How Landlords Can Raise The Rent Without Feeling Guilty + MORE

My thoughts and condolences go out to the people of Boston this week, who are facing the type of situation that every city dreads.
My wife and I had already chosen Boston as our place to visit for our tenth anniversary, and we’re more adamant about those plans than ever. The small amount we can contribute to the local economy in Boston won’t mean much, but it will surely help…

While the global economy has been blighted by prolonged periods of recession and sluggish growth since 2008, not all industries have suffered adversely. Take the social gaming industry, which has showcased considerable growth and has even threatened to supersede the popularity of traditional video gaming…

As you may or may not know, gold saw its largest losses in over thirty years Monday. The price dropped by nearly 10 percent in a single day to levels not seen in 26 months. The nearly $135 drop was unprecedented. So, does this mark a bear market for gold or a huge buying opportunity?

Across Asia, where owning physical gold is considered a very wise thing to do, buyers flooded gold shops Tuesday…

As you may or may not know, April is Financial Literacy Awareness Month. Shannon at the Heavy Purse organized an event today where various bloggers all write about the topic of financial literacy.
According to Wikipedia, financial literacy is:
The ability to understand how money works in the world: how someone manages to earn or make it, how that person manages it, how he/she invests it (turn it into more) and how that person donates it to help others…

Here we go with the fourth round of Free Money Finance March Money Madness (to follow all the action click on my March Money Madness category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject.)
Today’s games are brought to you by the Citi ThankYou® Preferred Rewards Card which is currently offering 15,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months after account opening—good for $150 in gift cards…

I’ve been called many things in my life. Some good; some not so good. But I can’t say I’ve ever been called crazy when it comes to being frugal. So, as I’m not getting any younger, I thought it was time to bring out a list of 10 crazy frugal schemes and earn the sobriquet…

If you want to improve your health and your sustainability, one of the best ways is to grow a garden. Caring for a garden offers opportunities for exercise outside, and it allows for you to ensure that the food you eat is responsibly grown. Plus, if you are interested in local food sources, it doesn’t get much more local than your own backyard…

In the age of the Internet, credit cards, debit cards, and other forms of electronic payment, cash has become a less and less used form of payment.
Before I had more than a few hundred dollars in my bank account in high school, I used cash to buy things at the store or fill up my gas tank.
But as I went into college, my debit card became my primary method of purchasing school supplies, such as textbooks online…

On April 15, Tax Day, we got to celebrate our privilege of paying Uncle Sam a big chunk of what we earned in the prior year.
Many folks say that if you’re paying taxes (especially on your portfolio income), that’s a good sign that you’re actually making money, which has been challenging to do in the general stock market over the past decade…

Name
Tahnya Kristina
Blog URL
http://www.mydiaryentry.com
Why do you think it was so easy to fall into the debt trap?
I was young and uneducated about money. As a child I was used to having everything handed to me and as an adult I learned the hard way that we actually have to work hard for the things that we want in life…

Feeling unsure about whether or not you’re saving enough for retirement? Feeling unsure about whether or not the money that you have saved is being invested in the right way?
Saving for retirement can be a daunting process. Essentially, you need to invest enough money to support yourself for the rest of your life…

Old school, baby! 🙂 Was going through my desk drawers and forgot I had picked up a handful of these stock certificates over the years… Quite a difference compared to our internet age, eh?
Now you can by a stock (or 1,000 of them) by just moving your finger a few times and hitting some buttons online…

Preparing for Life after retirement
For many of us, preparing for retirement is all about the finances. We pay off debt, save, invest, and keep working until our retirement portfolio reaches a certain amount. Hopefully we’ll get there before 65, but finance isn’t the only thing we need to focus on…

Last week, I wrote an article discussing what to consider when buying a new car. My wife and I were planning on delaying our purchase, but we had to rearrange our plans when my car had some troubles. After bringing it to the shop, we decided it’d be a better idea to trade it in and get a new car than to fix it…

At the ripe ole’ age of 10, I was given the task of having to invest $50,000 into stocks I thought would be winners.  This was part of a county wide contest where each elementary school was represented; and one student selected to make the purchases (fake money of course).  After 30 days, you could no longer make buys and after three months the contest was over…

This is a post from staff writer Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the adviser for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. Let’s say I told you of a company whose stock posted the best 15-year return of any Fortune 500 company between 1965 and 1995, earning more than 18…

We’d all like to save some money by reducing our expenses. Act on any one of these tips today and you could save over $100 over the next year!
Check Your Water Heater
Spend 15 minutes figuring out your water heater. Even if you are in a rental, you’ll want to know where your water heater is, how old it is, and how to shut it off if necessary…

With my recent article in the Toronto Star on How I reduced my property taxes by $700, I thought I’d explain property assessments in further detail since there’s a lot of confusion surrounding them.
Every year residential property owners across Canada receive their assessment notices in the mail…

Facing debt is not easy. Various credit card statements, phone bills, overdue utility bills and other IOUs are not pleasurable sights. As a responsible citizen, I know we all have our shares in keeping ourselves debt-free; however, there are times that we can’t really say no to those tempting things we see on the display stores…

 
 
Many people believe that they have what it takes to start your own business, yet it seems few people truly end up succeeding in the world of business. Entrepreneurs are a few and talented group of individuals who possess the skills necessary to make a unique and successful business out of nothing…

Just the other day, I was trying to hit my $25 Amazon free-shipping threshold after sitting at $23 on the items I needed. I racked my brain for a consumer staple we were in need of more of.
To prompt some creativity, I rolled open the junk drawer to find (much to my horror and disgust) that we were down to about less than a yard of duct tape…

Here’s an interesting experiment: Take $100 in U.S. greenbacks and swap them for Chinese Yuan. Wait a year. Cash them in next April and see how many dollars you get back.
That’s not meant as financial advice — at least not yet. It’s an illustration of the contrast between the U…

The federal deficit for this year is $845 billion, says the Congressional Budget Office. Corporate tax breaks could plug more than 20 percent of that hole, a new report says.The Government Accountability Office’s report shows that the breaks account for $180 billion in lost revenue per year, and have more than doubled from the $84 billion that was allowed in 1987, Reuters reports…

We choose to insure certain things without question – our vehicles with vehicle insurance, our homes with homeowner’s insurance, and even ourselves with life insurance. But other coverage options, like pet insurance, are viewed as optional. Some pet owners wouldn’t dream of caring for an animal without insurance, while others don’t give a pet policy a second thought…

Original blog can be found HERE
While most people will lose their shirts as The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI) continues down its predictable path, there are some who will make fortunes.
At The Dollar Vigilante, we’ve already been ahead of the curve on many profitable ventures related to TEOTMSAWKI…

 
When I almost bought a rental property this weekend, a few readers chimed in saying “Ninja you are supposed to buy low and sell high. Right now you would be buying when the market is booming.” Comments like these are expected, especially when I’m always talking about Seattle Real Estate being in a bubble…

Many of my actions are driven by guilt. I’m constantly asking myself how I could be so lucky when there are so many folks just struggling to get by. My trip to India ten years ago made me stop overeating given all the poverty I saw. If I can’t help them, at least I won’t disrespect them through gluttony…