Finance

Have been playing around with bitcoins lately. Even though I seriously doubt the long-term viability of such a currency, I think its pretty amazing to be able to use it right now. If you haven’t heard about it, Bitcoin is a P2P, completely decentralized currency. Its like a digital version of having cash, with all the benifits (and disadvantages) of cash. Its anonymous and can’t really be tracked …

Don't talk to me about investments. Do introductions if someone is doing something I might be excited about, not just about investing. My primary reason to invest is not to make money (though its a nice outcome), but to get involved in products that I get very excited about.

If you are thinking of buying something, but are not in a hurry, and want to make sure that you get the best deal, check out camelcamelcamel.com. They have an awesome amazon and 3rd price history of different items. Happy shopping!Dwipal

Of all the news, debates, articles and bills that are going on regarding ‘healthcare reform’, most of the talk is more about ‘health insurance reform’, or ‘how to get a net increase in health insurance payments from people’. Everyone is talking about taxing the rich to get more money in health insurance, putting surcharges on so called cadillac plans, making it mandatory for everyone to take …

Talking all about saving paper and things like that, I noticed my mailbox gets totally spammed with credit card offers and such, which I have never ever used. Besides the annoyance that you have to shred those “offers” so that nobody misuses them, they also fill up the mailbox and make a big mess. Most of those companies get the details from credit reporting agencies. There is now a number you can …

I ran some numbers to find out what is the optimal time to sell a car. This is what came out of that. As most people know, a car deprecates the maximum in first year, and then when its around 5 years old. After that, the deprecation becomes lower. Numbers for Toyota Camry Solara SE Coupe. Original Cost $ 18,500. Source: edmunds.com

We all wonder what will be the optimal time to buy an air ticket. It typically is a couple of weeks beforehand, but if you have already missed that, there is this new website http://www.farecast.com which helps. The site gives a graph of fares for your destination across a few months, and gives you recommendations on whether they are expected to rise or fall. They recently added a lot of cities …

Starting March 5th, I had decided to put a 1 month moratorium on all the spending except basic necesseties like food and drinks. There were multiple instances during these 10 days where the moratorium saved me from spending, which I would have done otherwise. This is specially to stop spending money on ‘impulsive purchases’, which are the things that you don’t need. If you feel strongly for buying …