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Dec 01, 2011: Today we went to a Walgreen's store to return some gifts that we felt were not going to be useful for this Christmas. While waiting in the line for returns we over heard a conversation amongst two middle aged ladies standing right ahead of us.

One of the them was sharing an inspiring story about how she had saved around $40 on her medication by clipping coupons and shopping for

Sep 14, 2011: Unemployment has been a rising concern since the US economy went into recession. At present, our president is trying to boost employment by providing tax cuts and tax credits to encourage businesses to hire.

In most reports concerning the US economy, the unemployment rate is frequently mentioned. But many are at a loss for understanding what this number really means. Let's take a

Sep 01, 2011: Inflation is one of the perennial pests which eats away the purchasing power of your hard earned dollars. For those of you who are thinking about reaching FIRE need to keep a constant eye on inflation. So the next question is how do you find the current rate of inflation in USA?



Let's take a quick look at the data for inflation (via InflationData.com) for the past couple of

Jun 07, 2011: Astounding Fact - It may seem unbelievable but the state in which we reside has made provisions for the distribution of our assets in the event we have not exercised our privilege of getting our own will drawn.

Why do I need a Will?

Failure to make a will can result in a legacy of heart break, family dissension, injustice and a substantial reduction of our assets because of

Apr 12, 2011: Many a time we have received torn dollar bills when we paid in cash. Sometimes when we were unwilling to accept torn bills we were told that if we take them to a bank, we'd get brand new ones in exchange.

Friends have said that banks do replace torn dollar bills with fresh ones. We have not yet tested this theory in person but are curious to know the reality behind reimbursement of

Aug 09, 2010: Every couple of months our wallets wear out due to the stress of bulging coins on the soft leather. Often the cost of replacing a wallet varies from $10 to $25. We're wondering about ways to optimize this expense. One possible solution is to increase the life of the wallet. Another one is to do away with the use of a wallet! Since we need a wallet, we chose to go with the former one

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]

Aug 04, 2010: Identity Theft is a serious crime which is growing by leaps and bounds. In this electronic world where millions of e-transactions take place in the world of finance every day, identity theft has become a lucrative profession for phishers.

Once our identities are stolen, it might cost us

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
May 04, 2010: If you are planning to double your money, then The Rule of 72 is a quick way to determine how long it will take do so at a given interest rate.

How to calculate?
You divide the number 72 by the annual interest rate expected on your investment. The answer is the no. of years you will need to

I know gifts shouldn't "matter" in theory, but with all this etiquette and questions in the air I've decided to start giving a flat $100 per wedding gift :) That may be crazy (or weird), but with 4 weddings down it seems to be working so far!

We used to be hardcore fans of the whole registry phenomenon, but ever since getting married ourselves I realize just how nice getting cold hard cash is.

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]The financial meltdown of the stock market (since the Fall of 2008) not only triggered a recession but wiped away 50% of our portfolio. So like most people we were wondering how long it will take to recover from this blow. Kiplinger came to our rescue with their special calculator which tells us how long it

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]One of the questions that needs to be addressed now is the impact of the present recession on our retirement plans. So far a bull market and a portfolio designed according to basic money rules gave many the hope of retiring early. But the onset of a bear market and the current recession have erased a

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]July 29, 2009: We all have our own system of keeping records such as bills, tax returns and statements. They are either stored in a file cabinet or as scanned images on data CD/DVDs or perhaps in shoe boxes. That is pretty good as long as the system works for us. But the most important question that arises

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]One of the basic money rules about a portfolio was that it had to be diversified to reduce our risk of losses. Well all of us know that diversifying our portfolios did not stop us from losing money in the recent downturn of the stock market. What went wrong?Rule #6: DiversificationOld thinking: A diversified

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]Most of us have a will in place. Well that is not the be all and end all of estate planning. Now a days most financial accounts come with the options of naming beneficiaries. If you plan to name beneficiaries or want to update out of date beneficiaries on your financial accounts then be aware of the

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]July 22, 2009: Recently we learnt a lesson about withdrawing money after depositing a check for a large amount. Please read on to learn the drama as it unfolded. We hope that our readers can benefit from this experience of ours and avoid paying unnecessary fees.Day 1 - We went to a physical branch of a

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]Until recently it was almost always assumed that renting meant throwing away money. The golden money rule was to build home equity since real estate "always" appreciated. Thanks to the sub prime mortgage fiasco and the recession that emanated from it, the real estate bubble finally burst with a big

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]This year is a particularly tough one in perspective of the massive job losses and a shrinking U.S. economy. We are feeling the pinch since we got laid off. An immense aid for our survival has been the presence of an emergency fund. In fact we feel that it is one of the most important practical personal

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]The past decade saw the boom of the "power of leveraging" - a fancy name for debt. Until recently, most Americans put their purchases on their credit cards and personal savings fell to nearly zero. Credit was easy, and people used it to build wealth. Can building wealth with debt be a money rule?Rule #4:

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]When we began disciplined investing through a diversified portfolio, "experts" were of the opinion that the more years one had to recoup losses, the more aggressive one could be. In other words the younger we were the more risk we could take on. Unfortunately we learnt that the rules of money are not so

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]In continuation with our contemplation on the basic rules of money for attaining financial security, today we examine the importance of cash savings and emergency funds. In a deflating economy, unemployment is high. Most businesses go into an expense trimming mode and pink slips are a norm. In such a