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Finances & Money

Weekly Roundup: Syncroblog Edition

October 6, 2008
By Cleverdude
- Leave a Comment

Tomorrow, Tuesday October 7th, I will be participating in a “Syncroblog” with about a dozen other personal finance blogs. We’ll all be answering the same question at the same time (so we don’t get to look at each other’s answers first). The question is: “What is the single most important initiative that the next administration should undertake to improve the economic health of the U.S. middle class?"

Wow, heavy-duty question, isn’t it? You would think with all the debates and campaign ads that the current candidates would have some kind of answer for this too.  Sadly, I don’t have much confidence that the federal government will be able to implement my answer, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out what it is!

And now for my favorite articles from this past week:

From the Personal Finance Network

– Blunt Money helps us prepare for a layoff.

– Canadian Capitalist gives his opinion of the bailout.

– MoneyNing gives us 10 activities for the bear market.

– Quest for Four Pillars tells us don’t worry about the falling markets.

– Squawkfox teaches us how to make a homemade fruit fly trap.

From my Personal Finance Reader List

– JD at Get Rich Slowly is such a nerd. He analyzed his credit card agreement and found, well, click through to see what he found out.

– The Dough Roller tells us to learn from our financial mistakes.

– Chief Family Officer is giving away Weight Watchers coupons. Enter by Wednesday.

– Although not a PF blog, I couldn’t resist posting this link to Autoblog’s article about PigTones. You can get Yoda, Ahnold Schwarzehflhlkhkjhf and numerous other celebs giving you directions through your navigation unit. I’m really tempted.

– Wisebread answers why it’s a bad thing that banks can’t lend money now.

– Queercents teaches us a few ways to turn spenders into savers.

– And finally, Trent at The Simple Dollar gives us an inside peek at how he saves money on his baby. Hint: Cloth diapers. Actually, I didn’t know cloth diapers looked like that. I was always picturing a rag.

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About Cleverdude

Mike founded CleverDude.com in June 2006 while working as a technical analyst in the Washington, D.C. area. A Penn State graduate, he built the site as a side project alongside a white-collar career that included earning a master’s degree and multiple promotions.

In five years he wrote nearly 1,300 articles on personal finance and life lessons drawn from his own experience. The blog grew from a hobby into a recognized early voice in the personal-finance community and generated meaningful revenue. He sold the site in 2010, continued as a guest contributor through 2015, and returned in 2023 after further career advances, paying off his home, and extensive travel.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chris says

    October 6, 2008 at 11:07 am

    not the most important but the easiest….eliminate the “death” tax. bad enough people are in mourning, but if they are left something in a will, they will have to pay taxes for it…now i know there are ways around it, but the principle of it all is just wrong.

    the thing they should do to increase tax flow is remove the tax exempt status for churches and hospitals….find me a hospital or church that isn’t swimming in money, and i will show you one that is doing something wrong or very shady.

    but to answer the question posted…if you read obama’s plan, or just seen the photo of the breakdown…that is the best solution, or go with the flat tax concept.

    http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/06/12/GR2008061200193.gif

    Reply
  2. Squawkfox says

    October 6, 2008 at 11:47 am

    Hey Dude! Good luck and have fun with the Synchroblog! I’ve actually never heard of this type of event before…so I’ll be following! Thanks for mentioning my fruit flies. 😀

    Reply
  3. Cathy @ Chief Family Officer says

    October 6, 2008 at 11:57 pm

    Thanks so much for mentioning my giveaway!

    And what a cool concept – I was wondering what a Synchroblog was when I saw your title. Big topic – it should make for some interesting reading. I’m looking forward to it 🙂

    Reply
  4. Canadian Capitalist says

    October 7, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Thanks for the link CD. The new administration should really think about higher taxes. If Warren Buffett says he is paying less taxes as a percentage of his income than his secretary, there is something really wrong.

    Reply

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