Finances & Money

Best Posts from October, 2007

Yet another month has flown by. What have I accomplished? Well, I got over 1100 subscribers, over 20,000 visitors, over 35,000 page views and my Google Pagerank increased from 3 to 4.

Another big milestone: I (and others) have written over 500 articles since the inception of CleverDude.com.  To be exact, counting this post, I’ll have 507.

So, here’s a quick rundown of some of CleverDude.com’s best posts from October:

Week 1:

• Insurance: Do You Have an Umbrella for a Rainy Day?  – My best friend Shawn wrote this article as he was looking into personal umbrella insurance.
• Want vs Need: Stacie got a new car – This caused a good bit of controversy as people said we wasted money that could have been spent elsewhere, like on our current debt
• Redbox Test One: Success! – I just like all the pictures of Stacie I used this month

Week 2:

• Trying and Buying Musical Instruments the Wrong Way – Can you guess which way I bought them? Read to find out.
• Coworkers make fun of my coupons, but… – They still make fun of the coupons, but guess who’s saving money
• Closing Your Pool: Isn’t it fun? – I closed our pool last month and ran through the details of what’s involved and why it’s such a pain.

Week 3:

• 132 Items of Clothing Gone! –  We cleaned out a lot of clothing clutter last month, donated it, and now my shirts can breathe!
• How to Value Clothing Donations – Some of the links I provide also speak about any kind of donation, but I focused mainly on clothing.
• Are You in the (Financial) Loop? – Another great guest post by Shawn. Got me thinking about how Stacie isn’t caught up on all our finances.
• 21 Credit Cards at 0% for a Year – I’m going to have to take advantage of one of these cards (or the 6 month 0% offer cards) soon to register for classes for the spring.

Week 4:

• Inexpensive Ways to Woo Your Wife – A guest post by my wife Stacie and a big hit with the female readers (and many male ones too)
• Cleaning Out Cluttered Relationships – We’re not all about personal finance here at CleverDude.com. This post fits into the “Life” category.
• Calculate Financial AND Opportunity Costs of Your Decisions – Think about what you’re giving up now and in the future to get or do that other thing.
• For all of you who think my credit card offers are scams, here’s proof that the $250 American Express deal was real: I Cashed in my AmEx Points and Received the Booty.

Week 5:

• We had a few financial successes last month. We paid off the full bank loan for the MINI Cooper and I completed the sale of my Washburn Bass Guitar.
• On the topic of “Marriage and Family”, I answered a reader’s question about Temptation in the Workplace…and Accountability.
• Do you have a stink in your car that isn’t coming from your feet? Maybe you need to change your car’s cabin air filter. I walk you through what it is and (roughly) how to change it to save a load of money instead of letting the dealer do it.
• And finally, Shawn kicked off his Choosing the Right Health Care Plan series this week. He didn’t finish it up until November (yesterday), but you can get to all his articles from this introduction post.

Have a great November!