Odds are, as you read this, people you know may be poring over statistics, obsessively reading expert analysis and plotting against friends, family and strangers all over the country. No, they're not trying to become the next Bernie Madoff; they're just excited because it's fantasy football time again. But could they also be in danger of putting their finances on the injured list?
For most people, fantasy sports offer harmless, relatively inexpensive fun, says Marcus DiNitto, managing editor of SportingNews.com.Read the rest...

While the media can't decide if the recession is nearing its end or not, we do know that there hasn't been a tremendous surge in wages, job creation or the stock market. Consequently, most of us are staying pretty conservative on our spending. Here are a few relatively simple ways to keep an eye on your pennies while you're waiting for that brighter economic future to arrive.Read the rest...

1. Index funds (on average) have higher returns than managed funds (play the odds).

2. Diversification: The increased diversification of index funds results in lower risk. Baer & Ginsler did a study of Standard Deviaton for actively managed funds vs. the total stock market over both 5 and 10-year periods. Their conclusion: "The returns of actively managed funds were 20 to 25% more volatile than the broad market."Read the rest...

When buying a home, most people focus on how much it costs and what interest rate they can get on the loan. While that is certainly very important, the other fees that come with buying a home are often overlooked. Here is a list of the most common fees involved when buying a home.Read the rest...

...but it's all yours, and all of the little ones that follow you.
 
 http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Secret #1: For many banks, the most profitable customers aren't the mass affluent -- they're "Joe Lunchbox."
 
Secret #2: Banks hope frequent overdraft customers don't understand the alternatives.
 
Secret #3: Those helpful new customer set-up kits, designed to make it easy to switch banks, also try to make the account "sticky."
 Read the rest...

Fine-Tune Your EquipmentRead the rest...

According to the "Spend Analyzer" at the Discover Card site, I spent $8694 during that last 12 months @ a supermarket. We charge 100% of our purchases on DC. Of course not all purchases were for food. That comes out to $742/month for 3 of us. That's about $250 per person.
My son will be moving out soon so I expect my monthly cost to reduce by about $250. Looks about right to me, as beer and wine are also included in that figure.
 Read the rest...

Pretty interesting quotes, but I like Jay Leno's best. Can you imagine how much $ he has stashed if he has yet to spend any of his Tonight Show cash?
 Read the rest...

What follows is but a partial list, the General Collections, of the free college courses that are available. Pick an area that you are interested in~ and take time this summer to "smarten up."
 
Now you can mention to friends about the courses that you took as an undergrad at Stanford, Berkley, or Yale and be pretty close to accurate!Read the rest...