November 2007

Three Standards for Investment Ethics.

November 30, 2007

Ethics in investing. Boy, this is a tough one. Sometimes its often difficult to determine what’s ethical corporate behavior and what’s not ethically acceptable corporate behavior. Opinions differ. For example, my wife Miel places a greater value on the environmental policies engaged in by companies we have ownership in, but I’m more concerned about attitudes [...]

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The Secret to Financial Success is…

November 29, 2007

to avoid taking responsibility for anything that eats. At least thats the advice being dispensed by Jonathan D Pond in his new book, Grow Your Money: 101 Easy Tips to Plan, Save and Invest! We received Pond’s latest from Harper Collins several weeks ago but didn’t get a chance to attend to it until now. [...]

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Sometimes Corporations Aren’t Your Friend

November 29, 2007

I tend to be a little more pro-business than my darling wife, but here is a great example of why we need product and consumer regulation. Check it out here. Best, James

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The 300 Dollar Mistake

November 28, 2007

So, in addition to being snowed under with work at the University, I came home Monday afternoon to find that I had forgotten my keys. Since my wife Miel usually has a spare set of keys, I can normally wait until she gets home – but in this case, she’s in Afghanistan, so I’d be [...]

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2008 Buying for Equality Guide

November 27, 2007

Now that we upon the holiday shopping season, the question arises as to where to spend your money. Whether small or large, our dollars add up and show our support for those companies that we do business with.To help you in your consumer consideration – I’ve scaled down the full 2008 Buying for Equality Guide [...]

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Congrats Mom!

November 26, 2007

I just wanted to give a shout out to my mom and congratulate her on paying off her car! My mom’s first fifty years of cars were paid off in cash, up front. This was the first car she has ever made payments on. She purchased a used but pristine red PT Cruiser in 2003 [...]

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Perceived Progress

November 25, 2007

I wanted to follow up on James’ post yesterday with a few thoughts of my own. I find it interesting how natural it is to have a change in perspective as we reach closer to our goal. While our financial status at any time might seem like it is all a numbers game, it is [...]

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Slow Saturday

November 24, 2007

Hello All, Today is Saturday, November 24th. Its been a slow week for our personal finance, but I wanted to share some news and thoughts on our current situation. The big news is we’ve been chipping away at paying off our second mortgage, I sent in sixty dollars on Wednesday and Miel sent $600 on [...]

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Benjamin Franklin On Frugality

November 23, 2007

Benjamin Franklin is my new hero. He’s totally quoteable, and much of what he had to say back in 1776 is as valid today as it was back them. – So without further verbiage, here are ten of Franklin’s better quotes on Frugality. 1. A man may, if he knows not how to save as [...]

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Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2007

Hello All, Happy thanksgiving to you! Since Miel is in Afghanistan, I’ll be going over to a friends in Washington for a thanksgiving potluck dinner. In order to keep expenses and work down, my friend Danitza organized a chip in and bring your own food thanksgiving party. The main idea is that everyone chips in [...]

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