End of February 2013 Favorite Blog Posts

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Jeremy

Ok now where was I when I left off yesterday….search engine problem, check….first potential new home viewing, check. Right…

How about I start with things on the job front. I have to say things have not gone smoothly with marketing my employer’s website. By now I really should have had their website fairly dominant in the search engines. It is doing quite well on Bing & Yahoo, but let’s be serious, that traffic is peanuts. Google progress on the other hand has been a long road with plenty of potholes.

Normally this would get a website marketer worried about his job, but really the problems have been out of my control for the most part. It’s primarily a mix of poor decisions by other people and a poorly optimized website that I don’t have access to repair myself. Luckily I’ve managed to convince my boss to bring on some outside help to fix the website. Then if all goes well, it’ll be smoothy sailing and lots of pats on the back. Or bonus checks will suffice rather than just back patting Continue reading →

End of February 2013 Blog Update

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Jeremy

Photo: Gilles Gonthier

Well this has been an eventful week, not all of it good. Despite that I’m rolling with the punches and staying positive.

I debated with myself about whether I should publicly talk about one of the bad things that happened. I’ll just be a bit vague about the details. You can e-mail me if you want to know more. Basically I had a bit of a problem with a certain search engine. Some of you may know what that problem is. I’ve kept the search engine traffic and rankings, but the problem still affects business.

Since I’ve experienced this kind of thing with a couple of my other websites before it wasn’t a total shock, but still quite frustrating. Due to some very supportive bloggers I may have learned how to address the problem too. Doing so long term is another story though. So I’ll need to think about things more and decide what direction I really want to go in. As a result you may see some changes with my blog in the coming weeks. Some of it will be long term changes and some may be temporary fixes to appease the search engine. If concerned about any of it, do get in touch with me. Continue reading →

How to Use a Personal Loan to Improve Your Credit

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Guest

Photo: Philip Taylor PT

The following is a guest post. If interested in submitting a guest post, please read my
guest posting policy and then contact me.

Building and maintaining a good credit score can be a daunting task. One of the best ways you can repair your credit is to get a personal loan. You may think that going further into debt is not a good way to boost your credit. This is true, but if you use the loan to restructure your debt, it can help your standing with the three major credit bureaus a good deal.

Why You Should Get a Loan

There are two types of credit. Revolving credit lines such as credit cards and installment credit lines like personal loans or car loans. Mortgages are also another form of installment credit lines. One of the best ways to improve your score is to have a healthy mixture of both on your credit report. They key thing to remember is to have both, but do not go overboard and get every type of credit you possibly can. Too many accounts on your credit report can be as bad as not having enough. Another advantage to personal loans is that you are required to make a fixed monthly payment. Many people get behind on their bills and just make minimum credit card payments; in the meantime, they end up paying a fortune in interest. With a personal loan, you pay a pre-determined monthly payment that includes the interest plus part of the principle. It is also possible in many cases to use a lower-interest personal loan to pay off high-interest debt like credit cards. Continue reading →

3 Wild Tales of Insurance Fraud

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jeremy

Photo: dvs

The following is a guest post. If interested in submitting a guest post, please read my
guest posting policy and then contact me.

Everyone has heard what they believed to be a pretty wild tale of insurance fraud—whether it be burning down your own house or faking your own death—but, believe it or not, there are some individuals who have really gone above and beyond anything you might have heard.

Unfortunately, these individuals are paying the ultimate price, no matter how “full-proof” they thought their plan was, and it usually is delivered in the form of a prison sentence. In fact, one such case listed below landed the perpetrator a 190-year prison sentence! Needless to say, don’t try these at home. Continue reading →

Preparing To Venture Into Investing

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Jeremy

Photo: Alan Cleaver

When I first set out on my personal finance blogging journey, one of the areas I knew I needed to improve upon was investing.

Over the years I’ve been making the mistake of listening to the ‘financial advisors’ at my bank. At the time I didn’t realize that they were nothing but salesmen. They make money by convincing you to purchase specific investments. It doesn’t matter much to them if you actually make a decent return on that investment.

In the back of my mind I was aware of this, but I somehow thought they’d still be honest enough to want to make me money at the same time. I now realize that was pretty naive of me. People are often only looking out for themselves, especially when commission is involved. Continue reading →

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