Gather Little by Little

This article is just one of more than 10,000 blog articles being published on the internet today as part of Blog Action Day. Our efforts will reach an estimated 10.9 million people. The entire M-Network is participating and writing articles to participate in this incredible effort to have a positive impact on poverty.

Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens – Wikipedia

Click to continue reading...

One of the hobbies I have is playing the 5-string Banjo. My favorite Banjo manufacturer is Deering Banjo Company. They are hand made in Spring Vally California, are very fairly priced considering their quality and they have a very unique sound that I really enjoy and can recognize almost immediately. Deering occasionally will send me an email announcing some new banjo or banjo related product they have come out with. I always read them and look forward to their announcements.

Click to continue reading...

Welcome to the 161th edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction!

My absolute favorite time of the year is fall. I love the cool crisp air and the beautiful colors of the leaves as they turn. I also enjoy beautiful photographs. Not only will you find some great articles in this carnival, but I’ve inserted some beautiful fall pictures as well.

Spend some time reading through the articles, if you find something you like consider leaving a comment on the authors blog, subscribing to their feed or even submitting the article to StumbleUpon, Digg or PF Buzz.

Click to continue reading...

This is a guest post by Chelsey who blogs at only help my unbelief. If you enjoy this post, make sure you subscribe to her blog!

Some people find motivation to handle money wisely from their families. Others from experience. Still others have ambitious, worthwhile futures they’re working toward.

My motivation is a 9-year-old in Peru named Lisbet.

I first “met” Lisbet last December, on a table in the lobby of a concert hall.

The table for Compassion International had dozens of packets, all including a picture of a child in a foreign country who needed a sponsor. I pored over the packets for a long, long time.

Click to continue reading...

The trees here in the South are just now starting the change. Thus begins my favorite time of the year! It’s also T-minus 12 days and counting until we close on our mountain house. I’m sure you guys will be glad when we finally get moved so you don’t have to hear about it anymore! Everything is going on schedule, the inspection was completed this week and only a few minor issues were found. The seller’s have confirmed they will fix everything identified during the inspection before we close. The appraisal came back yesterday and the house appraised for $22,500 more than we’re paying for it. That means we’re walking in day 1 with $22,500 in equity plus the amount we put down, which at this point should be about 10% or so. We had hoped to do more, but are keeping some reserves since our current house still hasn’t sold. I faxed off all of our bank statements to the underwriters yesterday. The mortgage company has everything they need at this point and will completing the final paperwork.

Click to continue reading...

I spent the evening reading through the inspection that was done on our new home in the mountains. The inspector that performed the inspection did a very thorough job and put together a report that included tons of pictures (included in this article).

What surprised me was that our mortgage company didn’t require an inspection, only an appraisal. I went ahead and ordered the inspection anyway. In the current housing market, the last thing I wanted to do is move into a home that might potentially have serious problems I wasn’t aware of.

Click to continue reading...

I’m not one to rant and I’ll try real hard to avoid that in this article, but I just have to get this out of my system a bit. At work, I seem to be surrounded by economic Chicken Littles. After hearing their stories of despair and financial hopelessness, I walked away and started writing…

Click to continue reading...

I don’t check my 401k balance often at all. I prefer not to stress about it and just let it grow. I’m investing for for the long haul and know that overtime my money will grow at a 10-15% increase. I do check it though. Mostly to see if I need to adjust my funds distribution a little based on individual mutual fund performance. I logged in last week to see how things were going, especially with the stock market tanking like it has recently. While I wasn’t shocked, I was very surprised…

Click to continue reading...

Counting today, we move in 17 days. While I am incredibly excited, I am also a nervous wreck. Moving stresses me out. Ignoring all of the psychological reasons and sheer amount of work, moving is expensive. I received our first quote the other day from a major moving company, $4000.00. Yikes! Way more than I anticipated. We have two other “local” moving companies coming out this week to provide offers. I’m hoping they will be far less expensive.

Click to continue reading...

This is a guest article by HIB who blogs at Happiness is Better about personal finance, real estate investing, early retirement, and being happy. If you enjoy this article, make sure you head over and subscribe to his blog.

Real estate investing is a relatively simple business. It requires a lot of hard work – unlike how it is portrayed on television. Just like anything else, once you have a system in place everything gets a lot easier. The same can be said for any business venture or project whether it’s a blog or a McDonald’s franchise. It’s all about having a system. What follows are some tips and strategies to help you get started. Real estate investing 101 if you will.

Click to continue reading...