Miracle of miracles, I got an e-mail response from Dish Network saying that they’ve credited our account for $3.99 to make up for the pay-per-view movie that we never ordered. Interestingly, shortly after I sent my response, I checked the settings on our Dish receiver. Guess what? PPV was already locked out. So… Despite what [...]

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I just wanted to take a minute to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
What follows a quick rundown of some of the things for which I’m thankful. Honestly, life is good and I could go on and on, so… For now I’ll just hit the big ones:
1. My wife
2. Our kids
3. Extended family [...]

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A bit over a month ago, I sent a request for validation of our supposed debt to the collection agency that came calling (they also contacted us by mail).
I know for fact that they received our request for validation because we sent it certified mail and requested a return receipt, so… Given the amount of [...]

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Quick question to all of you out there that track your finances in Quicken, MS Money, or something similar… Do you keep track of your home’s value in your software package of choice? Or do you track it separate from the rest of your finances?
I’ve always been a big proponent of tracking net investable assets [...]

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I’ve had my share of troubles with Dish Network customer service in the past, but this just about takes the cake… This past month, our bill was a bit higher than normal. When I investigated, I discovered that we were charged $3.99 for a pay-per-view movie that we never ordered. No, $3.99 isn’t a huge [...]

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As you may or may not know, some of the best reward credit cards over the past few years have come from Citi. While Citi has offered some rather generous programs (as well as some nice 0% credit card offers), I’ve always been annoyed with one particular aspect of their service…
The problem
Unfortunately, Citi doesn’t allow [...]

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This is just a quick note to let you know that I’ve created a discount code (97BONES) through Dreamhost that gives you $97 off your first year of hosting. Given that a year of hosting costs $119.40, this works out to an 81% discount. Your final cost for the entire year will be $22.40, and [...]

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Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel (subscribe) posts from a year ago these past two weeks:
» Gas Prices Drop, American Car Buyers Forego Economy
» My Best and Worst Money Moves
» Checkbook Security: Keep an Eye on Your Checks!
» Undoing Roth IRA Contribution Mistakes
» Roth IRA Contribution Limits: How the ‘Phaseout’ Works
» What is Modified [...]

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We’re now in the home stretch on our home addition. Yet to be done:
(1) final coat of paint in kitchen/dinette,
(2) shelving in pantry, laundry room, and new closet
(3) install outlets, switches, and lights (the wiring’s been done for quite some time)
(4) counter tops and sink need to be installed in the laundry room
(5) finish painting [...]

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This is totally off-topic, but… My main computer (work and home — it goes everywhere with me) is a MacBook Pro. Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that the trackpad button has been sticking, like it has something stuck underneath it. Cleaning crap out of the keyboard is easy enough – just run the [...]

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