Each week, I highlight ten things each week that inspired me to greater financial, personal, and professional success. Hopefully, they will inspire you as well.

1. Pumpkins Pumpkins are sitting on our front step. Our garden has more squash and similar vegetables than we know what to do with. Leaves are falling from the trees.

Yes, October is here. Thanks to Yaxzone for the great picture (better than my own of the pumpkins on our front step).

2. Garrison Wynn on the fear of change Change is scary and challenging. It involves upending things we hold dear. Yet, quite often, it can result in much better things. What can cause us to do such a thing?

“When the pain of what we are going through becomes greater than the fear of change, we change.” – Garrison Wynn

The trick is to realize just how much pain your current path is causing you and just how little you have to fear from the change.

3. Fitocracy If you’ve ever wanted a good online motivational tool to push you to exercise, sign up for the beta now. This is

Full Post…

As far as can kicks go, this one was not a bad effort. The question you should ask, though, is how long it will take the market to accept this latest European bailout still doesn’t solve any fundamental problems. It is just a shameless attempt for gain without pain.

Let’s look at a few of the details. Greece will get a 50 per cent haircut on its debt? Not so fast. Their total debt load is a mind-boggling €350 billion. This includes around €70 billion in loans from the IMF etc. and about €75 billion that the European Central Bank (ECB) has kindly purchased from the private sector.

These amounts will not be subject to a haircut, so Greece is still on the hook for this debt. That leaves around €200 billion subject to the 50 per cent reduction…which actually means it’s only a (roughly) 30 per cent trim (we wouldn’t even call it a haircut).

Given Greek pension funds and banks own a decent chunk of this outstanding amount, it’s easy to see who’s really paying for this. Banks 1 Greece 0.

As an aside, events like this go to show the mainstream press are not up to the task of reporting the facts. Today’s

Full Post…

Six months ago, “Law & Order: SVU” actress Mariska Hargitay adopted a daughter Amaya Josephine. She and her husband added to the family recently, adopting a son, Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Herman, born over the summer. The newest addition makes Hargitay a mom of three. She also has a 5-year-old son, August.

Hargitay, 47, and her husband Peter Hermann, 44,started thinking about adopting another child right after their first adoption, but never imagined it would happen so soon.

The actress told People magazine, “We never in a million years thought it would happen this quickly, but something inside of us knew this was right and we said, Yes, yes, yes.”

While Hargitay will have her hands full with her young family, she plans to continue working four days a week.

Hi folks. Today I grabbed a Super EET trade. I scaled out at 4 ticks, 8 ticks, and 12 ticks. Hit all targ, but I left several ticks on the table. Still, for 20 minutes, great profit! We are rockin n rolling again!

Have a great day! Not much else to report!!

I get a lot of beginners asking me questions so I am reposting this link from the site where you can start: Emini Trader Beginners Info and Following The Rules

Thats a good start!



Economists’ hopes of a financial recovery were dashed today after figures revealed that growth in the world’s major economies has dropped.

The rating for countries inside the euro zone plunged from 103.1 points to just 102.8, the OECD’s leading indicator for April showed today.

Emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China also suffered a blow after they registered lower growth momentum readings than expected.

Slowdown: Growth in the world’s major economies – including China, Russia, India and Brazil – dropped in April, figures have revealed

Just six months ago the world’s leading economists had expected the emerging economies to dramatically grow, sparking mass investment in the regions.

But the indicator suggested a ‘possible moderation in economic activity’ in China, slowdowns in Brazil and India and showed the ‘the first sign of a loss of momentum in Russia’, the OECD said.

Business trip: David Cameron visited India amid hopes for its economy

Growth in Britain was shown to have stalled which could spark further claims that the chancellor’s austerity measures have jeopardised a growth in the economy.

The OECD rating clashes with figures released by the National Institute for Social and Economic Research last week which suggested that the economy grew 0.4 per cent in the three months to the end of May.

Full Post…

Normally people who are looking for support through debt consolidation programs using the services of a consolidation agency have their credit pretty trashed. It is necessary to know when someone is in financial troubles before starting to miss repayments. At the same time one has to be very careful in selecting the company that will be the service provider. The reason is that while debt consolidation will not ordinarily affect the consumer’s credit rating, adoption of unfair or wrong process can bring up that unwarranted result of adversely affecting the consumer’s credit reports.

Agencies that deal and offer debt consolidation programs usually enter into negotiation with the lender and the logic behind it is that the lenders would prefer negotiation rather than not being paid or entering into litigation for getting back their money. If
Full Post…

Roth IRA is an investment done for the betterment of retirement life. Many of us may wonder in what basis this differs from insurance policies and other mutual funds existing in markets of today. Well people are so much unaware about the Roth IRA.Roth IRA is an investment plan suggested by Mr. William Roth. So that explains the origin of the word Roth.IRA is nothing but Individual Retirement Account. As we all know that insurance policies in existence now are subjected to age limitations as well as there is some limitations over the size of investment we are going to make. But Roth IRA breaks all these barriers as there is no age-limit for making contribution to an IRA account. As long as a person earns he can contribute. For more details on Roth IRA follow the link roth-ira.org

Every scheme is liable to some limitations; even Roth IRA abides this law.
Full Post…

Money management involves managing banking, taxes, budgeting and investing. It is essential for financial security as it invariably increases wealth. It can be the difference between wealth and poverty. Setting practical and achievable goals is the most important part of money management. Understanding one’s means is another important factor. This enables the person to control finances based on profits and losses. The risk factors involved should be taken into account before investing.

Analyzing the monthly or weekly spending is a good way to start. Once this has been performed, a budget can be implemented. Budgeting is an easy way to manage money. The next step is to cut down on unnecessary items. This is the hardest part and it requires a lot of will power to refrain from spending money. Using a low or no cost credit card can save a lot of money. Consolidating debts can give an idea of how much the person owes. If the debts are left ignored, they will pile up and cause a lot of financial misery. There are several companies that offer advice on money management.

There are several types of loans available today. A
Full Post…

Layaway is back! At least it is according to a recent New York Times article reporting that Walmart is resurrecting the payment method. Putting expensive items on layaway was commonplace during most of the 20th century, but once credit cards became de rigueur, many places phased out layaway options. Well, times have changed yet again. From October 17 through December 16, Walmart customers can put 20 percent down toward electronic items or toys that cost more than $15 apiece. According to its layaway plan, customers will have to fork over an additional $5 service fee, but that beats a 15 percent APR (or higher) that credit cards charge.

And Walmart isn’t alone in the layaway trend. Sears reinstated the policy in 2008 and Toys R Us jumped on the bandwagon in 2009. Now, clothing hounds can put items on layaway at Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx and several others.

With layaway, you can furnish your house, get a new TV or stereo system, dress your kids for back to school and buy toys for the kids during the holidays—all without going into debt.

Get surround sound from Walmart: Vizio’s Surround Sound Home Theater with Wireless Subwoofer is a pretty penny at $348.98. But wi

Full Post…