Archive for March 2009

File Taxes for Free With TurboTax

Written by Nickel - 8 Comments

A few weeks ago, I did a head-to-head comparison of TurboTax vs. TaxCut, and I also noted that TurboTax has been rated the best tax preparation software.
At the time, however, I wasn’t aware that you can use TurboTax for free if you make less than $30k. Note that I’m not talking about the free 1040EZ [...]

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Published on March 23rd, 2009 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, Taxes
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How to Save Money on Groceries – 45 Ways to Save Money on Groceries

Written by Nickel - 68 Comments

The recession in full swing and many families have been tightening their belts. With that in mind, I thought I’d spend a bit of time talking about how to save money on what, for many of us, is a major monthly expenditure — groceries! None of this is rocket science, but it does take a [...]

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Published on March 23rd, 2009
Modified on February 14th, 2012 - 68 Comments
Filed under: Frugality
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Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford

Written by Nickel - 4 Comments

Here’s some simple financial advice from SNL:

Thanks to @StephTheBlogger from Graduated Learning for the tip!

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Published on March 22nd, 2009 - 4 Comments
Filed under: Humor, Saving & Investing
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Debt Reduction vs. Retirement Savings

Written by Nickel - 25 Comments

I recently received an e-mail from a reader named Chris, who is in his early forties. He and his wife are working on paying off a car loan and a mortgage, and
We owe about $10,000 on a car loan and $105,000 on our mortgage, and we have two newer vehicles. I recently calculated that [...]

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Published on March 20th, 2009 - 25 Comments
Filed under: Debt Reduction, Retirement, Saving & Investing
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TurboTax Giveaway – Three More Copies!

Written by Nickel - 38 Comments

With just under a month to go until Tax Day, I’m pleased to report that I have three more copies of TurboTax Premier to give away. To be perfectly accurate, the winners won’t receive a physical product. Rather, they’ll receive a prepaid access code good for one free federal return + one free state return [...]

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Published on March 19th, 2009 - 38 Comments
Filed under: Giveaways, Taxes
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Velocity: The “Speed” of Money

Written by Nickel - 19 Comments

Economists have a term for how quickly money cycles through the economy. They call it “velocity,” and it’s defined as the average frequency with which a unit of money is spent in a specific period of time. As spending increases, or the money supply tightens, velocity increases, and vice versa. In practice, velocity is often [...]

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Published on March 19th, 2009
Modified on August 14th, 2009 - 19 Comments
Filed under: Economy
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Save on Healthcare: Cheap Immunizations at the Health Department

Written by Nickel - 8 Comments

As a followup to this morning’s post on how to save on health insurance, I wanted to pass along a frugal healthcare tip that my wife an I learned shortly after our oldest son was born. At the time, we were living on a shoestring budget as graduate students. The good news is that we [...]

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Published on March 18th, 2009 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Frugality
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How to Save Money on Health Insurance

Written by Laura Martinez - 10 Comments

Having health insurance helps protect your family from medical problems, and can also help you avoid huge medical bills. Unfortunately, an estimated 47 million Americans are uninsured. A major contributor to this statistic is the high cost of health insurance premiums. The good news is that there are a few things you can do to [...]

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Published on March 18th, 2009
Modified on February 24th, 2010 - 10 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, Insurance
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Reduce Debt With a DIY Balance Transfer

Written by Nickel - 46 Comments

It’s no secret that we’re in the midst of a credit crunch. Banks aren’t lending, foreclosures are on the rise, card issuers are reducing credit limits, and the juiciest credit card offers have all but disappeared. Gone are the days when everyone (and their uncle!) was offering lengthy 0% balance transfers with no transfer fee.
Getting [...]

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Published on March 17th, 2009 - 46 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards, Debt Reduction
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Living Above Your Means: Thoughts from the High Seas

Written by Nickel - 14 Comments

Over the weekend, we returned from a very enjoyable vacation. We spent the week aboard the Disney Magic* and we had a great time touring the Western Caribbean. While this is undoubtedly a rather extravagant vacation, a big part of our enjoyment came from the fact that we planned for this expenditure, and paid for [...]

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Published on March 16th, 2009 - 14 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
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