Moneysmartz

Holiday Money Saving Tips

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:30:37 -0600

If the thought "I'm going to be smart about my holiday spending" has not translated into the act of spending less, then the following links offer hope for a more frugal holiday season:

Acting like a Scrooge: Dr. Judith Rich of The Huffington Post offers ideas for going gift-free.
Using a Budget: Ideas for staying within your holiday budget.
Creating Frugal Traditions: How to create money-saving and meaningful holiday traditions.
Thinking Before Spending: Three simple tips for smarter holiday spending.

Errold Moody

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:38:38 -0600

EFMoody.com
Category: Financial Planning
Description: With quotes like "No matter, this is not a Suze Orman 'feel good' commentary or the absurd Rich Dad Poor Dad drivel. Be prepared to do some heavy homework and you will be well served by the material and insight found nowhere else" it's not surprising that EF Moody is known for his "no-nonsense" approach to educating readers about finance. The contents of his site EFMoody.com offer a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the essential elements of financial management and planning. The site prides itself on being the "largest comprehensive financial planning site on the Internet" and for providing readers knowledge to help them get past the hype of the financial services industry and focus on what really works.
Features: The site has 4,000 pages of related articles on finance and 1,700 links to financial websites. One of the famous, and sometimes controversial, features of EFMoody.com is his daily "Gripes and Comments" discussing the finance industry and the economy as a whole.
Notable Awards/Recognition: EFMoody.com has received widespread media recognition including favorable reviews by Forbes, Business Week and USA Today which said "This is a high-powered personal bookmark list that spans the spectrum of the truly useful."
Bottom Line: Errold Moody masters the art of humorous, conversational financial commentary. Though the site lay-out has a lot of room for improvement, the content of the site itself is staggering. If you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do some heavy lifting, then the thousands of resource materials and helpful articles at EFMoody.com will surely enhance your financial decision making.

Consumerism Commentary

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:46:30 -0600

Consumerism Commentary
Categories: Personal Finance Blog
Description: Consumerism Commentary is a personal finance blog started in 2003 by Flexo to "hold himself accountable for his finances." Flexo's background is varied including a undergraduate degree in music education and an MBA. Smithee, an interactive designer, recently joined Flexo. Both Flexo and Smithee co-write the articles and feature news in the blog. Articles are posted daily, with a wide range of topics including the latest market and economic news, advice about saving and investing, and Flexo's and Smithee's take on their own personal finances.
Features: The site features an ongoing "Carnival of Personal Finance" of posts by other personal finance bloggers and the monthly tracking of Flexo's net worth.
Notable Awards/Recognition: Consumerism Commentary has been mentioned in The Wall Street Journal and quoted in BusinessWeek Online. Yahoo! named Consumerism Commentary as one of the "Ten Money Blogs Everyone Should Read." Most recently, Consumerism Commentary was named "A Must-Read Blog" by Kilpinger's Personal Finance Magazine.
Bottom Line: Flexo and Smithee write with passion about finance products and services offering a fresh perspective on money and debt most useful for reflecting on your own personal day-to-day personal financial management.

Moneysmartz on Twitter

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:01:49 -0600

Twitter, the social networking and micro-blogging sensation, allows individuals to deliver short messages ("tweets") over multiple networks and devices. Since Twitter's launch in 2006, it has evolved into a tool for easily connecting with friends and family. Lately, businesses have discovered the utility of Twitter through an almost unlimited number of creative approaches.

Moneysmartz recently jumped into the Twitter fray and began posting updates about Moneysmartz blog posts. Our Twitter page shows who we are following and who is following us. We welcome anyone with an interest in personal finance to follow our tweets. Moneysmartz follows individuals and businesses micro-blogging about personal finance, including personal finance blogs and websites.

Moneysmartz will continue to track the Twitter sensation and report on ways individuals can use Twitter to find the information, products, and services they need to make smarter financial decisions.

Get Rich Slowly

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:24:22 -0600

Get Rich Slowly
Categories: Personal Finance Blog
Description: Get Rich Slowly, a money and finance blog authored by former cardboard-box salesman J.D. Roth, helps readers take the slow and steady route in building wealth. Through sensible advice about personal finance and simple money management rules and tips, Get Rich Slowly guides the way to a better relationship with money. Blog topics range from consumerism, entrepreneurship, health, and even relationships, all with a connection back to the theme of common sense personal financial management.
Features: Simple in style, tone, and content, Get Rich Slowly organizes posts by relevant personal finance categories and hosts an active community of almost 3,000 individuals discussing personal finance and fiscal fitness.
Notable Awards/Recognition: Indicative of its widespread media attention, Get Rich Slowly was recognized as the "Most Inspiring Money Blog" by CNNMoney.com in 2008.
Bottom Line: If you are tired of get-rich-quick schemes and would like to try a more practical and sensible approach, then Get Rich Slowly will deliver what you need including daily updates about saving and investing money, practical tips and advice for frugal living, slice-of-life examples about debt elimination, and the latest financial news from the web.

Suze Orman

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:12:09 -0600

Suze Orman
Categories: Financial Planning, Personal Finance
Description: SuzeOrman.com is the official website of Suze Orman, an internationally-acclaimed personal finance expert. Suze Orman started her own financial planning firm in Emeryville, California in 1987. Since then, her career has been rising like a raging bull market, including six New York Times bestsellers and her own television show on CNBC.
Features: SuzeOrman.com includes information, advice, inspiration, and lots of special offers. The site's resource section includes free information on fundamental personal finance concepts such as debt management, home ownership, and insurance.
Notable Awards/Recognition: Time Magazine's 2008 Time 100 World's Most Influential People. 2009 Gracie Allen Award for The Suze Orman Show in the Outstanding Talk Show category from the American Women in Radio and Television.
Bottom Line: SuzeOrman.com is a monument to smart self-promotion with an array of Suze Orman and third-party product and service offers. While the site is light on free information and resources, it is an effective channel to Suze Orman and her multimedia empire, including television, radio, publishing, and public speaking. If you are willing to open your checkbook just a little, then a visit to SuzeOrman.com should yield the expert guidance and dose of inspiration many of us need.

FiLife

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:51:02 -0600

FiLife
Category: Personal Finance
Description: Started by the IAC and Dow Jones in 2008, FiLife is a personal finance and money management community offering product reviews, tools, discussion, and stories from The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Marketwatch. The FiLife site is organized by major financial planning topics like banking, credit cards, the economy, and investing. Each topic page includes expert Q&A, resource guides, news, tools, polls that FiLife calls "stackers", and discussion.
Features: The FiLife site utilizes social networking tools including FiLife's "chatter on Twitter" that shows what people are saying about important financial topics. In addition, FiLife's "stackers" lets site visitors create, answer and share personal finance polls.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a well-organized and convenient way to gather information about important personal finance topics, products, and services, then FiLife is worth a visit. FiLife's "stackers" offers a unique twist on personal finance social networking and is a fun and interesting way to learn more about your personal finances.

Blogging Stocks

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:51:50 -0600

Blogging Stocks
Category: Investing Blogs
True to its mission "to cover stocks with depth, analysis and an obsession unmatched anywhere on the web," Blogging Stocks offers an array of analysis and opinion every day. Articles, opinion, and stock picks are organized by stock, so it's easy to find and track your favorite stock.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com

All Purpose Money Portal

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:15:51 -0600

MSN Money
Category: Investing
MSN Money, part of the sixth most visited domain on the Internet, MSN, offers personal finance and investing information, an online community, and the latest financial news, services, tools, and articles. MSN Money's financial information can be used for research and tools like calculators will help you plan for retirement, pay off college debt, file tax returns and more. The site's in-depth coverage of financial topics includes personal finance insight from a team of seasoned financial columnists. Like many of the best personal finance portals, MSN has just about everything you need to make smarter financial decisions.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp

America's Financial Planning Leader

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:36:07 -0600

Ameriprise Financial
Category: Financial Planning
With over 110 years of service, Ameriprise Financial has been tagged America's leader in financial planning. Through a national network of financial advisors, online information, tools, and insight, Ameriprise helps their clients save, manage, invest, and protect their assets. In a recent J.D. Power & Associates client satisfaction survey, Ameriprise ranked sixth. Through December 2007, Ameriprise served 2.8 million clients with more than $400 billion of assets.
http://www.ameriprise.com/default-home.asp

Customized Financial Plans

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:46:48 -0600

AXA Advisors
Category: Financial Planning
AXAonline is operated by AXA Advisors, LLC a division of the global AXA Group. They are a leading financial management and protection company, offering a wide range of financial services and products including insurance, annuities, and retirement planning. AXA Advisors currently serves more than 3 million clients with branch offices throughout the United States. This network of professionals works with clients to develop customized financial strategies using products from over 100 companies. AXAonline includes links to financial services and products and tools, articles on important financial planning topics like retirement and estate planning, and a branch and advisor directory to help you find an AXA advisor in your area.
http://www.axaonline.com/

Personal Investment Guidance For Less

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 06:06:01 -0600

Charles Schwab
Category: Financial Planning
Founded in 1973 and public in 1987, Charles Schwab aims to provide the benefits of a full-service brokerage at a discount brokerage price. In addition to brokerage services, Schwab offers banking, lending, and personal advice online and through more than 300 offices in the United States and in select international markets. The Schwab site links to financial products and services like mutual funds and advisory services. If you are an active trader, then Schwab Active Trading provides customizable platforms and tools to help you trade smarter.
http://www.schwab.com

Find Local Legal Services

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:36:07 -0600

FindLaw
Category: Legal Directories
With over four million site visitors every month, FindLaw is a leading provider of online legal information. Created by a group of lawyers in 1995, FindLaw helps individuals, students, small businesses and professionals research legal issues, download legal documents, and find service providers, including more than 50,000 site listings in 30 practice areas. The FindLaw site has received numerous awards, including recognition as one of Time's 50 coolest sites.
http://www.findlaw.com

Top Ranked Financial Advisor

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:07:22 -0600

Ric Edelman
Category: Financial Planning
Year after year, Ric Edelman has been ranked at or near the top of financial advisory rankings by well-known industry publications like Barron's and Research magazine. In addition to financial advisory services, offered through Edelman Financial and found at edelmanfinancial.com, more about and from Ric Edelman can be found at ricedelman.com. The site is full of useful financial planning articles and links to Edelman's multi-media offerings including television, radio, newspaper columns, and a personal finance newsletter.
http://www.ricedelman.com/
http://www.edelmanfinancial.com/

Finding The Right Mortgage

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:55:50 -0600

Mortgage.com
Category: Mortgages
Mortgage.com is an easy-to-use educational guide that aims to assist consumers in making the right mortgage decisions. The site is powered by Citi® and is intended to help individuals find the right mortgage products by providing comparative rates, planning tools, tips and advice. Whether buying or refinancing, a quick trip to Mortgage.com will help equip you with the information and insight you need to make a smarter decision.
http://www.mortgage.com