Andy Hough

The Requisite Financial Bailout Post

February 5, 2010September 26, 2008 by Andy Hough

There are plenty of posts about the financial bailout already but since I’m writing a personal finance blog I feel required to write about it as well, but I’ll keep it short.

I’m against the bailout but I think it is inevitable that some form of bailout will happen. I’m not too worried about it right now. I’ll probably be more worried about it when the bill for the bailout comes due. Many are saying that if we don’t have a bailout it will be bad for everyone. I don’t know if that is true or not but it seems hard to believe.

So far all the financial turmoil hasn’t affected me personally and I don’t think it will. I can understand people being ticked off about the bailout but it doesn’t really do any good to worry that the economy is going to collapse. My life was good at the beginning of the year and it is still good now. Until that changes for the worse or looks like it is going to I’m not going to worry.

Making Money on the Side

May 19, 2022September 24, 2008 by Andy Hough

One part of my plan to retire at 50 is to continue to make money on the side. That might more properly be called semi-retirement. However, if I don’t have to work and can make money when I choose to that is good enough for me. Any money I earned would be to do things beyond my ordinary budget or to provide a larger cushion of savings.

There are many ways to make extra money. I’ve covered a few of them with my alternative income ideas. There are a lot of blog posts out there on how to make extra money. Here are a few of them:

“Need extra income? Here are some ideas” from MSN Smart Spending.

“11 Great Ways to Earn More Money” from Free Money Finance.

“5 Ways to Earn Extra Cash” from Get Rich Slowly.

“26 Ways to Earn Extra Money” from The Wisdom Journal.

Not all the ideas are non-job ways to make money but there should be a few ideas there that will work for you. If you focus on thinking of ways to earn extra money more ideas will probably come to you.

What Should You Do With Your Money Now?

May 19, 2022September 19, 2008 by Andy Hough

With the turmoil in the financial markets many people are wondering what they should do with their money. I don’t know what you should do with your money but I can tell you what I am doing. I just invested a little more in my Roth IRA which is 100% invested in a value stock mutual fund. I figure if the stocks were undervalued before they should really be undervalued now. It is a bit disconcerting to see my balance go down but I have faith that the market will eventually rebound. On the theory that stocks are cheap right now I hope to max out my IRA before the end of the month if I have enough cash flow.

If you’re worried about safety than putting your money in an online savings account is a safe way to go. As long as you put your money in an FDIC insured account you’re protected up to $100,000. This is a case where less risk doesn’t lead to less return when you compare them to money market mutual funds. The Reserve money market mutual fund recently broke a buck causing investors to lose part of their principal and the fund is paying less than 2%. In an online savings account such as FNBO Direct you don’t have to worry about losing your principal and it pays 3.50% APY. Why would you invest in a money market mutual fund?

I’ll end with the standard disclaimer. I’m not a financial professional and I’m not advising you how to invest your money. I’m just telling you what I am doing with my money.

September Credit Score

September 18, 2008 by Andy Hough

My credit score for this month went up to 731 from 725 last month. My credit score has been going up steadily the past few months after it went down earlier this year when I used a balance transfer from a credit card to pay down one of my student loans. I don’t plan on using my credit any time soon but having a high credit score can also affect how much you pay for insurance and other things and if I do decide to apply for more credit having a high credit score should make it cheaper . I get my credit score for free with my credit card from WaMu.

Getting Cash Back On My Tuition

May 19, 2022September 17, 2008 by Andy Hough

For reasons that are still unbeknownst to me not all of my tuition was automatically paid out of my financial aid. This created an inconvenience for me since I now had to pay the remaining balance by cash or check. Since I have several checking accounts but no checks this left me with the option of paying by cash.

I decided to get a little cash back for my inconvenience. I ordered $500 in dollar coins from the U.S. Mint. These coins sell at face value with free shipping. I used my credit card to pay for them earning myself $15 cash back.

The university cashier didn’t seem real pleased to be paid with dollar coins but he accepted them without complaint. The few minutes I spent ordering the coins were well worth the $15 return to me. I’m not sure how long the U.S. Mint is going to be offering this free shipping deal but I’ll probably take advantage of it again.