I received an email the other day from ING stating that if I opened a ShareBuilder Account I’d earn a $25 bonus. Here’s what it said: Building wealth for your future is as easy as 1-2-3. Create an account – It only takes a few minutes to get started. And there are no account minimums or inactivity fees. Select how much – Pick one of three pricing options to fit your needs. Start investing – Choose your stocks, investment schedule, and funding options. Get started now by going to sharebuilder.com/em/123. Don’t forget to use Promotion Code Easy123 and complete a trade before 3/31/09 to get your $25 account bonus. Your $25 account bonus will be deposited in your newly opened account within 4-6 weeks.     Thought I’d pass it on in case anyone was interested! You can also get a $25 bonus for opening an ING savings account.

One of the message boards I frequent had this as the topic “buy food now. Lots.”  Basically the gist of the post was that we really needed to stock up on food this week because this person thinks that we will have “big trouble — serious trouble — this week and next, and that the real economic spanking will begin in this country.”  That is her quote, not mine. While I believe in being prepared, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions among this post.  First of all, why instill panic and fear into people?  I am sure that people for many years have hoarded food.  They have lived through recessions and depressions all the same, and have lived to tell about it.  Don’t cause people to panic because that just makes things worse!  This person goes on to say how you should have six months worth of food saved up in case something happens.  I personally don’t know anyone that does this.  Even we were unprepared for the winter ice storm and Hurricane Ike. I know we [...]

My cell phone provider has been sending me emails, mailings, and even text messages trying to get me to upgrade our cell phones.  I’ve been hesitant to do so, mainly because I don’t want to get into another contract.  The other day I received another email from them telling me that if I upgraded they’d give me a $30 service credit.  Very tempting as who doesn’t love to make money on something they were thinking about doing anyway? I deleted the email.  I wasn’t planning on upgrading my phone anyway, so why should that change my mind?  If I upgraded, it would end up locking me in for another year or so, I’d end up spending money I hadn’t planned on spending on a phone, and ultimately if I got a newer technology phone chances are I’d want to do picture or text messaging, which would also cost me more money. I’ve been thinking about dropping our cell phones or landline.  It doesn’t make sense to have both, but I like having a phone at home that I can talk [...]