Pimp Your Finances

It happens with every swing of the economy: someone proclaims “the rules have changed!”  But have they ever really changed? Is this time any different?
Jeffery Kosnett at Kiplinger thinks so. He wrote an article called 10 Financial Myths Busted, where he describes 10 financial rules that were disproved by the recent crash.
I’m going to give [...]

If you really want to see how people are affected by the economy -  look at what they’re buying. Don’t listen to what the media says. After all, they missed the lead up to the crash, so I’m naturally skeptic when it comes to their coverage of the fallout.
Time Magazine recently got it right it right though, [...]

Some people think that that consumers are finally changing the way they spend money.  Last October, CNN reported that the savings rate increased to 3% after four consecutive years below 1%.  In December, CNN also reported that household debt dropped for the first time ever.
Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart – one of the few retailers [...]

Lauren Sherman at Forbes came up with a list of 10 Things We’re Still Buying even though consumer spending is at an all time low.  Here’s my summary of her list.
 

Smart phones – new cell phones can easily become a source of entertainment, and for some it’s a business requirement
Video games and consoles – I [...]

According to the UK publication Mirror, David Bowie is to blame for the credit crunch and global recession.  Yes, that David Bowie.
In the article, BBC Today host Evan Davis claims that Bowie gave banks a dangerous idea when he sold the rights to future royalties in 1997.  The move was the first of its kind [...]

For all the media coverage of the bailout, there’s been little talk of details.  Here are 14 questions that explain everything you need to know about the bailout.
1. Why is a bailout needed?
According the Bush, letting Chrysler, Ford, and GM collapse is not an option in the middle of a recession, housing slump, and credit crunch.
The [...]

image from www.punditkitchen.com

 
We’re inundated with the opinions of so-called experts with their thoughts about the economy, but it’s not often we get to hear from corporate leaders.  On November 14th, Business Week held a CEO summit, hosted by the CEO of private equity firm Castle Harlan.  Here’s what the top minds of some top companies think [...]

J.D Roth, author of www.getrichslowly.org, recently answered 20 questions for me.  I picked his brain about how to start a website/business, entrepreneurship, goals, the economy, and lessons that he’s learned over the years.
Most people reading this have heard of his site, but in case you haven’t, Get Rich Slowly is a blog that preaches sensible personal finance.  Its message is [...]