In this month’s issue of Money Magazine, I came across an article entitled “When the Wilder Ride is Worth It”. The article was addressing how sometimes a company’s stock and dividend payment can be a better prospect for stable income than its bond. To make this comparison, they looked at the return of the bond against the dividend appeal (which was largely based on it's payout ratio) and any inherit stock risk based on the company itself. Whenever I find an article like this about semi-guaranteed income, I tend to pay extra special attention to it - and with good reason. Strategies such as taking advantage of dividend payouts will be important to my financial situation because it will be one of the key elements that helps me to … [Read more...] about Can the Dividend Payout Ratio Help You Pick a Good Stock?
How to Increase PageRank, Get Found Through Google, and Make Some Money!
If you’ve had a website for any length of time, then you’re probably already aware that every 3 months or so Google will give you “grade” called a PageRank. Your PageRank is simply a score of how prominent your website is, and it can have a lot of implications on other factors like your earning potential, rank placement, and more. If you’ve been struggling to figure out how to increase PageRank within Google, rest assured you are not alone. My Google PageRank was pretty much stagnant for 9 months at a PR2 before it finally increased to a PR3. Even though I’m not an expert on search engine optimization, I have tried a number of things to get my rank to increase. Consider this a “regular guy’s guide” of straight-forward strategies that … [Read more...] about How to Increase PageRank, Get Found Through Google, and Make Some Money!
The House is Painted – Plus Blog Updates
Finally! Yet another improvement is complete and the house is painted. For pretty much this whole week the inside of our home looks like it went into foreclosure. All our stuff was off the walls, the curtains were down, holes were patched, and all our furniture was pushed into the center of each room. It was very cramped. But now it’s over and everything is slowly coming back together. I really don’t mind paying someone else to paint our house because 1) painting sucks and 2) I’m not very good at it. For the right price, I’m finding out that some jobs are just better left in the hands of professionals who can get done what it would take me weeks to do (or possibly re-do). … [Read more...] about The House is Painted – Plus Blog Updates
Building My Money Earning Sites – Niche Website Update Part 4
When last we left, the latest of my money earning sites seemed to be lost in the desolate wastelands of ~ No. 300 in the Google search results. No one was ever going to find my website, and it was surely never going to make any money! Obviously I did something wrong, and Google wanted me to know. Thankfully, I was able to get a clue as to what my sin was and what I should do to correct it. Here’s what I did to get my niche site back on track. If you’d like to read previous chapters, follow the links at the bottom of this post. … [Read more...] about Building My Money Earning Sites – Niche Website Update Part 4
Reader Debate – Would You Borrow Money to Invest in Stocks?
I wanted to try something different on My Money Design and throw a question out to my readers to debate. I’m very interested to see what the outcome will be. The inspiration for this topic comes from a stellar comment that was left on my “How Much Money Would I Make If I Rented Out A House?” post. The commenter, Richard, laid out some great plans for how he was going to build his wealth empire. Essentially, he was going to borrow money to put together a real estate portfolio. This is the classic old mantra of using “other people’s money” to get rich, and it is certainly a path where a lot of people seem to have found great success. Unfortunately I’m far too much of a weenie to invest in real estate (… yet). I prefer to invest … [Read more...] about Reader Debate – Would You Borrow Money to Invest in Stocks?
Happy Easter Weekend – Plus Blog Updates
Is everyone ready for for a happy Easter weekend? I’m thankful for the short work week, but we’re going to need every minute of it. There’s going to be all kinds of driving around and visiting with family. Easter is particularly tough this year because it is so close to our kids’ birthdays and they already got so much stuff already. But here it comes anyways, so bring on the candy! … [Read more...] about Happy Easter Weekend – Plus Blog Updates
Learn How to Manage Money Better – Like a Large Company CFO
Why do we struggle when it comes to handling our money? Some of us live check to check and barely save nothing. Others of us do okay. But then we never take full advantage of what’s out there to make the best financial choices. What is it about our methods that make us so deficient at knowing how to manage money better? Ironically, the answer you’re looking for might just be behind those large retail giants where we spend the most amount of money each month. While some people may scuff at the likes of Walmart or Apple with their anti-consumerism attitudes, I ask you to take a second look. Beyond the products they sell to us, what is about them that would cause us to stop and focus on them? The answer: They know something … [Read more...] about Learn How to Manage Money Better – Like a Large Company CFO
Tired of Winter, The A to Z of Saving Money, and a Giveaway
Who else is tired of the Winter weather? If you live anywhere near me (east), then you’re probably also over all this snow and cold that just continues to dump on us every day. We were watching the news and they mentioned that at this time last year it was 70 degrees outside! Can you believe that? I don’t need it to be 70, but I would like it be just a little more spring-like. This weekend we’ll be getting things ready for Easter and taking our daughter out for her birthday. I also plan to start reading my new book, The A to Z of Saving Money. This is a new ebook collaboration among several personal finance bloggers, and I’ve been looking forward to reading it for a while. If you’d like to enter a contest for your chance to win a … [Read more...] about Tired of Winter, The A to Z of Saving Money, and a Giveaway
