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Jan 26, 2011: We love to drive :). We don't own a Merc or a Beemer, we drive our sedan for the sheer joy of it. Driving through woods and around hills fills us with immense peace.

Yet there are days when we wished someone else was at the wheels so that we could relax for a while. Bad boss, uncooperative colleague, difficult deadlines, too many meetings - often build up a lot of stress. Imagine

Nowadays it is normal for the average person to have some sort of debt, whether it be school loans, a mortgage, or credit cards. After all, this is the day in age in which people are living beyond their means (according to financial experts). But is all debt bad? How much is too much? And how do you know if you are borrowing responsibly?

All these questions can be overwhelming and finding

Nov 16, 2010: On a quiet evening, a couple of years ago, we returned from work to find our apartment complex in flames. In front of our eyes we saw one apartment after another being consumed by monstrous flames. While we helplessly looked on, our city's brave fire fighters fought the flames. By God's grace they put out the fire when it was a couple of apartments away from ours. Though our

Nov 09, 2010: October is the tenth month in the Gregorian and eight in the Roman calendar. In Latin, "octo" means eight. When January and February were added to the Gregorian calendar this month retained its name as October (from the Roman calendar). It is a month of seasonal contrasts. In the northern hemisphere we celebrate autumn while in the southern hemisphere people rejoice the arrival of

Nov 04, 2011: For those of us who want to retire comfortably and do so while we still have the energy to enjoy our free time, personal vices must be kept to a minimum. Eliminate or at least put off indulging in bad habits that will cost you money in both the short and long term, and you will reach your goal of a relaxing retirement that much sooner.

Some of these weaknesses, such as

... Music Fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes music store's cheaper, cooler cousin" - Rolling Stone MagazineeMusic.com, one of USA's top sites for independent music, is offering 25 35 FREE Songs that work on any MP3 Player including your iPOD! Read on for more details ...

GET 25 35 FREE iPod® compatible downloads from eMusic!
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Dec 20, 2010: Most astute investors are aware of municipal mutual funds also known as MUNIs. These funds invest in term debts issued by various state and local governments. In general dividends and gains from muni funds are exempt from federal as well as state taxes.

One has to be a domicile of a particular state to invest in a state specific money market fund. Thus muni funds provide a way to

Thank God it's Friday! Well we are not talking of the restaurant chain TGIF, but about our lives where we look forward to Friday. It gives us a welcome break from the stress of making a living aka "job." This Friday we decided to take a break from the world of personal finance and its plethora of information on money management.

One way for netizens to have fun is "YouTube!" We love cartoons and

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GoodDayOct 03, 2011: In the tax software industry, TurboTax is the undisputed king for filing taxes. Noticeably, we were happy when we got some cool TurboTax deals which are offering up to 87% in savings on TurboTax software. We all know that it's best to maximize our savings. The more we save our hard earned dollars the richer we are.

This year, each TurboTax 2010 product includes FREE federal

The audiobook of Stephen R. Covey's famous "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is now available for a FREE download courtesy audible.com. The paper edition of this book has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. And the audio book created history in the publishing world. It was the first non-fiction audio book in U.S. that sold over one million copies.

How to get your FREE "7 Habits of

GoodDay
We received some international coupons/promo codes from Thrifty. Since many of you, our friends, frequently travel all over the world on business as well as leisure trips, we felt that these deals will help you save money when you rent cars in foreign land (international travel).

AMEX - 10% OFF AMEX
Reserve now and save 10% on any vehicle from Thrifty Car Rental when you use any American

GoodDay

GoodDay
Here is a list of resources for early retirement planning.
Top Resources For Early Retirement Planning
Top Personal Finance Books - A Complete Kit

GoodDay
During our US cross country summer tours we do rent a few times from Thrifty Car Rental whenever we get some great car rental deals from Thrifty. We have found it beneficial to have a FREE Thrifty Blue Chip Membership. From time to time Thrifty keeps sending us their hot deals or nation wide car rental promotions. Some of Thrifty's current promo codes or coupons for car rentals are:

AMEX

GoodDayTrue Earnings® Card from Costco and American Express is a great card to have in your wallet. Here are some of its cool features:

» No annual fee for Costco members

» 0% intro APR on purchases for six months

» Earn cash back wherever you buy,

GoodDay
Sep 09, 2010: Early this week, we received an email from a lady who chanced upon our blog while browsing the web. Her succinct note informed us about how she is leading a life in semi early retirement in her mid thirties! Curious to know more about her life, we wrote back immediately. Guess What? This lady, Mary*, turned out to be one of our childhood friends! We were neighbors. But while

Updated Aug 26, 2010: Today we present some of the best online bank bonuses mostly at the national level. This list includes checking account bonuses as well as savings account ones.

There is a lot of free money available via these bank bonuses. However some sincere work is needed to earn a bank bonus. It pays to keep a log of the various conditions that need to be met for each bank bonus offer.

Aug 25, 2010: If we own a business then we can pocket an easy $100 courtesy Chase. When we open a qualifying Chase Business Checking account with a minimum deposit of $1000 we'll earn a bonus of $100! This offer expires on 30th September, 2010.

Sign Up Link: Deal & Details


Offer valid through 9/30/10. Offer not available on account conversions or in combination with any other offer.

To

Aug 19, 2010: Bank of America is offering a $75 sign-up bonus for opening a personal checking account with them. After a long time we found a BOA checking account bonus. So it's a welcome :).

Sign Up Link: Deal & Application



How to earn the bonus?To open a new checking account, apply online and reference offer code CH75OL1.
Expires: To take advantage of this offer, you must use the Offer Code

Aug 13, 2010: This week we sign off with a resolve to contemplate on designing a lifestyle which is in greater harmony with nature. To that end here is a nice cartoon for our dear planet Earth. Create a nice weekend :).



Image Source(s): Bizarro.com

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

Aug 06, 2010: We are techies. Since we work a lot with computers, we usually have an eye for latest keyboards that are ergonomic and cool. But what has keyboards got to do with painting cars?

Well, some innovative soul chose to paint his car's body with keys from computer keyboards! Too good to be true, check out the snaps to see for yourself.


Well there is more to it. Creativity led souls to

[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

Oct 05, 2010: We received a letter in the mail which had a check and a notification. It said that we'd won a foreign lottery! So far so good, after all who does not like free money especially lotteries. The next step was to deposit the check but there was a catch which raised our suspicion. We're told to keep the portion representing our winning and wire transfer $3000 back to cover the taxes so

GoodDay
Investing is a great way to become familiar with the financial markets. By starting up an investment account, you will begin to understand how the global markets work. The more you understand the greater the probability that you will earn money instead of losing it. Investing is not a sure bet, so if you think that it is an automatic 10% return you are a bit mistaken. There are times when

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 30, 2010: These days, in Moscow, subway commuters share their rides with stray dogs! We are not kidding :(.

In the capital of Russia, stray dogs curled up on empty seats, roaming around in subway stations and getting on and off subway cars at their own sweet pace are a common sight. Check out the

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 28, 2010: It's that time of the year when we are needed to renew our cars' registrations and our driving licenses. We were trying to figure out how to go about doing the tasks online. At DMV's website we found that the rules vary from state to state. So we had to dig on a little further.

In the process

Jul 26, 2010: One of the best things a person can do to get on the path toward financial independence and early retirement is to start a business. There is simply no limit to what you can do as an entrepreneur. Whether you are an inventor of a product or the creator of a service, entrepreneurship is one path to enormous wealth. One of the most important steps to take in the early phases of

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 23, 2010: We live in an apartment community that has several dogs. During our regular evening walk we sometimes observe the traits of pet dogs. Often we feel that they emulate humans or reflect the mannerisms of their owners.

In that line of thought we'd love to share this photo which reflects the

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 21, 2010: No matter what our professional domains are, we often face these two obstacles when we start out: inexperience and credibility. As rookies we have to work hard to overcome them. Whether it is setting up a new personal finance blog, or a web design firm or an advertising company or some other

Sep 13, 2011: We have all heard the saying "Tiny drops of water make an ocean". Over years, life has taught us that tiny savings can go a long way in making us wealthy. Many of our friends say that small daily expenses do not matter as long as we are earning a lot of money.

But we have always felt that high salaries are only one side of the story. The main issue that makes a difference on how

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 16, 2010: Some people love bear markets so much that they go out of the way to show case it. Here is a beautiful lady displaying a "bear" hair do.

Did you like the hair do? Let us know how you felt about it by dropping a comment.

Enjoy your weekend with your loved ones and leave the bears & bulls in

Feb 04, 2011: We found a very pithy article (at fool.com) by Robert Brokamp about Dilbert's views on personal finance. The essence of the article is quoted as: In his book Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, Adams offered his one-page personal finance book. Here it is:Make a will.
Pay off your credit cards.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
Fund your 401(k) to the

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 09, 2010: Yesterday when we went to do our laundry at our apartment's laundromat, we spied upon a bunch of kids playing with crayons. When one of them looked up at us, we spontaneously smiled. Well she liked it and smiled back. Soon the other kids were smiling at us. Before we realized, we were already

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 07, 2010: With each passing day the cost of college education is rising. It is becoming increasingly difficult for middle class families to put their children through college without borrowing.

One of the golden rules for breezing through college funding is to start saving early. But now a days even

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jul 05, 2010: Most of us want to be millionaires. And if we can be one while we are young, it's a double whammy! After all, the best time to enjoy our wealth is while we are young and healthy. In the process of chasing wealth, if we run out of time, the "millionaire" tag is not that attractive, isn't it?

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

Image Source(s): Friend's email

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 30, 2010: We all dream of possessing the visionary power of Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha and one of the world's greatest stock market investors. What is it that makes him so successful?

Journalist Roger Lowenstein, author of "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist," makes the case that

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

Jun 28, 2010: While studying the performance of a stock or mutual fund we invariably come across these two terms - Total (also called Cumulative) and Annual return. If we are not aware of their definitions and what they represent, we may get unduly excited by looking at the wrong figures.

Annual Return -

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 25, 2010: At work be careful about how you use or talk about products that are in direct competition with your company's current line of products. Else you might earn the pink slip ........
Create a nice weekend and enjoy it thoroughly :).

Image Source(s): Friend's email

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

June 21, 2010: Writing a will, and that too an effective one, may not be an easy task. For most people it is best to get help of an attorney. However there few things that we need to be aware of before seeking legal counsel.

Exercise This Precious Gift Carefully
Our right to make a will and distribute our

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 18, 2010: We usually trust doctors and surgeons. A feeling that we are in safe hands often helps us to ease off when we consult them for health complications. But with onset of cost cutting measures like outsourcing of crucial tasks to other countries, the question that arises is: "Can we still trust

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 16, 2010: At present, debt is one of the greatest financial problems plaguing our country. Most Americans are struggling with debt and high interest rates charged by creditors. In fact, the first rule towards building a saving is to pay off debts. The second is to avoid debts forever. If we pay off our

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 14, 2010: We often publish bank bonuses that have direct deposit as a mandatory condition to earn the bonus. Recently we received a question from one of our readers regarding the nature of transactions that qualify as a "direct deposit."


What are the various types of direct deposits? Does an ACH

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 11, 2010: Last night we had a personal college reunion dinner party. It comprised of our college friends with whom we used to hang out the most. Among various topics of discussion, one was about the dismal state of our country's economy and the resulting job losses. We chose to keep the mood upbeat. So

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 09, 2010: With increasing price of food and gas, it has become a challenge to save a substantial amount of our salaries to fund our retirement. The subprime mortgage fiasco has reduced the market value of our homes. Consequently, unless we have stellar credit records, it is becoming increasingly

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


Jun 07, 2010: We own multiple mutual funds in our investment portfolio. These mutual funds' parent companies send us their prospectuses and annual reports on a regular basis. It is mandatory for them to do so. In this context we discovered "SAI."

What is a Mutual Fund SAI?

A mutual fund's prospectus

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
Jun 04, 2010: We can never bring ourselves to watch horror movies all by ourselves. Well you may call us babies but we really feel scared at the proposition. However we enjoy watching horror movies with a bunch of friends. This weekend we plan to have a horror movie party :). While we were busy trying to

Today we have the pleasure of introducing Heather Johnson through her guest post. Heather is a regular commentator on the subject of credit card types. She welcomes your feedback and potential job inquiries at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.


Jun 02, 2010: The summer is upon us, as evident by the children who were cartwheeling out of school this past Friday. Like many people, you are

[This post is written and copyrighted by FIRE Finance (http://firefinance.blogspot.com).]
May 28, 2010: Today we present a funny picture essay of various personalities at a common work place. Enjoy!




























Image Source(s): Funtoosh.com

May 26, 2010: We had a dramatic event at our household over the weekend. A couple of friends along with their families had dropped by to watch a movie. One of their kids wanted some popcorn. So this little one headed to our kitchen, put the popcorn on, pressed 22 instead of 2 minutes, and rushed out of the kitchen.

Soon the smoke alarm went off, and we rushed to the kitchen. There was smoke