Archive for March, 2008

There are a few “Friends and Family” sales coming up some stores that I thought may be of interest. Typically these sales involve a % off or sales on certain items if you have a printout of the invitation.

Sears
Sunday March 30th, 6-9pm

10% off almost everything in the store. All Kenmore Appliances will be 20% off along with an extra 10% vip savings so 28% off total.

For more information just visit www.sears.com/vip and click on the link that says “View all specials”.

Staples
April 20-26, 2008

Save 12% on almost everything. Offer valid on in-store purchases only. Excludes personal computers, laptops, gift cards, phone cards and
postage stamps.

You can check this Slickdeals thread for the 12% customer appreciation PDF and more thoughts on the sale.

The time at my company has finally come to give out our yearly reviews and salary actions. Working remote often makes this a bit difficult as its kind of informal to do it over the phone, but luckily my manager was able to combine it with some other meetings he was flying into town for so we could meet face to face at their hotel.

It went pretty much exactly the same as last year. I was in the “above expectations” category (5/6) and received a 6% raise.

I will also be bumped up in title from “analyst” to “lead analyst” which will put me into the next pay band> Unfortunately it has not officially gone through so my manager was not sure if it was going to mean a pay bump when it does or not until next year.

So I am pretty happy with that, 6% should be enough to keep up with rising costs around town and give us a little extra money to play with at the same time.

I have changed the layout here on The Finance Journey. Its been a while in the making, and it still has some flaws (mostly in Internet Explorer 6) but nothing that should take away from the usability of the site.

I figured I would put it in since if I didn’t, I probably would let it sit around for another 6 months before actually putting the finishing touches on it. So this should give me some motivation.

If you see any problems or have any feedback, please feel free to comment or Contact Me.

I had posted before about the Windows Feedback Program where you could sign up with Microsoft to install tracking software on your computer. Unfortunately the offer is not open to new participants but I was able to get in as hopefully were a few other people who read us.

Well, I received an email from Microsoft today with some good news:

"This message is to notify you that your 3 months participation term has completed, and we are getting ready to ship your product. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. You will receive another email from us when shipments have gone out."

Microsoft is typically very generous with their products and does give out a lot of freebies if you keep an eye out. There have been rumors they are giving out free copies at the Microsoft Windows 2008 Launch Events if you missed out on this deal and want to give it a shot.

For all you coffee loving folks out there, Starbucks is set once again to offer free coffee to customers on Saturday March 15th 2008 from 10am to 12pm. A great way to cut down on your latte factor (for a day at least).

Here is the breakdown from past events:

Starbucks will host its Starbucks Coffee Break, inviting customers across the country to enjoy a complimentary cup of freshly brewed coffee. In stores and on street corners, from insulated brewing equipment and giant coffee backpacks, partners (employees) will pour tall (12-ounce) cups of coffee to surprise customers and delight commuters.

The 142nd edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance is up over at The Baglady. It has many great personal finance articles in one spot, including my post on Startups Offering Credit Scores / Reports.

Carnival of Personal Finance #142

Taxable Accounts:

$1,791.06 - Liquid Savings - 3.55% APY HSBC Savings Account
$15,310.77 - Savings - 4.25% APY Countrywide Savings Account
$3,215.48 - Checking - 3.01% APY Schwabb Investor Checking Account
$14,893.49 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$5,256.05 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$3,474.02 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,663.50 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$46,604.37 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$16,477.72 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,099.76 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$54,108.48 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$71,685.96 TOTAL

Debts

$2,925.53 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$4,056.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase(0%)
$17,288.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$7,128.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$4,778.73 - Credit Card BT - Bank Atlantic (0%)

$19,700.00 - Credit Card BT - Upromise (0%)

$55,873.72 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$264,539.52 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,900.00 - Approximate Home Value
$8,961 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$84,321.48 - TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

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