Lazy Man and Money

Personal Finance Links (Boston Sports Edition)

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As you may have noticed lately, the posting here has slowed quite a bit over the last month. I have been spending a little more time enjoying the summer and following the NBA Finals. I don’t typically watch basketball, but when the Celtics are in the playoffs, I get interested.

One of the things that I like about Boston sports is that a team is usually in contention. The Red Sox started off slow falling 8 games back, but I had the Celtics run to essentially a coin flip in game 7 of the finals to keep me entertained. The day after the Celtics were eliminated the Red Sox found themselves with the 3rd best record in all of baseball. They actually have the best record since April 20th, despite my favorite player Jacoby Ellsbury being injured almost all season. If the past in any indication the Red Sox will stay in contention until around September when my interest will turn to the Patriots. It’s great how that works out…

Money Writers:

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Productivity Draining of Sports (and Personal Finance Links)

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After the Super Bowl in February, I’ve got a two month window to be productive before baseball starts. (It’s one of the benefits of not acknowledging college basketball as a sport). For the three of you who didn’t close their browser, this time of the year is the opposite… The past couple of weeks have had multiple Boston teams (Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox) playing at the same time. I’m not much of a Bruins or a Celtics fan until the playoffs and it’s not often that they both make it there.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) after the Bruins epic collapse, I’m down to the Celtics and Red Sox. By some measures that means I’ll be more productive this week. Unfortunately the Red Sox have their typical 5 hour games planned with the Yankees on Monday and Tuesday.

Let’s hope the Celtics can keep me unproductive for quite a bit longer. In the meantime here are some links for the rest of the weekend:

Money Writers:

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NFL Draft (And Some Personal Finance Links)

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This was a big weekend in Boston sports. With the Red Sox – Yankees playing and Celtics and Bruins seasons still going on… all the teams had some logs in the fire. Oh, I forgot to mention the Patriots. They entered the draft with 11 picks. They proceed to wheel and deal. They traded down in some cases and up in other cases. In the end, it seemed like Bill Belichick got great value for every pick. A couple of times he traded a third round pick for a 2nd round pick next year. In other cases he traded the #23 pick (which requires a little dough to sign) back to #41 (which requires quite a bit less) and picked the same player that everyone predicted they’d take at #23. In that process they added a few more picks.

All in all, after adding four 2nd round picks and setting themselves up for 3 more 2nd round picks next year, they are looking pretty good to play at a high level for years. Then again, I think fans of a lot of teams are pretty happy, it will be fun to watch how things play out over the years.

Enough sports-talk for now, let’s get to some personal finance links…

Money Writers:

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Went to NBA Finals (and weekend links)

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This past Thursday, I was reminded of the power of social capital. A friend of mine contacted another friend (who works for the Celtics) on my behalf to score tickets to last Thursday’s game. I’m the type of person who won’t bug a movie star for an autograph. Even though I am fairly close with both friends, I just didn’t feel comfortable asking since I was sure that he had a billion other friends who would love to go. I’d like to take a minute and thank both friends.

It was a phenomenal game. When we saw Paul Pierce get carried off the floor, I was sure it doomed any chance the Celtics had. I turned to my friend and said, that’s a “CL of some sort”, referring knee ligaments. I think I’ll always remember looking up at the Jumbotron and seeing Pierce coming back ready to play as if nothing had happened. The crowd went wild. It was like Adam Vinatieri kicking a 45 yard field goal in a pile of snow in 2001 or the Red Sox winning four straight from the Yankees on the strength of a bloody socked Curt Schilling. These thing had no business happening, yet they did.

Onto the links:

  • Airline fuel surcharges over at Million Dollar Journey is about how gasoline costs are affecting prices. This is true in another way that wasn’t mentioned in the post. We’re spending more on gas and have less to spend on vacations and traveling. Airlines have to charge more because they aren’t filling all their seats.
  • My Dollar Plan posts 10 financial tips for new grads . The best one in my book is spending your money slowly. Don’t buy that new car you were salivating over, use your money instead to (do the 2 and 3 best tips) either invest aggressively or save for your future.
  • Buy one house, get one free?! Sounds like gimmick but with the housing market so bad at the moment it isn’t. Mighty Bargain Hunter explains that some developers are looking to unload and fast. Keep your eyes open, house hunters, you might just get a steal.
  • I pay myself first – and last – and all along the way is a great post. Now you might not hold accounts or operate the same way NCN does, but the point is the same. Find ways to contribute to your savings as those (tiny) amounts will really add up.
  • Free Money Finance posts this week how to invest if you don’t have much money . There are a few suggestions with as little at $50 to invest with.
  • When I thought about it, this made a lot of sense to me. Over at Digerati Life the post the secret lives of stay-at-home mommys are making millions through day trading.
  • Price drops are good for young investors in the stock market because as Generation X says if they didn’t go down the returns would never be as good. Use the link to the stock return calculator to see if the stock is well priced.
  • In the post the worst “timing” ever by Sun’s Financial Diary learn about buying Mutual funds so as to avoid buying-the-dividend to hampering bill payment.
  • Brip Blap’s make money now versus make money later is a post on decision making from jobs to investing. The big question here is what would you do?
  • So you got an announcement in the mail for Mary Jane and you don’t want to just mail money back in a card, if you go to Money Smart Life’s post for gift ideas for college grads you can do one better and help them start off financially on the right foot.

Weekend Links: Game Seven Edition

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It’s game seven time in Boston and I can’t imagine the atmosphere. I personally stopped watching the Celtics when legends retired (Bird, Parish, McHale, etc.) and the new stars literally died (Reggie Lewis, Len Bias). The team philosophy for a number of years seemed to be to try to stay .500. This year, I’ve started watching a little more basketball – about 10 games compared to the 72 I used to watch. Yes, I’m a fair-weather fan, but I think it’s reasonable considering the circumstances. So let’s dedicate this set of links to the Boston Celtics.

  • At Digerati Life this week, we’re given the motto work smarter not harder with increase your salary without increasing your work. An example to this philosophy is to follow the money. Just beware of your cost of living expenses!
  • Are you in financial trouble? Generation X Finance gives ten steps to take when you are in financial trouble from negotiating old loans to asking for a pay raise.
  • Ever wonder what the best cash back credit cards are? At the Sun’s Financial Diary find out what percentage you can get and where you can get it.
  • Here is a simple way to save money on food that keeps you from spending you hard earned money at Starbucks. Breakfast! Blip Blap explains that breakfast stops your cravings for midmorning junk. So it’s not only smart on your wallet but smart for your health.
  • Summer is here and that means going to theme parks. Money Smart Life provides several stout ideas on how to save money at amusement parks from your food and admission to hotels and souvenirs.
  • Over at Million Dollar Journey this week learn how to hedge against your bills by owning the company. If you own stock you’ll get dividends to pay for or pay you more than your monthly bills. Check out the dividends achievers list provided in this post.
  • Do you know what credit card arbitrage is? My Dollar Plan presents 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers providing a list of credit cards that offer this currently and how to make it work for you.
  • Do you know why absolute real estate auctions are big deals? Mighty Bargain Hunter explains simply that they have to sell it at the last price offered which could be as low as a dollar and the auction house would have to sell it. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, doesn’t it? Be warned though, you’re not liking going to get it for a dollar. Read why.
  • Do you play the balance transfer game? Or want to learn more about it? Over at NoCreditNeeded read the guest post from Five Cent Nickel on credit card companies want your money to read the rewards and risks of the game.
  • We always knew that TV was a time waster, but have you ever really wondered just what you’ve lost because you watched TV? At Free Money Finance learn how to save money and improve your life just by turning off your TV.

    • I was included in a couple of carnivals as well. Check them out. I also want to thank MSN for highlighting my article on snowforting – even if everyone missed the satire behind the post.