Difference Between Frugality and Cheapness

By MoneyBlueBook

I try my best to live a healthy and reasonably frugal life. This doesn't mean that I spend all of my time counting pennies but I do have a mental calculator to keep track of spending as it relates to the income I bring in. I enjoy being financially organized and efficient in how I use my limited resources to maximize the value I get back. But I have my priorities and when I am with friends, family, or loved ones, I don't mind splurging for them. My frugal lifestyle is mostly for me and I try to limit the practice when I am around others so it doesn't rub off the wrong way.

Frugality Sees Value, Cheapness Sees Cost

Frugality is a very positive trait but many people often mistaken it for it's evil cousin, cheapness. Frugality and cheapness are two different things. Frugal people understand true value and have the ability to evaluate finances by taking into consideration past, present, and future needs. Cheap people don't really care about value and prefer not to spend money for the sake of not spending money.

For example, if I can buy paper towels in bulk and after factoring in the time value of spent money I decide that I will save more money in the long run by spending a little bit more today, frugality dictates that I make the more expensive purchase now that will provide greater value cumulatively in the long run. Cheapness would probably dictate that I not buy it at all or

By MoneyBlueBook

I have a moderate perspective on social issues, with a very slight lean towards the liberal left. But I always enjoy debating about interesting issues and enjoy hearing the views of others.

I'm going to talk about a fascinating topic I heard discussed on the Chris Core radio show today. He was talking about the existence of the stealth women vote in regards to Hillary Clinton and how some women are eagerly awaiting the chance to vote Hillary into office for the sake of seeing a women ascend into the nation's most powerful role. However, the issue was brought up that there are some people out there, most notably women in particular, who resent other women like Hillary for her "Queen Bee" mentality and persona.

What is It?

The Queen Bee Syndrome goes like this. Women who have the Queen Bee condition are usually those who work in supervisory roles or in positions of power. They feel the need to be recognized and demand to be in the center of attention at all times. They regard other women as competition and see them as threats to their ability to enjoy exclusive attention and respect. They desire nothing more than having others fall on their knees to bow before them and lavish them with power, attention, compliments, and envy. Oftentimes, they will treat female subordinates much harsher than male employees. They have particular resentment and disdain for women who work in traditional stereotypical female roles, such as secretaries, models, and housewives.

Genuine Surprise At the Response

The issues raised were

By MoneyBlueBook

As I mentioned in previous posts, one of my hobbies when I have downtime at work or home is filling out online paid online surveys and getting paid for it. One of the welcomed perks of doing these surveys is that you occasionally receive free products to review. So far I've received a few large bottles of shampoo and a couple of other personal items (very personal items I must add) to try out and review.

It's actually quite interesting and I enjoy receiving free stuff. I don't mind being a guinea pig for these companies. It's not like the products are toxic or potentially hazardous. Some of them, like the shampoos, are pretty much what you use at home anyway except they might be packaged differently or the texture of the shampoo might be different. But it's certainly interesting to be able to voice my opinion on products that haven't been released to the general public. I haven't received any electronic merchandise to review yet but I'm hoping to get the chance eventually.

Tips To Get the Most Survey Opportunities

Product reviews don't come too frequently, but the best way to maximize your opportunities and rewards in general is to do the following:

By MoneyBlueBook

I think the Comcastturtle mascots would love the speed of my website. The Slowsky's like things "slow and easy" - a perfect description of my site right now.

I apologize for the sluggishness in page load time and the occasional appearance of site error messages for the last few days. I just migrated my web hosting to Dreamhost. I thought this would solve the uptime and speed issues I had with Hostmonster, but it looks like I'm having the same problems with Dreamhost as well. It has been a pretty frustrating week to say the least. :(

Dreamhost doesn't offer live chat or telephone troubleshooting so sometimes I have to wait a few hours to a day before they respond to my e-mail support requests. The tech guys at Dreamhost continue to be very professional and courteous, and that's why I've been giving them the benefit of the doubt. But at some point, they have to be able to deliver and fix the problem permanently. I really hope they repair the malfunction soon. The company is very likable, but I can only tolerate so much.

Separating Truth From Fiction

Are there any affordable web hosting services out there with truly reliable service? They all seem to guarantee 99% uptime, but always fail to deliver. It's so hard to get a genuine, unbiased opinion about which company offers the best service. I suspect many webhosting companies pay people to visit websites and forums anonymously to say favorable things about their company, while badmouthing the competition.

By MoneyBlueBook

I'm thinking of a number...between 450 and 850. Do you know what it is? It's my credit score, and it happens to be be 720.

Ok, my credit score is actually 750, but I'm sure you've heard that commercial before from freecreditreport.com. It's the one where the guy is sitting on a producer's chair talking about his credit score in front of a plasma tv. Well I'm here to warn you not to fall for their slick advertising. Their marketing technique is very clever but seemingly misleading. The free credit reports they offer are not truly free as most people would understand it. You have to enroll in their credit monitoring trial program to obtain your complimentary report. If you don't cancel within the trial period, you will be charged.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the Only Official Free Credit Report Site

There is only one truly free way to obtain your credit report, and that is through AnnualCreditReport. There are numerous sites out there that claim to offer "free credit reports", "free credit scores", or "free credit monitoring" but none of them are part of the legally mandated and official free annual credit report program. In most cases, the so-called credit report product comes with strings attached.

By law everyone is entitled to a free copy of their credit report from the three major credit agencies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, upon request once every 12 months. These credit reports usually cost upwards of $10 each. It's a good idea to keep tabs on your credit report and

By MoneyBlueBook

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For those curious or willing to take on the challenge of learning a new investment methodology,Trading Concepts Inc offers a home study package on how to trade Emini futures.

Eminis are electronically traded futures that are much smaller than existing futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The claimed advantages to trading Emini contracts include greater liquidity and flexibility. The most popular Eminis are those that track popular stock indexes such as the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100.

The home study Emini Trading System course provides a wide assortment of preparatory material, including a 250+ page comprehensive manual, 4 professionally shot video tapes (50+ page manual), 3 hours of professionally recorded audio cd's (50+ page manual), unlimited phone/e-mail consultation, free unlimited access into the members area, and a free day of market training.

It Does Take Personal Effort and There Are Risks

Trading Concepts Inc. claims that the average student will take roughly one to two months provided they are prepared to spend between five and eight study hours on the course a week, to learn and actually begin using and profiting from Emini trading.

The company's website does acknowledge that while futures and options trading offer potentially significant rewards, day trading does involve high risks and you can lose a lot of money. As always, please do very thorough research, and be careful.