Archive for February, 2009

“The Week in Review: Money Issues” is my weekly blog research on financial topics that define us as Americans, and shape the way we should do business.

Ok, It’s time to get out of here pretty soon, seeing as how it’s getting late in the day!

If you read last week’s review, you know that I am a new man as of last Saturday. Well, I have to be totally honest with you: the married life seems to be no different from the single one, with a couple of exceptions, of course. No longer can I be depressed about not finding my one true love, and never will there be a time when I get to burn a dinner by myself, and then eat it by myself (this is a big one for me. LOL).

Well, enough of my sappy stuff … here goes the best that I could uncover this week while blog-surfing: Continued

Car mechanics have always gotten a bad wrap, and most of the times they deserve it!

Do this little equation in your head, and see if you agree: Take the number of times you have ever taken a car to one of these guys, and subtract the number of times that you had both good service and a fair bill. Well, I’m no psychic, but I bet your answer is almost as big as the first number. Why is this, you ask?

Well, the simple answer is that most mechanics know two things: 1) most people don’t know a thing about the cars they drive, and 2) with enough gobbly-gook, mechanic jargon they can trick almost anyone into spending way more money than they really need to (this is a fact and can’t be denied).

Got some nagging car troubles, but don’t feel like being robbed by these shysters? Then, for starters, take in some of the following advice and you’ll be a much better opponent when they try to play their little games: Continued

It’s absolutely pouring out — cats-and-dog-style. On a freaking Saturday — and the darn Sunday forecast isn’t any better. Now how are you going to blow all your hard-earned moolah?

My answer: forget about it (dry your eyes, cry-baby). There will be other weekends, and is it really the best thing you could be doing anyways? Our economy is in the shitter, and it’s only going to get a lot worse before it gets a little better. Right now you should be hoarding your nuts (read: cash) in your own tree knot (read: savings account, ok I’m a weirdo).

There are plenty of great alternatives to tossing your dollars into the wind that you can do right from the comfort of your own home (or at least the one you will be paying off for the next couple of decades). Give these following few examples a shot, and maybe it’ll start steering your creative wheels in the right direction (note: right direction = coming up with better ideas): Continued

This summer, I’ve discovered the joy of kayaking. Why this sport you ask? Well, it’s too hot to do anything else down here in South Florida, that’s why!

On the surface, kayaking is a sport you can pick up pretty easy with maybe like one day of training (or in my case: the store I bought my kayak from gave me a two-minute, dos and don’ts lesson). As with anything else, I’ve discovered there are tons of additional things I would need to buy (that I wasn’t too crazy about): ugly sport sandals (they are hideous), padded seats, high-tech paddles, an expensive life jacket and other “necessary” survival gear (outfitters are notorious thieves).

Learn from my mistake: always make sure you have a set limit on the amount of cash you’re willing to spend on your hobbies. This can be very tough (trust me, I know). Be it biking, scuba diving, scrapbooking (I can’t believe I just wrote that) or anything else, hobbies generally tend to be very expensive. As hard as it might be to accept, food, shelter and security should all come before your hobbies (yes even you, road-bike rats).

Read further, if you want to save: before pursuing any sport or hobby, it can be difficult to decide where to spend your money. The initial temptation of most people is to buy the best gear right here, right now. But the best gear is worthless if its user isn’t skilled enough to use it. Before you drop some hard-earned cash on a new pastime, that you might drop next week, consider the following first: Continued

You’re doing 68 in a 55 (you’re gonna get knocked off)! Uh oh, there goes the flashing lights (told you so)!

Go ahead and pull over in a place where you’ll both feel safe. Turn on your hazard lights and off the radio before he/she gets to your vehicle. Now, roll down your window, and get ready to be really polite. Have your license and insurance out, and if you have a concealed handgun make sure you get the permit out as well. When he/she gets next to you, ask if he/she would like you to step out of the vehicle. Remember: whatever he/she says, go along with it. Note: sorry for all the he/she crap (just trying to be PC)!

The safer the officer feels, the more comfortable he/she (I can’t do it anymore. Let’s just pretend it’s a guy for now, ok?) will feel, and the better the mood he (see: easy) will be in. Don’t be nervous! I know it’s hard not to be, but try anyway, because it will make the officer very uncomfortable. Also, it’ll give him the impression that you’re a coward (something that testosterone-frenzied cops do not like to deal with).

As for any tickets you might be worried about getting, don’t! Use the following advice to get out of them (trust me, they’ll work): Continued