Is there a time? I wonder. That said, I certainly have made comments about things like a $299 notebook computer or a free after rebate broadband router.
That said, quality is not cheap.
Granted, quality is not the only issue. Sometimes very decent products get closed out for new versions; other times stores are using “loss leaders” to get people into stores.
Is there a time that a product costs too little?
I’m writing this at Good to Grill, a local eatery in Honolulu that I would likely never have frequented except for Twitter.
I just finished off their $9.99 prime rib special for lunch on a weekend–that I would not have heard of if not for Twitter.
Earlier today, I gave some tech support over Twitter. And I heard about 4 gigabyte flash drives for $10 at WalMart on Twitter.
There’s a lot of financial power in my life afforded to Twitter.
The S&P 500 is the benchmark index for this blog and myself personally. That’s how I decide whether or not the market is up or down for a certain period of time.
So I decided today to see how it’s done year to date.
Based on Friday’s adjusted close, the S&P 500 is up .455% for the year.
So yes, the market is up year to date–by a very slim margin.
When my dad got my sister and I a computer–an Apple II Plus which still works–for the first time in 1982, computers were really expensive–the II Plus was well over $1300 with two 5.25 inch floppy drives–or not so expensive but really of poor quality.
Today, a Netbook is often in the $200 range and a fantastic notebook desktop can be had for under $1,000. Yes, any amount of money could be spent, but computing power becomes cheaper all the time.
Which means more and more people can afford to be using them, increasing productivity and participation in activities like computer programming and gaming.
My ten year old niece has had three computers already. When I was her age, computers were restricted to businesses and government agencies.
It’s wild to see how much the price of technology has come; let’s see how far technology take us in the future!
One of the things I’ve noticed in Hawai’i is that florists–of which there are many–almost never seem to go out of business.
That got me wondering if a floral business would be a solid investment.
Trust me, I know very little about this field, so there’s no way I would buy a flower shop. That got me looking for stocks. The first thought that came to mind was FTD, which allows flowers to be delivered long distance very quickly.
In my research I discovered that FTD merged with United Online, a company I had never heard of before, in 2008. I don’t know a lot about this company still, but they have a rather low price to earnings ratio of 9.05 and they pay a hefty 6.20% yield, with a stock price that’s lower than I like at 6.32–within shouting distance of penny stock status.
This is, at this point, a great example of something I don’t know enough about. And so, there’s no way I could justify investing in it without knowing more about it.
I’ve decided that when I take my trip to Philadelphia I’m going to rent a car.
I realize that those of you who know me well don’t think that my driving on the continent is all that hot of an idea, and I usually agree with you. This time, however, I think it’s going to be the thing to do; that and the fact that the last time I traveled on the continent I did a lot of driving (of course with my handy GPS) I did fine is pointing me toward doing so.
I’d also like to do it frugally.
One of the ways I got a car cheaply the last time I needed to rent was by waiting until the last minute–well, not waiting, really, since it was when my truck was broken into and rendered unusable and I needed a working vehicle right then and there. It resulted in me being able to get something for $14 a day before the large amount of fees and taxes common with renting cars.
I think I may do something similar here.
The gamble, of course, is that they’ll run out of cars, or go into short supply. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but of course, it could.
We’ll see how this goes.
Today I spent some time taking inventory of a whole bunch of gift cards I’ve received; I did this largely because I was down to just over $6 of credit on the iTunes Store and I knew I had a few gift cards.
In fact, between a gift certificate and gift card I added $80 to my iTS account.
I also have $80 in Visa gift cards and a smattering of other cards from stores or restaurants like Jamba Juice, California Pizza Kitchen, and Longs.
I know I sometimes debate to myself whether or not to use a reward credit card for a purchase or a gift card. In general my rule is to use the gift card, but I don’t always follow that rule. If it’s a generic Visa gift card, for instance, and I need gasoline, I’d rather use one of my two 5% reward cards.
For the most part, I will use gift cards if I have them. It’s just that there are a few exceptions.
June was certainly a downer of a month for investing; our model portfolio was not doing so well that month. July, however, was an absolute reversal from the June debacle.
The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) was up a stunning 7.41% while paying a decent 2% yield. Its international counterpart, the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX) was up an even better 9.64% and pays an even better 2.71% yield, so the stock part of our portfolio soared this month.
In our fixed income section, the Vanguard GNMA Fund (VFIIX) was up 0.73% for the month while paying a 3.19% yield; the Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund (VBMFX) was up 0.65% while paying a 3.62% yield.
It was a great investing month following two months of losses–especially June’s dramatic losses. Let’s hope things continue moving up in August.
It’s been awhile since I updated everyone on the state of the blog here; I’ve been busy with various projects whether they’re programming, podcasting, training, or other blogs–or just plain old life.
Uncommon Cents continues to be profitable, and our publishing schedule continues to be largely on track, even though there are times when things are better and times when things are worse. In the last few months I’ve actually taken the occasional break from blogging here while dealing with other projects or family emergencies.
I’m hoping to get things on an even more consistent schedule in the future. Thanks for reading!
While the Kindle has been the leader in the electronic book reader realm for some time, the introduction of the iPad undoubtedly took some wind out of their sails. In the meantime, the Barnes & Noble Nook has provided direct Kindle competition–as well as price competition.
Now, with the announcement of the Kindle 3, prices have dropped dramatically.
Two models were announced: the WiFi only Kindle (all previous Kindles included 3G capabilities) for $139 and a 3G, traditional style Kindle for $189.
No, these readers do not have color capability–they seem in many ways similar to the previous Kindles, just for less.
Let’s see how these newly priced Kindles do in the market.
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The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp