Just went to go see a loan officer at my credit union, and as I was digging up paperwork so that I had all my financial info in place, I found an old prequalification notice for $560k.  Single, living on a decent income, but still, 560k??!  That’s oh, $3,600 per month.  Extend the 30% of my income rule, and that means I’m making $144k per year after taxes!  Wow, I can dream.

But then consider I left my job because I was really unhappy, and where would I be.  I’d be sitting in the same position as a lot of people today.  Sure that prequalification was really just to see what the maximum I could afford was…but wow!  I’m glad I didn’t go crazy.

Anyway, about the free credit monitoring…if you’re interested, check out www.listclassaction.com.  This was featured in Kiplinger’s, and is basically a settlement with Trans Union which can give you a minimum of 6 months of free credit monitoring.  If you had a credit/loan account from Jan 1, 1987 - May 28, 2008, you’re eligible.  This offer ends Sept 24, 2008.

Just wanted to let you all know in case you didn’t find out yet, Internet Explorer 7.0 is out.  Download it here.

Is it better than Firefox?  Stay Tuned.

I just posted a few minutes ago about my iPod, well I’ve decided to place my money in a couple of CDs…

• 6month @ 5.05%, $5,000
• 12month @ 5.15%, $5,000

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Thanks to Jonathan over at MyMoneyBlog.com, I’ve decided to open up an account at TD Ameritrade.  If you didn’t know, I’ve started my Christmas shopping, this Nano maybe one of my gifts.  Before you jump on me for being a cheap *ss, hey a 2GB Nano iPod is nothing to sneeze at!  I want to keep it for myself infact.

I’ll be posting up ways I’m saving on Christmas shopping in a few weeks.

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Pretty good offer if you’re a Starbucks java junkie.  Buy a new $50 card, reload at least $50, or signup for auto-load and you get $10.  The one requirement is that you fund your new card using a Visa credit card–any Visa credit card.  Combine it with a rewards card, and you’re looking at an even higher return.  The offer expires on September 30, 2006.  If you think about it, Starbucks rarely has any type of “specials.”  Enjoy.

I haven’t used this myself yet, so I can’t promise anything, but if it works, nice!  Not sure if a Frappuccino is included.  But anyway, that’s around a $4.00 value…Just print out the coupon linked below…

Starbucks Coupon (PDF File)

Good through the end of September, everyday from noon to 9pm.

And tell them to move their tip jars!!  But leave them a tip because, hey this drink is free…Although I’m still a little wary on this offer…Seems kind of expensive for Starbucks…especially a whole month…

Hey considering these suckers go for about $5 a pop, that’s not bad.  I don’t think I’ve bought a razor in awhile actually…

Check it out here…Thanks Slickdeals.net!

Hurry before it expires!!

Is the world coming to an end?  Sort of like Phillip Morris advocating quitting smoking, but with a little less flare.  Practical money skills doesn’t mean you have to give up plastic.  In fact, with a combination of practical money skills and plastic, you could stretch each dollar even further.

Click here to visit the Visa site.

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I’m a sucker for freebies.  A free napkin?  SWEET!  A free pen?  SWEET!  A free “dreambook”?  SWEET!  Wait, what is a “dreambook”?  (It actually is titled “The Dream Book,” but I like Dreambook…actually, I already published this post, so I don’t want to screw with the title.)  Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes the best things are free.  Here are 4 applications I would really recommend and why.  They are for the PC, although Mac versions may also be available.

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