Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel (subscribe) posts from a year ago this past week:
» Become an Amazon.com Price Drop Ninja
» Lessons from the Most Talked About Topics of 2006
» The Many Versions of Monopoly
» Why do Credit Cards Expire?
» Warning: Airline Miles Expiring
And here’s what was going on two years ago:
» Use Coinstar [...]

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Given that we’re heading into the last weekend before Christmas, I thought I’d throw together a special roundup of articles focusing on Christmas shopping.
For starters, JD put together a nice article about the four things that kids want for Chrismas. The trouble is, JD doesn’t have kids, so he doesn’t really know what he’s talking [...]

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Yesterday I noted that Congress has passed a temporary fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). This is actually something that’s been weighing pretty heavily on my mind lately so, when a commenter asked about what the AMT is, I thought I’d spend a little time pulling together some details…
For starters, exactly what is the [...]

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Given the recent rates cuts by the Federal Reserve, this isn’t terribly surprising, but…
HSBC Direct has reduced their savings rate from 4.50% to 4.25% 3.55% 3.5% 2.60%.
If you’re curious how HSBC Direct stacks up against other features, be sure to check out my roundup of the best online savings accounts. And for updated rates, be [...]

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In case you haven’t heard, Congress pushed through a one year stay of execution for millions of middle class tax payers that otherwise would’ve been snagged by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Without this fix, the number of filers subject to the AMT in would’ve jumped from 4 million in 2006 to 25 million in [...]

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I’m in the process of reading The Four Pillars of Investing (an excellent book, by the way) and I thought I’d share with you some of William Bernstein’s insights into investing. According to Bernstein, you really only need guidance in two areas: asset allocation and self-discipline. And how should you go about learning about these [...]

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I just got an e-mail from Blockbuster that purportedly contained “Important Account Information.” Upon opening it, I discovered that, in order to continue providing us with “the unmatched convenience of both online and in-store DVD rentals,” they’ll be raising our monthly rate from $17.99 to $19.99. Yuck. For reference, we’re on the unlimited 3-at-a-time by [...]

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This is just a quick note to let you know that American Express has rolled out another couple of promotions… For a limited time, if you apply for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card you’ll get 10,000 bonus points, which can be exchanged for a $100 gift card, after your first purchase. Alternatively, if you [...]

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In case you haven’t heard, Congress recently approved an 822 page energy bill (known as the Energy Independence and Security Act) that President Bush is expected to sign into law. This bill is expected to reduce energy usage by 7% and carbon dioxide emissions by 9% in 2030. Excuse me? It’s going to take 23 [...]

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Last year I relied very heavily upon Amazon.com for my Christmas shopping. And now that we’ve signed up for Amazon Prime, I’m relying on them even more heavily this year. The combination of convenience, generally low prices, and their price drop guarantee is pretty hard to resist.

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