I want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend. I’m going to use the extra day to catch up on some things I’ve been procrastinating on. In fact that will be a theme for some links that I liked this week, including:
- Money, Matter, and More Musings says that procrastination can save money. I’ve found that the longer I wait on a purchase, the less I want it which does save me money.
- Generation X Finance notes that eliminating unused subscriptions can save money. I once subscribed to XM Radio for 2 years and then proceeded to use it for about 2 months.
- Ben at Money Smart Life has three tips for lower your heating & cooling expenses. My Laziness rears it’s ugly head and I don’t do this often enough.
- Sun’s Financial Diary notes that a mortgage company is taking American Express cards now. I would have loved to have paid my mortgage with my credit card. Even if it costs nearly $400, I’d make it back in reward points in just a couple of years.
- Binary Dollar says always apply for financial aid, even if you think you won’t get any. When I was going to college, I didn’t know anything about how financial aid worked and my mother said that we wouldn’t get any money, so it wasn’t worth applying. I lucked out with a full scholarship, but I’m thinking I should have applied.
- Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life gives some tops on how to save on a wedding cake. Where was she last year when my fiancee and I planned our wedding? We went for the fake bottom and have separate sheet cake at a reduced cost. It looks and tastes the same to everyone else and we save money. We managed to get the cost down to $2.50 a slice, which is bargain next to the other places that wanted $7 a slice to start.
- Free Money Finance found that there are almost 1 million “accidental” millionaires in the US. An accidental millionaire is someone whose home has appreciated to the point of making them millionaires. I almost feel that it has to be a low end estimate. The median home price in San Mateo County is around $870K, so that has to be a pile of them right there.
- Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has signed up for Zecco, a company that let’s you trade stocks for free. I keep thinking that I should do that, but I’m focusing on paying off my HELOC and investing in Prosper.
- Five Cent Nickel writes about the difference between net worth and net investable assets. It’s a good read and I’d say more here, but I’ve got enough for a full article in the future. You’ll have to wait for that.
- Mighty Bargain Hunter asks, “Would gas prices have to go up another dollar” for America to change their travel habits? The short answer is that I think it would some time for the pricing to get through the market. Click through to read the article and the rest my comments.
On the number of accidental millionaires, I think the number isn’t higher because many of the people in those $850K houses did not buy early and now have huge equity: many of them bought more recently and own an $850K home on which they still owe $400K – $600K AFTER allowing for price appreciation.