A Pre-Armageddon Roundup

A very busy week, indeed. Read on , and you’ll see why I feel that way. Let’s get going…..

At Free From Broke, The Many Ways the Internet Saves (and Makes) You Money. I loved this list, and if you count, it was actually a “10 Ways” list, which is pretty cool. The internet is a great way to shop from home, find bargains when you have the time, and do some research that in the real world would burn many hours. A few months back, I bought a USB cable from an online company called Meritline, $1.99 shipped. I saw it recently at Staples for $19.99, I kid you not. It costs me $2 in gas just to get to my local Staples, unless it’s one I pass on the way home.

A great list from Frugal Portland, 20 Things to Do (and Not Do!) Before 2012 Ends. This past June, my daughter showed me her summer ’12 bucket list. Bucket list? Well, it was a list of things she and a friend wanted to do before the summer kicked the bucket, she’s too young to worry about such things. I digress. This one is a fun list of things to focus on accomplishing before the year is over.

Earlier this month, at FinCon12, the financial bloggers conference, I met Harry Sit, the Financial Buff. Great to meet people in person that you’ve been reading for a while. Today, I’d like to share with you Harry’s 3 Good Money Habits Going Obsolete In a Low Interest Rate World. Interesting article. I’ve felt this way, but maybe haven’t articulated it quite as well. Why pay the bills at the last minute when it’s pennies you’ll make in interest?

Next, Luke Landes wrote 6 Tips for Using New Disposable Income. It’s our natural urge to spend any extra money we earn, which is how people can earn more and more money, yet somehow live hand to mouth. Luke (the blogger otherwise known as Flexo) helps you put this all in perspective. All in all, some good advice worth taking.

6 Strategies For Saving Money On Your Mortgage was my favorite article this week at Yes, I am Cheap. As a serial refinancer myself, I’m always interested in what others have to say about mortgages.

Not quite last, Peter at Bible Money Matters wrote The Fiscal Cliff: Why Your Tax Rates Could Increase Next Year. Yes, readers, taxmageddon may be on its way. All signs point to an increase which may spark the next move into recession. Fiscal cliff, indeed.

Was I busy reading? Well, always, never enough reading. But, I did more than read, I was on roll with my writing as well. I guest posted at Budgets are Sexy, a “too dangerous for my site” article on How I Made $4,000+ on a Cash Back Credit Card Offer. If you’ve not yet caught the story, it was a crazy venture, pushing a bank’s cash back offer to the extreme. So much so, that they pulled the offer down for new customers, but honored it for the term of the deal for me. It would take me about $7500 to clear what I made on this deal, this was just too good an offer to pass up.

Next, at Roger Wohlner’s The Chicago Financial Planner, I wrote Roth 401(k) vs. Traditional 401(k). If you have this choice and need help deciding, take a look, and tell Roger, Joe sent you.

And, now, last, for this week’s roundup, at my Rothmania.net (Did I mention some guy named Rothman owns the dotcom?) I wrote The Phantom Tax Rate Zone, a look how an individual collecting $20K per year in Social Security can actually hit a marginal 46.25% as her social security gets taxed along with her income at a certain level. Take a peek at the article and let me know what you think. I created Rothmania to focus on this one topic and spare my readers here an ongoing onslaught of some very dry, technical stuff. Still, important in the big picture.

Have a prosperous week!