On the heels of our recent mortgage refinance, we’ve been inundated with mortgage-related junk mail. Among the most common pitches that we receive are offers for bi-weekly* mortgage payment programs.
Almost without fail, these missives are disguised as official-looking notices proclaiming things like “NOTICE OF INTEREST OVERPAYMENT.” They also list the lender’s name at the top, [...]

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With all the talk about saving money that’s floating around online, I thought it would be worth talking about the distinction between frugal and cheap.
According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary…
fru•gal:
1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful.
2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty.
In contrast…
cheap:
1. costing very little; relatively [...]

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A couple of weeks ago, I noted that we purchased a Concept2 rowing machine. We actually got it back during early March and, while I’m still not setting any speed records, I’m pleased to report that I recently broke through the 100 km mark in terms of lifetime meters rowed.
My goal for the next indoor [...]

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FiveCentNickel participated in four carnivals this week. Here they are along with links to my articles that were included in each.
The Carnival of Personal Finance included “Credit Card Bonus Offers: $1200 Worth of Deals!” Also included was “Are You Willing to Sell Your Credit Score?”
The Carnival of Taxes included “How to Request an Income Tax [...]

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The other day I was watching one of the morning news when I saw an interesting discussion of grocery shopping tips for the budget-minded. Given that there were a number of good tips embedded in that discussion, I thought I’d distill it down into five bite-sized chunks for your reading pleasure.
1. Buy store brands. You [...]

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With Tax Day officially behind us, I thought I’d put together a list of things to do with your tax refund. Remember… Your tax refund isn’t some sort of magical windfall — it’s your money, and you worked hard for it. Do something smart with it.
1. Start an emergency fund. If you don’t have an [...]

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This is just a quick note to point out a useful tool that I ran across while researching our ideal asset allocation. Simply head over to Adviser Online’s Fund Correlation Tool and you can easily determine the correlation between any pair of Vanguard mutual funds.
In case you’re not familiar with the concept of correlation, it’s [...]

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Update: Click through for a summary of the best online brokers.
Time for another quick, informal poll.
In the past I’ve asked about your favorite credit cards and your favorite online banks. This time I’d like to find out about your favorite online brokers. So…
What’s your favorite online brokerage, and why?
Please leave a comment, below…

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Here are some of my favorite FiveCentNickel posts from a year ago the past two weeks:
» Opened a 457(b)
» Ask for Credit Card Fees to be Reversed
» FDIC Insurance Higher on Retirement Accounts
» Buying New Bedroom Furniture: Shop Around and Negotiate
» 2006 Taxes in Review
» How to Prioritize Your Retirement Accounts
» Max That Roth! [...]

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This is just a quick note to let you guys know that ING Direct, which is the top online bank amongst FiveCentNickel readers, has rolled out a new feature to making logging into your account even easier.
Instead of having to use a clumsy, eight digit customer number, you can now create a custom “Saver ID.” [...]

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