Archive for April, 2009

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The Bankers “Own” The U.S. Congress.

From the category of “Yea, no kidding” comes this gem over at Salon:

Sen. Dick Durbin, on a local Chicago radio station this week, blurted out an obvious truth about Congress that, despite being blindingly obvious, is rarely spoken: “And the banks “” hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created “” are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.” The blunt acknowledgment that the same banks that caused the financial crisis “own” the U.S. Congress “” according to one of that institution’s most powerful members “” demonstrates just how extreme this institutional corruption is.

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banking
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Simple Quiz For Taking Stock Of Your Financial Health.

We are all very concerned with the health of our bodies, but sometimes people let the health of their finances slide a little bit. I know I have been guilty of this in the past! Lucky for you, I just came across a simple 7 step quiz you can take to get an insight into how you are doing financially, depending on your age, how much debt (and what kind) you have, what you have in the bank, and a few other things. I took the test, and it looks like I have my housing costs and debt level under control, my emergency fund is ample, my diversification is a little conservative, and I am just slightly undersaving for retirement. Overall though, I am doing pretty well according to this simple test that took only a few minutes to do. If you want to take the test and see what your financial health looks like, head on over and see how you do!

Lifestyle
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10 iPhone Applications That Will Help You With Your Finances.

As an iPhone owner and user, I can appreciate how certain applications can really make life easier. I have tons of stuff on my phone for all different purposes, but the one thing I don’t have is any kind of application to save me some money. So I went looking, and I am in the process of trying out some various programs. Here are some of the first ones I started trying out, and while I cannot vouch for any of them yet, some of them look promising. (Note, some of the links open the iTunes store directly, and others go to the respective website and review)

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saving
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Think You Can’t Garden In The City To Save Money? Think Again.

As most of you know, I also run a website dedicated to environmental issues called The Good Human. (If you are into that stuff, check it out) I talk a lot over there about “being green” and stuff like that, but today I wanted to point something out here for those of you looking to save money by doing some gardening at home – but feel like you cannot because you live in the city. One of my favorite inspirational sites for “homesteading in the city” is Path To Freedom. This family has taken the idea of urban farming to an all new level by having an entire ecosystem and farm on their 1/5 of an acre lot in Pasadena, CA.. The yard has over 350 varieties of edible and useful plants, and their productive 1/10 acre organic garden now grows over 6,000 pounds (3 tons) of produce annually. 3. tons. of. vegetables. Amazing. In addition, these urban farmers share their homestead with a menagerie of animals — chickens, ducks, two rescued cats, red wiggler worms (which compost garbage) and two goats (Nigerian Dwarf and a Pygmy goat.

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Frugal
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Get Your Mom The Gift Of Time For Mother’s Day.

She doesn’t need more crap to clutter up the house, I promise you that. Throughout my teenage years and into my twenties, I always felt like I had to get my mom something for Mother’s Day. Something, anything – a frame with the word “Love” on it, a nice picture, some flowers that die in a few days. I can only think back on all the extra “stuff” I bought for her that ended up in a landfill someplace over the years. Only recently have I started thinking that buying stuff isn’t really what a Mom would want; after all, it’s just extra things to keep around the house. Instead, I am of the firm opinion that giving TIME is much more of a gift that someone would appreciate, and it costs you nothing. And that’s not because you are cheap – in fact it means quite the opposite. Buying “stuff” is easy, anyone can do that. But taking the time out of the day to call your mom for a while, take her out to lunch, do something she has always wanted to do – that’s being thoughtful.

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Lifestyle
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