A total of 54 entries made it in on time for the giveaway of the “Millionaire by Thirty” book. By the tone of the comments, I have a feeling that not many of you read my review of the book wherein I doubted whether the methods prescribed by the author were practical or even wise. However, I did admit that for some small niche of investors, it might actually work. However, I don’t think the book is the right choice for its target audience…late teens/early twenties.

Well, now it’s time to reveal the winner. According to the integer generator at Random.org, the winner is…

Yep, Commenter #43. That would be “Fred“.

I’ve contacted Fred, and he has 48 hours to get back to me with his address or else I’ll draw another number.

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t win though, because I’m currently reading Does Your Bag Have Holes? by Cameron C. Taylor, which is already turning out to be a MUCH better book than Millionaire by Thirty.

Just a reminder that the contest to win the book “Millionaire by Thirty” (reviewed here) closes tonight. Also, I’d like to remind you that anyone who enters the contest multiple times is disqualified. Although, not explicitly stated as that in the rules, I did say you can only enter ONE time. I had one guy (”Mr. C”) enter 3 times with 3 different comments.

I’m verifying comments based on your IP. When I randomly draw the winner, I’ll check your IP and if there’s a match (or similarity), then you’re disqualified and I draw again. So only enter ONCE!

I’m currently reading Does Your Bag Have Holes? by Cameron C. Taylor, which is turning out to be a very interesting, insightful and inspirational read and I’m not sure I’ll want to give the book away when I’m done! The book is about finances, but with a very strong Christian foundation and stance. I’m in no way a “Bible-thumper”, but the book is making me realize I’m struggling because I don’t have a goal or purpose in my life right now. I know I need to share the book with all of you, so I’m sure I’ll eventually give it away in a contest, so keep on the lookout for it.

I just read an article about a man who lost homes to Katrina, but won the $93,000,000 Powerball jackpot this past January. He didn’t claim the prize for nearly four months because quote:

He wanted to wrap up some of his construction work and finish his outstanding contracts. In fact, Hunter’s wife Dianne said he was still at work this week.

Wow, I respect the guy. I’ve told Stacie that if I won a big jackpot, I would still give the courtesy of a 2 week notice and work really hard to wrap things up. I’m sure she would do the same, and would probably even do some pro bono work on the side for the hospital (mainly because she loves her patients). But to wait almost 4 months? Nah, I’d go the very next business day and cash that puppy in!

About 2 weeks ago, I told you how my experience buying and returning heavy, expensive products to Amazon.com went. Well today I finally have closure of the experience when I saw the full $483.xx credit to my Discover card. They even refunded the $3.99 overnight shipping!

I shipped the product out of Staples on Monday, April 28th. It was received by Amazon 2 days later on April 30th (according to the UPS tracking code), but it took Amazon until May 7th to process the return and send me an email detailing how much would be refunded. I was glad to see they didn’t try to tack on a restocking fee.

And then this morning, May 9th, I logged into my Discover card account and saw the full amount was credited to the account. This was great because I the bill was due in a couple weeks and I didn’t want to have to send almost $500 to Discover and then have to get it refunded. However, at the rate we’re spending money for our outdoor projects (retaining walls), that $500 would be used up in no time.

If it’s just a marketing stunt, then it’s worked, because Chryler’s announcement offering $2.99 per gallon of gas to new Chrysler buyers definitely sparked some interested on the internet, including my own interest.

So what’s the catch? Well, Chrysler issued a laundry list of rules and restrictions, but here are the basics:

• Good for new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicles
• Can only use this deal or other incentives, but not both.
• Use a special credit card only good at select gas retailers. It’s through the US Voyager network, and you can find stations near you through this link. Apparently, the Texaco right by our house is participating, and their price this morning was $3.69 per gallon. Interesting…
• Limited to 12,000 miles per year
• Limited to the first 3 years
• Only good for 87 Octane, E85 Flex-Fuel, or Diesel. That means it’s no good on their high-performance SRT8 model vehicles as they take premium.
• You gotta act NOW. The promotion ends June 2.

About 2 weeks ago, I told you how I was an idiot and filed our state and federal taxes with the wrong social security number for Stacie. As I write this, I’m on the phone with the IRS to find out whether they processed my return. All I had to do back on April 15th was fax in a signature page and a W-2 for Stacie, so perhaps the return has been filed.

UPDATE! The federal return has been processed and accepted! Now back to your regularly scheduled article…

But the Maryland return is the difficult one (isn’t it always the state that causes problems, not the feds?). Apparently, Maryland has a new law this year that requires a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to prove Stacie is who I say she is. A copy of her SS card isn’t enough. And we can’t get this through the mail; Stacie has to go to the SSA in person.

Want to win a free copy of Millionaire by Thirty by Douglas, Emron and Aaron Andrew? Well here’s your place to do it! You can also read my review of the book here and find out if I gave it a thumbs-up or down!

How to Enter to Win

Entering this contest is very simple:

UPDATE! The contest is closed and the winner selected. Click here to find out who it was!

Come back on Friday to find out if you won. Even better, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or email newsletter to find out automatically!

Contest Rules

• I will only ship to the continental U.S. states (sorry Hawaii and Alaska)
• I will ask for your name and address for shipping, but I promise to destroy the information and never sell/share it
• Void where prohibited by law
• You can only enter ONE TIME

According to the Author’s Note in the beginning of the book, Millionaire by Thirty by Douglas, Emron and Aaron Andrew (father/sons):

“contains fresh, new and different approaches to managing debt and using safe, positive leverage to attain a million dollar net worth within 10 years”.

Does the book fulfill this promise?

Cutting to the Chase - What’s the “New Approach”?

Honestly, I hadn’t thought of Douglas’ approach to building net worth, and the book still leaves me wanting more hard data about the feasibility, applicability and safety of the methods prescribed. What are the methods? Well, in a nutshell:

1. Buy homes with the least amount of equity invested (i.e. interest-only loans, 100% financing, etc.)
2. Rent out the homes
3. Refinance when the home values increase and take the extra equity out (via home equity lines of credit, higher mortgage vs amount owed, etc.)
4. Invest that extra into relatively safe investments that make at least the same or better interest rate than what you’re paying on the mortgage