Monthly Archives: September 2010

Best of the Rest: Malware Edition

Written by in Best of the Rest
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Every once in awhile some evil people will try and hack into my site. Recently they succeeded. Late last night I tried to visit my site in Google Chrome and received a warning that I was visiting an unsafe site. Um, really? I ran some quick tests and it turns out that they were right. Someone had gotten in and put some malicious code into every one of my files.

This happened once before (way back in December, when nobody was even visiting and when I barely had any security) and as a result the site had to go down for a few days. This time, I was prepared. I cleared out the bad code, I changed my passwords, and I added some extra security for good measure.

The site was down for less than an hour, and you can be assured that there’s no more malware coming from Sweating The Big Stuff. The only thing I am responsible for giving you today is some fantastic articles to read. Enjoy!

The Financial Blogger asks Are You Too Afraid To Start Your Own Business? A lot of people have this dream, but few do it. He has some nice ideas about how make it a little bit easier.

Joe Plemon at Personal Finance by the Book tells us to Beware of Percentage Budgets. I didn’t use one when creating my budget, but I also had no trouble saving money. May it would be useful for others.

Don at Money Reasons shares Frugal Sins of a Personal Finance Blogger. My sins include sweating the small stuff on occasion and not enjoying my money enough!

Laura Rowley at Money & Happiness has very interesting news on the threshold of when your money stops buying you happiness. I expected happy feelings increase with money to a certain point, but was surprised that they plateau at $75,000.

I also took part in the following carnivals this week:

Carnival of Personal Finance: I Love New York Edition hosted by Danielle Liss

Festival of Frugality: Passive Index Investing Edition hosted by My Personal Finance Journey

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Funny Finances: Episode 1

Written by in Funny Finances
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Not that you need more of an incentive to be happy on a Friday, but enjoy!

A man walks into a bank in New York City and asks for the loan officer. He says he is going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The bank officer says the bank will need some kind of security for such a loan, so the man hands over the keys to a new Rolls Royce parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checks out, and the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan, which is at an 8.0% annual interest rate

An employee drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there. Two weeks later, the man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.36.

The loan offer says, “We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that your are a multimillionaire. Why would you bother to borrow $5,000?”

The man replied, “Where else in New York can I park my car for two weeks for 15 bucks?”

If you have a personal finance related joke and would like to take part in this series, send me an email. Everyone will laugh and I’ll give you the credit your deserve.

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Deciding Your Auto Insurance Coverage Needs

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A lot of us are strapped for cash right now and want to minimize the cost of our auto insurance in any way we can. But if you strip out your coverage to the legal minimum (something that differs widely from state to state), beware of the long-term consequences of having an accident.

If you have poor or no health insurance, consider adding Personal Injury Protection to your policy. This will cover your own medical bills (up to about 80% of costs) and a death benefit (life insurance) in case of an accident. It’s a grim thought, but if you’re in an accident and get injured, you’ll be happy you paid a few extra bucks a month to not be buried under medical bills. You’ll also want to consider bumping up the limits on your Bodily Injury Liability, which is the auto coverage to others injured in an accident you cause, to $100,000/$300,000 (first number is per person injured, second number the total for all injured).

If you stick to the low state minimums ($25,000/$50,000 in most states), you raise the very real possibility of a lawsuit – one that could take your house or more. If you don’t have any real assets to take, that may not be a big deal, but if you’ve been struggling to pay your mortgage and keep your home, having it taken from you to pay for a car accident would be tragic.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you might be carrying comprehensive and collision coverage when you don’t need it. Collision coverage will pay for damage to your car resulting from a driving incident, like backing into a telephone pole, while comprehensive will pay for things like theft or fire. If you lease your car, changes are it will be required in your lease contract.

If you own an expensive car, you’ll want to have comprehensive and collision coverage in order to not have to pay out-of-pocket for any accident damage (which adds up very quickly these days). That said, if you own an older car that isn’t worth much more than the cost of the insurance and deductible, you’re paying for something that you don’t really need – and that’s just silly.

A small increase in coverage will often result in extremely small price increases, but huge benefits in case of an accident. It’s worth a review of your car insurance policy to determine if you have the right coverage for you.

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“4 Upgrades That Waste Your Money” – I Think Not

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The following is a post by staff writer Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. Her blog covers living expenses, saving for your future, and the fun stuff along the way.

I found another article on Yahoo Finance that made me cringe, 4 Upgrades That Waste Your Money. They give thorough explanations for each of their choices, but their ultimate decision doesn’t pertain to everybody. Here’s their list of 4 wastes:

1) A Hybrid Car
2) Store Memberships
3) A Rewards Credit Card
4) A Stylish New Wardrobe

Based on their explanations, the only one that fits me would be #4.

Hybrid Car

The hybrid makes sense if you do a lot of driving or think gas prices will go up and we do both. My husband is a sports official as well as a school librarian. We also use his car for almost all of our weekend driving so he drives between 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year. A Prius just made sense since it also had the storage capacity he needed for all of the above.

Store Membership

We have storage space in our pantry and a chest freezer, so we do buy in bulk. We use our store membership to Sam’s Club for items that we would definitely pay more for elsewhere. We also don’t buy more than we’d use anyway. So far, I’d say we’ve only wasted about $10 in fruit and that was only because it slid under my front seat and I forgot about it…it wasn’t a happy week for the fruit or my car…

Rewards Credit Cards

We don’t carry a balance on our rewards credit cards, so I don’t mind the higher interest rates. We also don’t spend just to spend, which makes the rewards extra yummy. We also are two of the minority that spend less with credit than we do with cash. I figure it’s because a record of our spending stares me in the face with credit, but once cash is gone, it’s like we never had it.

Clothing and Material Goods

According to the article, money can buy happiness, but not with material goods. Experiences like hobbies and vacations are the true paths to the good life. I would have to agree. Beyond the basic necessities, there are a few extras I need (my car, air conditioning, and a computer come to mind), but the parts of my life that make me the person I am are the times I’m with friends and family – hobbies, hanging out, and travelling with my husband – those are the true gifts in my life.

What do you think of their list? Do you think #1, 2, and 3 are wasteful too?

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