Something to Save For!

Okay, this is sort of related to personal finance.

I'm a car nut - always have been, probably always will be. I saw this today and thought I would share it. Porsche is going to build a "sedan" called the Panamera. From the looks of the sketch, it looks like it is going to be pretty cool looking.



It probably won't be available until 2009 so I have plenty of time to save for it's $75,000+ price. If I start saving $1,386 per month now at 6%, I'll have $75,000 by the summer of 2009! Of course, it might be smarter to just put that money towards a better goal like retirement.

Tags: Porsche, Porsche Panamera

Try on a Pair of Gap Jeans and Get a Free Song From iTunes

Here's something for my frugal music-loving readers:

From August 8 to 31, each customer who tries on any pair of Gap's new jean fits -- three new fits for women and one for men -- will get a complimentary song from Apple's iTunes music store.

Here's a link if you want to read more about it.

Tags: Gap, iTunes, Gap iTunes Promotion

Watch Out for PayPal Scams

I know this is nothing new but I still wanted to let those of you who may not be aware of the PayPal scams. Today I received the following email:

____________________________________________________

You have added electronics4free@paypal.com as a new email address for your
PayPal account.

If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance with
your account, please copy and paste this link into your webbrowser

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/add?f=app_email



Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team


Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be
answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the
"Help" link in the header of any page.

----------------------------------------------------------------
PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD

NEVER give your password to anyone and ONLY log in at
https://www.paypal.com/ . Protect yourself against fraudulent websites
by opening a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and typing
in the PayPal URL every time you log in to your account.

----------------------------------------------------------------


PayPal Email ID PP007

____________________________________________________

It looks like an authentic email. It's NOT! One thing you have to look out for is the links that they put in the email. Although they look legit, if you hover your pointer over them, you will see the real address pop up. DON'T CLICK ON THE LINKS!

If you ever get an email that is supposedly from PayPal, go directly to the PayPal website through eBay. If PayPal has a message that is important, they will have it on their website.

Tags: PayPal, PayPal Scams

Characteristics of Empowering Mission Statements

I just posted a bit about the Characteristics of Empowering Mission Statements on Man on a Mission. It might inspire you to write your own mission statement. A clear sense of purpose has everything to do with personal finance.

Tom Peters Has Been Blogging a Year

I was just over on the Tom Peters blog and noticed that today marks his one year blogging anniversary. If you haven't ever checked out his blog, give it a try. I am a big Tom Peters fan but have been disappointed with his last couple of books. They were just too busy for my tastes. I think I would get a headache if I tried to read them. In my opinion, his best books were (in order of my preference):

1. A Passion for Excellence
2. In Search of Excellence
3. Thriving on Chaos

Happy Birthday TomPeters.com

Tag: Tom Peters

The Power of Dividends

I like dividends. I suppose that's why I like TheDividendGuy, a blog written by a guy who also like dividends. Go check out his blog and while you are there, check out this post. I like the way he keeps track of his dividends. Maybe his spreadsheet can help you set up your own tracking system.

One other guy who likes dividends is Jeremy Siegel. His book, The Future for Investors, stresses the importance of reinvesting dividends in a portfolio. He states:

"The power of the basic principle of investor return is magnified when the stock pays a dividend.

Consider this. If earnings are better than expected, that means that the stock is underpriced and purchsing more shares through dividend reinvestment will enhance your returns even more."

Dividends count!

Tags: Dividend Investing, Dividends

The Deal That's Not Really a Deal

This is kind of humorous. My wife received a magazine subscription offer from Better Homes and Gardens. It was for a two-year subscription for "only" $14.97, which isn't a bad deal. But, upon further reading, I found out it was $14.97 PLUS $6.00 postage and handling. It's kind of like saying, "Sure, you can subscribe to the magazine for $14.97 but if you want it delivered, you have to pay $6.00 more."

What do companies expect to accomplish with this kind of stuff? I don't know about you, but it ticks me off when I think the price of something is one thing and then find out later that there was some sort of hidden fee. Just tell me the WHOLE price upfront and allow me to make an educated decision as to whether or not I want to buy it.

I'm curious as to what you guys think about this.

Tags: Better Homes and Gardens, Magazine Subscriptions