Here’s your weekly reminder that the 2011 Get Rich Slowly Video Contest is under way. We have a few entries, but to be honest: If you’re willing to take the time to produce a two-minute video about money, your odds are pretty good right now that you’ll win something. With three $500 prizes and only a handful of entries, you have a much better chance than by playing the lottery! The contest closes on April 15th.
On Saturday, I’ll share one reader submission so you can see what sorts of videos other folks are making.
Also, just a quick note that I was a guest on the Money Girl podcast earlier this week. Well, not me, actually, but my words. I revised one of my favorite old posts to share with Money Girl listeners: Why you should take a personal money day. (Warning: Obnoxious screen-warping ad ahead!) This article may appear here at GRS later in April to help wrap up Financial Literacy Month.
Meanwhile, here are some other interesting money stories from around the web:
Vintek has been reading Get Rich Slowly since 2006. (Kris and I even met him a couple of years ago when he visited Portland!) Though he rarely comments anymore, he does pass along great links now and then. Like this one, which answers the question: Should you have bought that Apple product? This site lists the prices of most Apple products produced between the end of 1997 and the start of 2010. It also shows how much you’d have if you’d invested that money in Apple stock instead. As Vintek noted in his e-mail, this table does a great job of illustrating the difference between de-preciating assets and ap-preciating assets. If I’d invested in Apple stock instead of buying computers, I’d have enough for a house. Yikes.
Speaking of houses, several readers have requested an article on how to save for a big goal — like a new home. It’s on my to-do list! Meanwhile, Wojo over at Fiscal Fizzle may have some tips for you. He lists seven strategies for saving for a house. Most of these are mental games you can play so that the task doesn’t seem so daunting. But these are games that work for a lot of people. If you’re saving for a big goal, these games might work for you.
Money Rates recently compiled a list of the 10 best states for making a living. Their survey took into consideration wages, taxes, unemployment rates, and cost of living. Top on the list? Illinois, with Washington and Texas in second and third. Money Rates also made a list of the 10 worst states for making a living. Hawaii is number one, with Maine and Montana in the next two spots. Alas, my lovely home of Oregon is the sixth-worst state to make a living, according to this list…
Finally, Eileen Ambrose of the Baltimore Sun called me last week to see if I had any comments about the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I did not — I wasn’t even aware of the organization before she mentioned it. But I’ve since had time to take a look around the agency’s web site, and I think it has some potential to do some good. Time will tell. For more info on the CFPB, read this article Ambrose wrote for her paper.
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The MoneyRate article you mention lost all credibility with me as soon as they mentioned Illinois at the too of the list. As someone who recently moved from the state, I can attest that Illinois is certainly not a good state to make a living. The income tax rate for is currently at 5% across the board. Property taxes are obscene. The sales taxes are among the highest in the country (in fact, my former town rang in at 10.25%). On top of all of this, property values are plummeting, in some areas more than 30% in two years, and businesses are fleeing the state due to the high taxes. A good place to make a living? I think not. MoneyRate just lost all credibility with me.
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I currently live in Illinois (in Chicago, actually) and was amazed to see that IL is at the top of their list. While I’m not feeling as negatively about the state as Sara, I’m wondering if the MoneyRate folks took into consideration that Illinois recently raised the state income tax. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/illinois-income-tax-increase_n_807801.html
As Sara points out, our sales tax rate in Chicago is one of the highest in the country, too, and we pay sales tax on *everything* except newspapers and magazines. Finally, in the Chicago area we have one of the longest average commutes of any other location in the U.S.
I realize that many of my examples are about the Chicago area specifically, but we are the biggest “economic engine” in the state, so we would heavily weight all the stats MoneyRates used.
Since I actually own my home in Chicago, though, I’m not moving anytime soon. And my salary and daily commute (no more than 40 minute door to door, and 0 minutes when I telecommute) are quite acceptable to me.
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What a bummer about Oregon’s low ranking! We live in Portland, and granted, state income tax is high, but my husband is able to work from home four days a week, in fact his company encourages its employees to work at home by not having dedicated workspace for each employee; instead there is shared office space and lockers for when people do come in for meetings. I commute to my downtown office by MAX (commuter train) for a breezy 30-minute commute. Quality of life feels pretty sweet.
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Awwwww, poor Oregon. I love it here, but my paycheck, uh…they take a lot out, don’t they? Man!
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Illinois as the best state to make a living? Give me a break. Was this article posted on April 1st?
This is the first article I have ever read from MoneyRates. Judging from its quality, I will also be the last.
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How did you miss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Elizabeth Warren? So much has been written about them both. Whether the bureau is a good thing is yet to be seen. It’s another government agency that aims to protect consumers from themselves. Until consumers care enough to educate themselves and become more accountable for their actions they also won’t know that the bureau exists.
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A 5pc income tax is actually pretty low…google states ranked by income tax and check it out.
I would actually prefer to live in a state/nation with consumption (i.e. sales) taxes only. That way earning – and saving and investing – is highly rewarded, and you control how much tax you pay by controlling your spending.
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