http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com A blog about money, inflation, credit, debt, oil, tax, and generally the price of stuff Sat, 14 Jun 2008 09:02:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've had a buy queue for a few years now, but keep it listed privately in my filofax, or more recently in Evernote. I thought it might be nice to write it here on my blog, and maybe make this an occasional series. The philosophy behind the buy queue is that ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/14/the-june-buy-queue/ I recently applied for a bunch of low and zero interest rate credit cards, and most of the transfers have now happened. There's a couple of accounts where I just wasn't able to do the transfer, so the interest amount will remain. But the graph below shows the savings I've managed ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/14/a-graph-showing-how-0-credit-cards-have-reduced-my-interest-payment/ Annie Leonard has produced a compelling 20 minute video about the consumer economy. I suggest you watch it, if you haven't seen it. She goes through the Story of Stuff, the way that stuff is made, consumed and disposed of. Old notions of Stewardship, resourcefulness and thrift have been replaced by ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/14/the-story-of-stuff-with-annie-leonard/ The Buy queue is my own term for consumer items that I want to buy - and I want to buy NOW - but will instead add to a list or a queue, where it can sit, ferment and generally get lonely for a few weeks, months or years, before ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/10/new-item-for-the-buy-queue-the-fujitsu-scansnap-s300m/ I still an issue with Moneydance that will stop me using it for the time being. I've lost the information in my accounts on "Transfers", as in movements between accounts. The transactions are still there, but not linked between accounts any more. The debits and credits do cancel each other out, ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/10/migrating-to-moneydance-continuing-issue-with-transfers-is-a-show-stopper/ Moneydance is getting some great reviews. You don't get that with Microsoft Money or Quicken .. this will definitely be worth a try .. [From Featured Download: Manage your finances with Moneydance] http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/08/manage-your-finances-with-moneydance/ I'm going to try out Moneydance again. I remember reading about Moneydance a few years back, and I remember having this image in my mind of a very committed programmer, a lone warrior, programming Moneydance from his home office. I liked that idea. Personal finance software shouldn't be that hard. ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/08/another-competitor-moneydance/ I really want to know if and when Intuit release a good piece of financial software for the Mac. I really need to get off of Microsoft Money. [From Macworld | Editors' Notes | Expo Notes: Intuit plans a rebuilt Quicken] http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/08/macworld-editors-notes-expo-notes-intuit-plans-a-rebuilt-quicken/ I found Moneydance again today. Written by a guy called Scott Reilly, he's been working on this piece of software for over a decade. I'm seriously considering migrating my 10 years of data from Microsoft Money over to Moneydance, it if runs ok. It means I'll be free of being ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/06/08/stumbling-across-a-piece-of-financial-software-again-moneydance-personal-finance-manager/ I've been using my mobile to call home quite a bit, and my Telstra mobile has been charging me a small fortune for the privilege. Although I can call directly from Skype, I do prefer calling from the mobile. So I'm going to try out Skype to Go. They have a ... http://citizensagainstpricehikes.com/2008/05/20/make-cheaper-international-calls-from-my-mobile/