Save $1,000 This Month

Keeping with the new 'cheap is cool' paradigm we now find ourselves in, I direct you to Ramit Sethi's blog "I Will Teach You to be Rich" and his "Save $1,000 in 30 Days" challenge.

The blog is evolving with a new tip posted each day and he has promised to focus on reasonable, do-able changes.

So far its been a mixed bag with some topics like "Optimize Your Cellphone Bill" (I don't have a cellphone so how about zero - is zero optimal enough for you? Blame it on (or thank) my depression-era parents - we still had a party line in the 70s.)

On the other hand, he's finally gotten me to pack my own lunches - something I needed to do for health as well as economy.

There's no need to sign up if you don't want too - you can get to the tips for free. Check it out and maybe learn something.

If You DO Think the Next Depression is Coming . . .

. . . click on the article above for some tips.

As the child of Depression-era parents, I can attest to the 'play outside' strategy of cheap fun.

Inflation or Deflation? - SmartMoney Weighs In

This SmartMoney article throws out the pros & cons that I've been wrestling with on the deflationary indicators. I still lean (as does this article) towards inflation. I have the following comments on the counter-arguments:

• Interest rate cuts signal the Fed no longer fears inflation: I feel the cuts are simply a 'Do Something!" reaction and the Fed is saying "To hell with inflation - we'll deal with THAT crisis later."
• Commodity prices have cratered: This, I think, is more demand (or lack thereof) driven. Commodities are priced at the margin -- going from a slight excess of demand over supply to a slight excess of supply over demand produces wild price swings.
• TIPs rates show deflation: I think the record TIPs yields are a result of selling pressure. As portfolios are unwinding their leverage, often a forced sale, they are selling what they can and quality issues are being driven down, thus pumping up the yields.