.

Read the FDIC’s full Q3 2009 report [PDF link].

With AFP.

An earlier version of this report said the FDIC insures depositors’ funds up to $100,000. The government-run agency expanded its coverage for consumers from $100,000 to $250,000 in 2008. President Obama further extended the additional cushion until the end of 2013.

Nov. 24, 2009 at 2:49pm

Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported aggregate net income of $2.8 billion in the third quarter of 2009. Earnings were more than three times what was reported a year earlier and an improvement over the industry’s $4.3 billion net loss in the second quarter 2009.

In contrast, outstanding loan balances declined by the largest percentage since quarterly reporting began in 1984.
“There is no question that credit availability is an important issue for the economic recovery. We need to see banks making more loans to their business customers,” said agency Chairman Sheila Bair. “This is especially true for small businesses that rely on FDIC-insured institutions to provide over 60 percent of the credit they use.”

Total loans and leases declined by $210.4 billion (2.8 percent) during the quarter. Loans to commercial and industrial borrowers declined 6.5 percent, and real estate construction and development loans declined by $43.6 billion (8.1 percent).

The number of institutions on the FDIC’s “Problem List” rose to its highest level in 16 years. At the end of September, there were 552 insured institutions listed, up from 416 on June 30th.

The complete Quarterly Banking Profile is available on the FDIC Web site.

Author: Peter J Kenny
Source: articledashboard.com

Using a bank can really save you money, but there are also ways in which you lose a lot of money. If you are not proactive in recognising potential dangers and mistakes, then you could be caught out. Here are some of the most common personal banking mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not reviewing your statements

Many people get their statement each month, open it and then throw it away. If you don’t look at your statements properly then you will not see mistakes on your account that could be costing you a lot of money.

If there is a payment that you did not make then you could be charged a fee, and there is also a chance that you card has been copied. Checking your statements against all your purchases each month is imperative.

Paying too much

Many people are, hrsaccount, too lazy to shop around or to question the fees that they pay each month on their accounts. If you look at the fees you pay you might find that you are paying far too much, hrsaccount, . If this is the case then it is time to shop around for a better deal, because you could save yourself a lot of money each, hrsaccount, year just by not paying expensive banking fees.

Leaving paper around

When you look at your bank statement or open bank related information, make sure that you don’t leave it lying around. If you carelessly discard information relating to your account then you are an easy target for identity thieves and fraudsters. Make sure that you keep all bank related information in a safe place, and shred any documents that you are going to throw away.

Using ATMs without care

When using an ATM, make sure that you take precautions. Do not write down your PIN number anywhere near your card, and make sure that you shield your number when you type, hrsaccount, it in.

Being aware of people around you when using an ATM can stop most potential crime.

Banking online in public

Although you might need to check your account urgently, checking your online account and carrying out transactions on a wireless network is not totally secure. There is a chance that someone could access your details, or that the transaction will be lost. Use, hrsaccount, your online banking at home if at all possible.

Not establishing a relationship

If you want to get the best deals from your bank, then you need to establish a relationship with them.

If you have a local branch, then arrange a meeting with the bank manager so that you know who they are. Although you might never need their help, if there are any problems or you need extra funds then knowing your bank manager can really help.

Only borrowing from your bank

If you have been loyal to one bank for a while, then perhaps it is time to rethink that loyalty. Although you might think your bank offers the best deal, whenever you want to purchase a new financial product you should shop around.

There are many other places, particularly online, that can offer you great deals on borrowing money from credit cards or loans. If you are careful with your banking information and shop around for the best deals, then you can avoid most of these common personal banking mistakes.

Author: Peter Kenny
Source: isnare.com

Online banking has become very popular and many people are using their online capabilities to do all of their banking. Those who have used online banking are now comfortable with it have found it to be an easy and fast way to get things done without having to visit the bank. While online banking can get things done fast, many people still wonder if it is safe.

The answer to that question, orchardbank.com, is yes. Yes, as long as, orchardbank.com, you take a few precautions yourself.

An interesting aspect to online banking came to light recently. It seems that those who bank online have a tendency to watch over their accounts better than those who do not use online banking. The reason for this is because those who use online banking have immediate access to their account information,, orchardbank.com, seven days a week. Those who do not use online banking have to rely on their monthly statement to arrive before they can check their accounts in detail.

Having immediate access to their accounts allowed those online users to see if trouble was at hand, especially in the areas of fraud and identity theft.

According to MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston, “Victims of cyber crime who tracked their accounts online paid out an average of $551 per incident, whereas those who relied on paper statements paid an average $4,543 per incident.”

Even with added security and ease of use, online banking should be conducted with common sense safety in mind. Here are some good tips for making sure, orchardbank.com, your online experience does not go astray.

One of the most important protection measures is a good firewall.

A computer firewall is simply a software, orchardbank.com, program that is designed to allow authorized people into your computer data and to keep unauthorized people out of your computer data. The good news is most new computers come with firewalls already installed into the systems. If you use DSL or cable modem you will usually have an extra layer of protection. These types of internet access modems normally have their own firewalls installed in them. Those people with old computers or who use dial up modems may have to buy a separate firewall and have it installed.

The second most important issue with safe online banking or any type of online financial transaction for that matter is the use of anti-virus and anti-spy software. Most of the bigger operating systems companies, such as MicroSoft, will issue periodic updates and users should get these when they become available. Many of these updates contain fixes to previous bugs in the operating system and they can help prevent hackers from getting to your data. You can buy anti-virus and spyware software or you can find free program online.

Either way, it is a good idea to keep your computer clean.

Online banking should never be conducted in a public, wireless environment. Many people like to do their banking chores while sipping on coffee at their favorite wireless caf้, but do resist doing that. There is software available that can pick up your information and save it to another’s computer. As well, you should not do your online banking through public computers such as those at the library or internet cafes. Again, you put your information at risk by doing so.

An easy way to make sure that you are on a secure page is to look for the small icon of the lock. This is usually shown in the lower right corner of the browser window. In the address bar, look for the https prefix. That “s” at the end means that you are on a secure page. If you do not see it, you are not working on a secure page and may have been relocated to a scam address.

Use the security features you have available and your online banking will be safer and more enjoyable.

For most people with a home mortgage, their monthly payment includes an amount that is placed in escrow to pay taxes and insurance. This forces borrowers to set aside a portion of these annual payments each month so they aren’t caught short when the bills come due. It protects both the lender and the borrowers. It is a concept that could be used by nearly everyone to avoid having to go in debt when large annual or semi-annual bills come due.

Unfortunately, too many people simply spend the excess cash that is left over after paying their monthly bills. They don’t realize that some or all of this money will be needed to cover items like car or life insurance premiums, birthday and Christmas gifts, personal property taxes, vacations, and any other large expenses that occur infrequently. When the bills come due, they are faced with three choices; earn more, spend less or go in debt. With consumer debt approaching $3 trillion, it’s quite obvious which choice these people are making.

Imagine how it must feel to be going along month after month enjoying life and thinking that you are doing well financially, only to receive a bill for several hundred dollars for the annual premium on your car insurance. You look at your bank account and realize that after paying the insurance bill, you won’t have enough left over to cover groceries, gasoline and other monthly expenses. That’s when the credit card comes out.

You charge the groceries, gasoline and other expenses to the credit card and tell yourself that you’ll pay it off next month when the bill comes due. But next month is vacation time, so you take a trip, spend your extra money and end up charging more to the credit card account. Once back from vacation, because you’ve overspent, you find that you need to charge still more to again cover basic necessities.

These added charges continue to mount and your credit card balance grows to more than you can pay in a month, so you make a partial payment and plan to pay the rest over the next couple of months. But the holiday season is fast approaching and you want to buy some nice gifts for family and friends. Once again, your expenses are more than your income, so more charges are put on the credit card account. Now, when the bill arrives, the first thing you notice is that several more dollars in finances charges have been added to the outstanding balance and the minimum payment does little more than cover the added interest. You can’t pay much more than the minimum payment, because it will cause you to be short again and you’ll need to add more to the balance. Sound familiar?

This scenario and variations of it are what get people in financial trouble. It is also the reason lenders require an escrow to cover taxes and insurance when they make a mortgage loan. They want their interest to be protected in case of fire or other disaster and they know that if you fail to pay taxes, they will have to pay the tax lien to protect their mortgage. Why don’t people follow this same procedure with other expenses to avoid getting in financial trouble? We all have expenses that only come due once or twice a year, yet too few people plan for them.

Here’s a tip! Start by making a list of all the things you pay annually or semi-annually. If you don’t know the exact amount of the expenses, make a generous estimate of what you think they will be. When you are doing this planning, be sure to add an amount for things like tires and repairs for your vehicles, home repairs, and other unexpected expenses that aren’t regular, but can be expected to occur. Once you’ve identified all of these type expenses, add them up and divide the total by twelve. This will give you a good estimate of the amount of money you will need to set aside each month to avoid having to go in debt.

Step two in the process is to open a money market account to use as an escrow account. Each month, treat the amount you calculated as a recurring monthly expense and deposit it into the account. Then adjust your lifestyle to live on what’s left over. Although it might sound overly simple and you might think it is foolish, using a separate escrow account to accumulate the money needed to pay large irregular expenses is a proven way to make sure the money will be available when the bills come due.

Keep in mind that these expenses are occurring each month whether you plan for them or not. Personal property taxes and auto insurance are just like homeowners insurance and real estate taxes, they will come due and have to be paid. Tires wear out and vehicles have to be maintained. Paint, carpet, roofs, appliances, heat and air conditioning systems eventually wear out and have to be replaced. Paying for the use of these items a little at a time as you use them is much easier than having to come up with a large amount of money or go in debt when they need to be replaced.

Using a personal escrow account to accumulate the money for large expenses has a couple of other big advantages, not the least of which is the fact that the money you are saving will earn interest instead of costing you interest as it does when you borrow. But, the biggest advantage of all is the peace of mind that comes with knowing your finances are in order and you won’t be caught short when large expenses come due. It sure beats going in debt.

Original text from article for Asheville Citizen-Times, 46th week of 2008

    ఈ మధ్యన బంగారం రేటు కొండెక్కేసింది.నాకు బాగా గుర్తు-నేను ఉద్యోగంలో చేరినప్పుడు అంటే 1963 లో 10 గ్రాముల బంగారం 80/- రూపాయలకి వచ్చేది.నా జీతంతో పాటే దాని ఖరీదుకూడా పెరుగుతూ వచ్చింది. 80/- రూపాయలున్నప్పుడు నా జీతం 200/- మాత్రమే. పైగా ఆరోజుల్లో స్మగ్లింగ్ చేసి తెచ్చేవారు, దానిఖరీదు కొంచెం తక్కువ ఉండేది.తెలిసున్నవాళ్ళకి తప్ప ఇతరులకి అమ్మేవారు కాదు.కాలక్రమేణా బంగారం ఖరీదూ, నా జితమూ ఒకేలా ఉండేవి.అదేదో తక్కువ ఉంటే కొనేవాడిననికాదు.ఊరికే పరిస్థితి చెప్పానంతే !!

    ఇన్ఫ్లెషన్ అయినా ఇంకో ‘ఫ్లేషన్’ అయినా బంగారం బంగారమే. పైగా ఇలా పిల్ల పేరుమీద కొంటే దానిమీద చెయ్యి వేయము !! అదో సెంటిమెంటూ.ఒక్క ఏడాది చేసి చూడండి, జస్ట్ సరదాగా !!

The title of this blog is “Poor and the City” and I didn’t pick that title for no good reason.  I wasn’t just trying to play on a popular sitcom.  I really am poor and in the city.  I really am a real person trying to make it in this city.  They say the proof is in the pudding, well here’s a helping of pudding for you:  my boyfriend was laid off today.

I believe there are two kinds of people in this city:  those who are handed everything and those who are working to earn everything themselves.  I am the latter.  I don’t write about how broke I am and then spend $200+ on UGG boots, I don’t say that I am eating a homemade meal and then go out to dinner, and when I say I am a real poor person, I don’t then whip out my Black Amex Card.  I work for everything I have and right now, I have very little.

I am the girl that goes to a potluck Thanksgiving because it’s cheaper than hosting my own.  I am the girl that keeps trying to fix my TV set so I don’t have to buy a new one.  And I am the girl that goes outlet shopping and sticks to a budget, only to find out that her boyfriend lost his job and so any spending will put us in the red.

Some people look down on me and my boyfriend.  A struggle like ours is something they would never want.  The idea of living paycheck to paycheck makes them sick and the idea of sharing a studio apartment with some one makes them cringe.  Two people living in one room is tough and putting all of the money you earned towards bills is heartbreaking.   But this is my life, this is my reality and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Perhaps I struggle more than most of the residents of Williamsburg and the Village.  Perhaps I don’t have the luxury of not needing a 9-5 job so I can put all of my energy into making a documentary on an artist I love.  Perhaps I don’t have the money to eat at the Mercer Kitchen or shop in Miss Sixty.  But these people are not living a real life.  And when they look back on their many accomplishments, how much of it will they have earned themselves?  And when I get out of the red and get out of the 1 room apartment, I’ll have done it all myself and I will have worked my way up.  I will have earned everything myself.

So whenever you feel like your credit card bills will never go down, you will never find a new job or you will never pay off that student loan:  hold your chin up.  You will get there.  It won’t be easy, it will be a struggle but that will make the payoff all the more sweeter.  It’s not about the fall, it’s about how you get up after you fall.

And if you’re having a hard time in this economy, think of me.  Because I am a real person, and this holiday season, I’m right there with you.

Most people focus on how much money they “make.” Others (often the same people) focus on how much money they deposit in their checking account.

Here’s the problem with that:

1. The money you make working for someone else is a fraction of cost of doing business. It is really a small amount when compared to what your productivity is making the company you are working for today. This is code for “you never get rich working for other people.”

2. Your checking account is a money laundering account for other people’s money. This is not a “value” account.

Still, some like to focus on how much money they are saving or the simple fact they cannot save large amounts of money because of unexpected expenses or other variables that can get in the way of a steady stream of savings.

You should not focus on how much money you are saving. That is an easy ticket to becoming overwhelmed.

Instead, focus on what percentage of your after-tax income you are saving on a regular basis. Focus on percentages you save negotiating on a purchase your ordinarily and regularly make (and then put the percentage you saved in actual savings).

Focus on real savings with coupons. Compare a price with coupon and the units you are receiving for your money with a non-coupon sale or regular sale price elsewhere. Compare on-line (with shipping or without if you can get it) pricing to store pricing. AND ALWAYS put the percentage you saved in real savings.

These are tricks that can help you boost savings faster than you think.

MAKE MORE THAN MONEY COUNT

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
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