Get your sweetie some flowers this Valentines Day without breaking the bank. Aldis stores are having the same deal posted here last year. A dozen roses will only set you back $5.98 (or $2.99 per 6). However if you want the long stem variety those will set you back $16.99.

They also have an assorted flower bunch of 8-9 flowers for 2.99. This is actually what I got my wife last year as they looked really nice. I think you would be surprised with the quality of Aldis flowers, especially when considering everywhere else is going to be picked over and doubling their prices.

The scan of the advertisement for this week is below.

Aldi’s Store Locator

Here are some posts from other personal finance sites I found interesting this week:

• Trent at The Simple Dollar gives us Nine Tactics for a Frugal Valentine’s Day.
• Wade at The Dollar Detour explores Excels Virtues Over Quicken / Money.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter complains about EBay’s Changes This Year. Mostly about how buyers will only be able to receive positive feedback.
• Dawn at Frugal For Life shows us some Even Better Ways to Spend Less.
• MyMoneyBlog has a piece up on Choosing Between a Fixed or Adjustable Rate Mortgage.

For those of you like me wondering when you can expect to receive your refund direct depot or check once you efile the IRS has a handy publication 2043 with this information.

The table below shows when your federal tax refund should be deposited in your bank account or your check mailed if you efiled and your refund was accepted within certain dates.

I decided to take some time to analyze my 401k performance over the last year. I’ve discussed my allocations before in my T. Rowe Price account, but just to recap:

• Equity Index Trust (PREIX) - 60%
• Amer Funds Europacific Growth (AEPGX) - 25%
• Equity Income Fund (PRFDX) - 10%
• Mid-Cap Growth Fund (RPMGX) - 5%

Overall Performance

Below is the chart showing the basic numbers for my 401k from Feb 1 2007 to Feb 1 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

I thought I would take some time and come up with some financial goals for my family for 2008. The end of 2007 started a financial downturn that I haven’t quite pulled out of yet so I would like to set some highlights I would like to achieve this year that aren’t going to tie to market performance because I don’t know if I see that going back up any time soon.

1.) Better Merge Our Finances
Since getting married last year, my wife and I still haven’t fully merged our finances. Part laziness, complexity and fear has kept us from doing so. I have been working so far this year on fixing this but it is still not done yet. It probably will take a few more months to get everything fully integrated.

2.) Pay Down 20% Of Our Non-Mortgage Debt
This is a pretty ambitious goal but I think we can do it. After the wedding and home purchase though we have quite a few assets our debt has been steadily increasing. I would like to get this completely eliminated within 3 years, and 20% will be a great start. Most of this debt is at 0% or other reasonable rates so that is why I am not overly worried about paying it all off before all else.

3.) Fund at least $4,000 in our ROTH IRA’s
I have to admit, before purchasing our new home I was doing a lot better with the ROTH savings. I slacked in 2007 and even in 2008 $4,000 is less than I would like to commit but seems like realistically possible. That however means savings of about $333/mo which has not happened in January so we are already behind.

4.) Earn $5,000 In Income From Side Businesses
2007 was also a bad year for side income. My friend and I have a business but we were both too busy most of the year to do much with it and our profit suffered immensely. I would like to increase my side business income to $5,000 which includes that business and other side ventures I pursue.

5.) Put 15% Of Our Income Into 401ks
I have been doing this for quite a few years now, however my wife has not. So I would like to get both of us to save this much in our 401k accounts this year.

I will try to make these goals part of my monthly net worth updates from now on in order to track them.

Here are some posts from other personal finance sites I found interesting this week:

• Ron over at Wisdom Journal explores 12 things he learned at 32 he wish he knew at 22.
• Flexo at Consumerism Commentary talks about the 5 Components to an Emergency Plan.
• Sun from Sun’s Financial Diary writes about Recently Reopened Mutual Funds and Their Values
• Millionaire Mommy Next Door shows you how to Craft a Budget That Fits Your Needs AND Wants
• Melissa at A Penny Closer talks about being humble while not seeming Embarrassed By Your Accomplishments.

Taxable Accounts:

$7,478.24 - Liquid Savings - 3.25% APY HSBC Savings Account
$15,256.17 - Savings - 4.75% APY Countrywide Savings Accounts
$14,757.64 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$5,804.49 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$2,645.91 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,658.54 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$48,600.99 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$16,689.18 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,046.96 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$52,605.87 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$70,342.01 TOTAL

Debts

$2,968.00 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$4,138.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase(0%)
$17,462.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$7,200.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$4,778.73 - Credit Card BT - Bank Atlantic (0%)

$20,000.00 - Credit Card BT - Upgromise (0%)

$56,547.19 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$265,010.25 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,900.00 - Approximate Home Value
$9,216.00 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$84,105.75 - TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems Countrywide has lowered the APY on their SavingsLink account from 5.00% down to 4.75% for balances of 10k+ (3% for under). With this there are just a handful of banks offering over 5% now.

While disappointing it is to be expected. They still have a very competitive rate compared to the other savings accounts out there so I will be sticking with them for the time being.

Countrywide SavingsLink

Well, after signing up it seems the recent rate decreases have finally hit the Charles Schwab Investor Checking account. This week they dropped their interest rate from 4.0% to 3.21% like just about every other bank out there.

I still think its a pretty good deal for a checking account. ING Direct is only over this rate if you have a $50k+ balance, otherwise it is 2.50%. Presidental pays 3.50% on balances up to $25k, but requires a $1000 minimum to avoid fees.

No ATM fees anywhere, free checks, and no minimums also add quite a bit of value.

I have been watching the recent downward trend of mortgage rates recently in hopes of refinancing my home at a lower rate. This week after the federal reserve cut interest rates and the stock market plummeted rates hit lows not seen in years. However as of yesterday most of the rates have risen quite dramatically:

Penfed
30 year fixed jumped from 5.5% to 5.875%
15 year fixed jumped from 4.625% to 5.125%

MadRate
30 year fixed jumped from 5.125% to 5.625%

MTG Capital
30 year fixed jumped from 5.125% to 5.75%

With the recent tax rebate announcement and the stock market seemingly stabilizing I’m not sure we are going to see rates hit that low again for a while. Unfortunately it seems I may have missed rock bottom to refinance, at least for now.

I recently decided to switch our checking accounts from HSBC to Charles Schwabs new Investor Checking account. I have not been happy with the steady decrease in my linked HSBC savings account and decided it was time for a change. It has a lot of attractive features that drew me to it:

• No account minimums
• No monthly service charges
• Free checks
• Free bill pay
• No ATM fees
• 4.0% APY

Read the rest of this entry »

Eating out can be hard on your budget while on vacation. I recently traveled to Las Vegas and stopped at a few cheap restaurants along the way on the strip. With the takeover of the corporate supercasino the days of $3.99 buffets seem to be gone, however you can still find quite a few good deals if you try.

Cheap Steaks

Ellis Island Casino & Brewery - This is a place where the locals hang. The restaurant here offers a $6.99 steak special that comes with a salad, potato, vegetable, an 8oz steak, and one of their homebrew beers (or root beers). Its not on the menu though, so you have to know to ask for it. While the ambiance left a little something to be desired (unless you like 60s vegas nostalgia without actually trying for it) the service was excellent and the price hard to beat. The steak was not the greatest I ever had, but was the best $7 steak I ever had. They also have $1 microbrewed beers there as well. Its a block off the strip, behind Ballys… though a very long block… about a 10-15 min walk.

Mr. Lucky’s at the Hard Rock Hotel - A coffee shop atmosphere and a bit cleaner than you would expect from a cheap restaurant. They also offer an unadvertised Steak & Shrimp special for $7.77 which also includes steak, potatoes and salad. The steak here was also good for the price, and while the shrimp were a bit overcooked it was an enjoyable experience. Be warned the Hard Rock is not exactly on the strip, but a couple blocks off, a 20-25 minute walk.

Sherwood Forest Cafe at the Excalibur - This place offers a $7 strip steak special from 7pm to 7am. Unfortunately for us who plan ahead for the unadvertised specials this one is advertised, and is right on the strip, making it a mad house until midnight or so. I did not get to try this since the line to get in was about an hour so I decided to pass on it. Perhaps if you were hungry at midnight or later this would be a good choice, or had more patience than me.

If you travel downtown to Fremont Street via cab or rental car there are also some cheap eats which I did not partake in as well. The Plaza has a $9.99 Steak and Lobster special, as well as a $7.99 Prime Rib. There are plenty of other deals plastered around down there as well.

Please feel free to comment with any other Vegas deals!

Taxable Accounts:

$2,035.63 - Liquid Savings - 4.50% APY HSBC Savings Account
$25,205.67 - Savings - 5.30% APY Countrywide Savings Accounts
$15,731.53 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$6,021.93 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$2,825.68 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,657.44 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$54,477.88 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$17,556.69 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,022.50 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$55,859.95 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$74,439.14 TOTAL

Debts

$3,010.32 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$4,222.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase(0%)
$17,638.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$7,273.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$19,497.00 - Credit Card BT - Upgromise (0%)

$51,640.78 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$265,478.35 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,900.00 - Approximate Home Value
$9,464.00 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$83,885.65 - TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

Read the rest of this entry »

My previous favorite online bank has dropped its rate again. HSBC Direct lowered their savings rate again this morning to 4.25% APY (from 4.50%). It seems like while other banks are able to maintain rates with the Fed drops HSBC keeps slipping. Emigrant Direct also dropped their rate to 4.65% APY this week.

Fortunately as previously discussed I moved all my long term savings money over to Countrywide SavingsLink who is still holding steady at 5.30%. Here is a roundup of some of the popular online savings accounts rates (APY):

• Countrywide SavingsLink - 5.30%
• FNBO Direct - 5.05%
• E*Trade Complete Savings - 5.05%
• WAMU Online Savings - 4.75%
• Emigrant Direct - 4.65%
• HSBC Direct - 4.25%
• ING Direct - 4.10%

Lifehacker has announced their 2007 guide to free software and webapps with a ton of FREE applications for your everyday needs. They broke it down into 20 categories and here are some of my personal favorites:

Backup Utilities
Mozy (Windows/Mac, online backup, up to 2GB free) - Provides automated backups of your important files online.

Desktop Search
Google Desktop (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux, free) - Search through all your files, emails, web history and more.

Virus Killers and Malware Cleaners
AVG Free Edition (Windows, free with paid upgrade) - Free virus protection for your computer.

I have never actually tried any of their apps in the Personal Finance/Money Managers category. I personally am a huge fan of Yodlee Moneycenter which they seem to have overlooked so haven’t explored too much. I may give them a try in the near future.

Check below for the full list:

Lifehacker 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps