A Penny Saved

I’ve just added Text Link Ads to A penny saved… Perhaps you’ll soon notice them along the right hand side of the site. Unlike other ways to monetize a site, Text Link Ads sells the ad for the entire month and then splits the revenue with you. There is no depending on click throughs, only viable ad space.

If you’d like to try it out, I would appreciate it if you used my affiliate code. Which you can use by clicking here –> Sell Ad Space Or by clicking through on the banner on the lower right hand side that says Text Link Ads!

I’ll try and keep updated on how well this works out for me.

Technorati Tags: Ads, Text Link Ads, TLA, Revenue, Advertising

If you’ve never heard of Money Blogger Podcast, you should certainly check it out.  Each week he publishes a new podcast interview with a Money Blogger.  This week happens to be the week that my interview with Scott gets to see the light.  So, if you ever wanted to hear my voice, you can now listen to Scott and myself ramble on about Money Blogging!

I must add that Scott surprised me with how professional he was with the whole thing.  He really does his homework and certainly knows how to put a really good podcast interview together.  It was truly a fun experience and I would encourage anyone who gets an email from Scott to go right ahead and talk with him.

Technorati Tags: money blogger podcast, money podcast, podcast, money blogger, personal finance

With all the talk of the Real Estate market and where it’s headed, it may be time to start looking for a new area to make your profits from. No, I’m not talking about forclosure auctions, although they could become quite popular soon. I’m talking about a different type of Real Estate. Internet Real Estate. Domains.

Just like the ever popular “house flippers” who buy a rundown house, remodel it, and then sell for a huge profit, domain flipping is becoming popular. Business 2.0 had a short article on the subject in this months issue. (unfortunately, there is no link up to the article just yet) Essentially, people are buying domain names that have potential, fleshing the site out and gaining traffic, then selling for decent profit.  They suggest sites like sitepoint and DNForum to begin looking at for potential flippable domains.

Certainly, domain flipping isn’t for everybody, and some related experience with web programming and domain hosting is probably suggested.  I have some limited experience with my research for articles at Thatedeguy and at SuperGeekBlog, but still will have to take a much closer look before I try domain flipping for the first time.

Technorati Tags: domain flipping, business 2.0, domain, internet, flipping, real estate

At my request, A Penny Saved… has been added to pfblogs.com.  I’m sure there are those of you out there who are asking why I would submit my feeds to an aggregator that uses ads.

I think that’s the worst arguement ever.  When was the last time you searched for something on Google?  See those ads on the right hand side of your results?  They show up when your content is there as well.  Are you submitted to Technorati?  See all those ads on the Technorati pages?  Yep, you guessed it.  They show up when your content is there too.

At least pfblogs.com gives me the ability to rotate my adsense code in once in a while if I so choose.  I did not choose to if you are curious.  I think most people click through to the sites rather than through the ads.

So, why did I decide to add myself to pfblogs.com?  I see it as a symbiotic relationship.  I add a little content to their aggregator and in exchange, traffic that is interested in my content clicks through to my site.  The better they do, the more traffic that is potentially interested in my content and comes to my site.  It’s the same reason that I submit to Google, Yahoo, Technorati and the whole lot.

If you have content that is PF, REI, or Invest related, consider adding yourself also.  If you still are a little skittish about the ads, add your code to the rotation and get some of the ad time on the site as well.

Technorati Tags: pfblogs, ads, adsense, aggregator, google, technorati

The Dallas Morning News (via Experiments in Finance) had an article on Sunday about Scott Travers.  Scott is a rare-coin expert in New York City.  Scott paid (partially at least) for a bottle of water with a $1000 penny.  On purpose.

“I just wanted to put a little magic into everyday life,” said Mr. Travers, a rare-coin expert based in New York.

What a loony you might say.  Well, maybe not.  The purpose behind all this sillyness is to try and inject a little excitement into the coin collecting world.  And hopefully pick up a few new collectors on the way.   All in all, Scott released 3 pennies into the wild.  A $200 1914-D, a $300 1908-S Indian, and a $1000 1909-S VDB.  All three were released in New York last month, but it could be years before they reappear.  One has to wonder if they won’t get thrown into someone’s change jar.  Circulation could be intermittent at best.

Technorati Tags: coins, pennies, penny, rare coins, scott travers, experiment

Ever offered someone a “penny for your thoughts”?  Well, Flexo at Consumerism commentary just pointed out that it cost the U.S. Treasury $0.015 to make a penny.  Gives new meaning to the title of this site doesn’t it.

So, tell me.  If the U.S. Treasury is losing $0.005 on each penny it makes, why are we still making pennies?  I’d much rather get rid of them altogether.  We used to have half-cents as well and 2-cent pieces.  When was the last time you used a penny?  I honestly do not remember the last time I used a penny.  I received one as change about a month ago and it went straight into the change jar when i got home. Never to be seen again.

What are some solutions to this dilemma?  If we eliminate the penny, what do we use for change if we need less than $0.05 cents?  Do we stop pricing things at anything that could result in an off cent remainder?  Round up?  What about sales tax?

There are currently only two solutions that are feasible.  Eliminate cash transactions all together, which won’t happen anytime soon.  Or, we leave it as it is.  There are too many logistical problems with getting rid of the penny.  Perhaps a third solution would be changing the makeup of the coin?  Something cheaper to produce.  Tin?  I’m not sure what is cheaper than the current zinc/copper.

Another question, would there be a quasi-rebellion if the new metal would cause the coin to change color? What do you think?

Technorati Tags: coins, penny, coin, currency

A Penny saved is one of 7 contributors to the Carnival of Investing this week hosted by Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Seems the owner of the carnival is MIA since February and the email submissions aren’t forwarding well. Jim did what he could with what he had and is still taking submissions until tuesday, so get yours in if you have one. If you don’t make sure you go over and read the other six besides mine.

Technorati Tags: carnivals, carnival of investing, cd, investing

The Wall Street Journal(password) has an article interviewing someone at ING and introducing a new account called “Electric Orange” that will begin being rolled out sometime this summer.  Customers of “Electric Orange” will earn somewhere around 3-4% and will receive a debit/check card in lieu of check blanks.  There are also no fees, minimum balances or atm fees.

Found via BeanCounterBlog and BankDeals and with the help of pfblogs.org

Technorati Tags: ING, Checking, Interest, Electric Orange, ING checking

My Money Forest and Musing Money both pointed it out.  MIT has a program called OpenCourseWare.  It’s a online posting of many different courses that are freely accessible by anyone.  Think of it as your very own college course online.  Sure, you don’t get access to the faculty, but if you have that undying urge to learn, it’s got what you need.

It’s got Aeronautics to Writing with plenty in between.  Some of the courses are dated a little, but I’m sure they are still very aplicable.  Give it a look and see what you think.

[tags]MIT, Learn, courses, opencourseware, college[tags]

Eliot Spitzer, the States Attorney for the State of New York filed a suit claiming that the nation’s largest tax preparer

fraudulently marketed retirement savings plans that caused hundreds of thousands of mostly low-income clients to lose money.

Even though this is unrelated to their actual tax preparation, I find myself really glad that I did my own taxes.

Technorati Tags: H&R block, tax preparation, new york, spitzer