I’ve received several comments/e-mails asking about whether Congress has decided to make the first time homebuyer tax credit retroactive. If you saw my previous article, you’ll know that Congress has extended the first time homebuyer credit and added a new $6500 credit for existing homeowners.
Is the homebuyer tax credit retroactive… or not?
From everything that I’ve [...]

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This just in… The House of Representatives has voted to extend — and expand — the first time homebuyer tax credit.
Extending the $8000 credit, adding a $6500 credit
According to the NY Times:
The bill extends an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers that was due to expire on Nov. 30, making it available to those [...]

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As October came to a close, things were still going well with my Lending Club investments. The one loan that has gone bad has stayed bad, but everything else is being paid on time.
Even with that delinquency, however, my “High Risk” portfolio is back in the black, as I’ve earned more than enough in interest [...]

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If you don’t control your money, your money will control you. Today let’s focus on getting control over the cost of auto repair and maintenance.
The cost of owning a car
Here’s a look at all the budget categories you may want consider when attempting to nail down your auto expenses:

Purchase price – payment (cash and/or financing [...]

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This is just a quick note to say the new Series I U.S. Savings Bond interest rates have been released. I haven’t written much (anything?) about savings bonds in the past, but I’m planning on changing that in the near future.
In the mean time, I’ll just say this… The interest rate on Series I bonds [...]

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This is a guest post from Adam Jusko, founder of IndexCreditCards.com, a credit card information site where you can compare credit card offers. Please consider following Adam on Twitter for quick credit tips and opinions.
As the founder of a website about credit cards, I’m sometimes asked by financial reporters what advice I’d give to people [...]

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I just ran across an interesting article about Disney receiving the go-ahead from China’s central government to build a new theme park in Shanghai. Current estimates are that the new park will cost close to $4B and will open in five to six years. I can only imagine how thrilled Disney is at being given [...]

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In December, we’ll be celebrating our 3 year anniversary. Our little tradition so far has been taking a vacation. Since we’re getting a townhouse a month before our vacation, however, we’re scaling back a bit this year. After talking with some friends about saving money on travel, I have some more tips to share.
Planning ahead [...]

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Consumer Reports recently released their 2009 listing of the most and least reliable cars. Whenever these rankings come out, I look at them with a bit of morbid curiosity. I’m mostly interested in seeing how far down the list the domestic carmakers
Looking at overall brand reliability, Japanese imports clearly rule the roost, whereas domestic [...]

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Are you in the market for a discount broker? If so, you might want to check out OptionsHouse. They’re currently offering 100 free trades for new customers.
Here’s the scoop:
New customers are eligible for this special offer after opening a new OptionsHouse account with a minimum of $3,000. You must apply for the commission-free trade offer [...]

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