Darwin’s Best of 2012 and What to Expect in 2013

by Darwin on December 28, 2012

With 2012 in the books, it’s been a great year for everything from financial experiences and successes to mistakes I’ve learned from and opportunities I’ve identified for 2013 to further improve our finances, business opportunities, career moves and more.  Here are a few of my top posts from this year and I’ll close with some ideas for next year:

Best Financial Moves

Here are several ways to either improve your existing finances, enjoy the benefits of basically FREE MONEY for doing nothing more than filling out an application and more:

  • Best Credit Card on EarthSave 6% on all your groceries, and virtually anything else you can think of because (hint: I buy all my gift cards AT the grocery store, Stamps Too! so I get 6% back on all kinds of stuff!).  There’s a $150 bonus to boot!  If you don’t have this top credit card, you’re leaving money on the table, it’s that simple.  Full Review of the Amex Blue Cash Preferred.
  • Free Money for Doing Nothing – Who wouldn’t want free money for simply going about your life and doing what you normally do?  Well, by simply taking the 5 minutes to fill out the application and add your credit cards/store cards to UPromise, you accrue $$ in your account over time.  The system tracks eligible purchases and simply credits your account as you go.  The great part?  You don’t need to leave this money sitting in the account for 17 years waiting for your kid to get into college.  You can just have them cut you a check. That’s what I did this year when I forgot about the account and got a sweet $75 check I almost forgot I earned!  UPromise details here.
  • Refinance for Free!  I did a No Cost Refi this year and enjoyed the best of all worlds.  Not only did I spend nothing out of pocket (nor did it add to my principal), but I also reduced my term from 27 years remaining down to 25 WHILE reducing my monthly payment!  All possible due to today’s incredible low rates.  Here’s how to do a No-Cost Refi.
  • Negotiate Lower Rates on Everything!  Here’s the play by play on how I negotiated down my Comcast Bill and how you can apply it to virtually anything.
  • How I Got My Kids Excited About Saving – a personal bank of mom and dad! It’s working, see what we did.

 

Best Investment and Stock Related Posts

Best Career Posts

  • Best Jobs Delivered to Your Inbox. First off, if you’re not using TheLadders, you must. Sign up for the free service and get 6-Figure job opportunities delivered to your inbox weekly. I use it to keep my finger on the pulse on what jobs are open around me.  It’s great to have a real-time snapshot of what the job market is like in my sector.
  • How to Maintain the Ultimate Corporate Secret – if you ever find yourself in this position at work, here are some helpful tips.
  • See how much working from home just 1 day per week saves me each year.  If you can swing it with your boss, go for it!
  • The Real Unemployment Rate – what you see reported in the media is not in any way reflective of the actual labor market.  Here’s the real rate explained.
  • The Biggest Lie in Business of 2012.  It has to do with a worker shortage.
  • Learning a Foreign Language is Completely Useless to Most Careers – regardless of what your friends are doing.  Join the debate here.
  • MBA – Is paying for one with your own money worth the investment? Find Out Here.
  • Rise of the Machines – Robots are taking over US jobs.  The trend is accelerating.

Best Random Posts You Won’t Find Anywhere Else

 

What To Expect in 2013

My head is so full of post topics that I can’t keep up.  To ensure I never lose a good idea, I’ve been using the Catch app on my iphone to jot down article ideas as they occur.  Often times these are a real-time life experience that would make for a great post, or an investment idea that I want to explore further or something I know will be helpful.  I’ve had some great learnings from starting an outsourcing firm last year and this is my first full year as a landlord – tons and tons of crazy and helpful stories there so you don’t have the same problems I did if you ever buy rental real estate.  In short, I’m very optimistic about 2013 and have nothing to slow me down except time!  I’m going to try to continue posting at least 2-3 fresh and helpful posts next year; who knows maybe I’ll get time for more!

What Are Some of Your Favorite Themes from 2012?

Anything in Particular You’d Like to See More of in 2013?

 

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Brick By Brick Investing | Marvin December 29, 2012 at 12:00 am

Looks to be an interest 2013, I can’t wait!

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funancials December 30, 2012 at 1:33 pm

Thanks for highlighting these articles. I went back and read the Real Unemployment Rate article. I can’t stop laughing at the comments. As a heads up, I’ll more than likely steal the U6-U3 chart…Best of luck in 2013~

Reply

Darwin January 4, 2013 at 10:29 pm

Steal away, I stole it myself!

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