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The Accidental Slumlord
A writer whose lives in Massachusetts buys a two-unit rental property in Pocatello, Idaho for $62,750 during the housing boom. Read what happens when he actually visits his house and deals with his tenants.

OptionsHouse Brokerage – $2.95 Stock Trades
Another new discount online brokerage with cheap trades, but actually won #1 in Trade Experience in recent Barron’s Broker Survey, beating out E-Trade. Offers flat-rate pricing at $2.95 for stock trades regardless of number of shares, and $9.95 flat for options (no per-contract fee). $1,000 to open, $100 balance needed to trade. Anyone try them?

New research sheds light on the habits of successful savers
Includes a lot of expected characteristics, but worth a skim to see how you compare.

AMC Theatres A.M. Cinema
“A.M.Cinema, a new program providing early-morning guests the opportunity to see first-run movies at the best ticket price of the day. The program invites moviegoers to visit their local AMC theatre before noon Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to enjoy ticket prices of $4, $5 or $6 depending on the theatre and market.”

F*** my job, Selling Everything!
Found in the Best of Craigslist section. Have you ever had the urge to simply sell everything you own, cash out your investments, quit your job, and just travel the world until the money runs out? This guy did.

Credit Bailout: Issuers Slashing Card Balances
People are haggling directly with credit card companies to lower their amount owed. However, the articles neglects to go into detail about the impact on credit scores. I suspect that there will still be significant damage to your credit if you “settle” in this way.

Tuesday 10: Good stuff from other personal finance blogs

• How much do people spend on clothes by Jim at FreeBy50
• Emotional Barriers to Negotiating and Haggling by Flexo at Consumerism Commentary
• My IRA asset allocation at GreenPandaTreehouse
• Things You Own End Up Owning You by David at MyTwoDollars
• On Spending Consciously by Patrick at Cash Money Life
• Pay attention to your money by Single Ma at Fabulous Financials
• Retired at 31: An Early Retirement Story by FrugalTrader at Million Dollar Journey
• Tax Deductible Mortgages in Canada by Mr. Cheap at FourPillars
• Mid Year Financial Checkup by Madison at MyDollarPlan
• Fun Fund Sell-o-Meter by J at BudgetsAreSexy

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No post today on account of our nation’s birthday. Happy Canada Day everyone!
Related Reading:

Happy Holidays
On Vacation
Bank of Canada Rate Decision
How to be Happy
This and That

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On Earth Day 2009, Loblaws started charging 5 cents for disposable plastic bags. Initially, I grumbled that grocery stores have found a way to make a tidy profit on an item that costs them, perhaps, 2 cents. But, paying an extra 50 cents for plastic bags has a way of changing consumer behaviour in a [...]

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Today’s book review is a bit different than the typical book about finance, but just as relevant in my eyes.  A New York Times best seller, Happier – Learning the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, is written by Tal Ben-Shahar who happens to be a Harvard Professor on Positive Psychology – and teaches [...]

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As the fiscal year closes for government agencies, it’s time to prepare for the new. If the budget is higher, it means raises. Lower… well, we all know what lower means.
Our agency is short around 20 million dollars (which suddenly makes my $30K debt look like chump change). Remarkably, we are fairing [...]

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