Action Plan
October 4, 2006
There’s been too much talk of spending and saving money here lately, and not enough of cutting fixed costs and generating income other than that earned from my employer.
So, things I have to do before I leave for Chicago:
~~ Switch our internet plan to Verizon’s broadband. I’m debating which I should sign up for: the up to 1.5 Mbps at 29.99/month for 12 months with a free wireless networking start up kit, or the up to 768 kbps at 14.99/month for 12 months with a free modem. They both come with a free 30-day trial period, and $20 FatCash bonus. I know that this is a far cry from the AT&T Yahoo deal I was investigating earlier but that would have entailed changing our phone service as well and I just didn’t have the time to research the best phone plan through AT&T. Maybe towards the middle of this 12 month term I’ll work on that, in case I can’t get a better deal once the promotional period for Verizon is over.
After Chicago:
~~ Sharebuilder has an automatic investment plan promoted on their website. Since I’ve never invested in individual stocks before, I have no idea what a good deal would be, but I can take a look at this to diversify my investments. If I go with Sharebuilder, I believe Kira has a nice little signup bonus over at CashDuck, or MyPoints has a sign-up bonus as well.
~~ Otherwise I can do some more mutual funds research and pick a couple funds as income funds, not retirement fund. I can continue with Vanguard or consider Fidelity or Dodge&Cox, depending on which ones are more fee-friendly. The reason I hadn’t done this before is because I didn’t want to pay more in fees than I was investing and I need at least $3000 to open an IRA. That hasn’t changed but I should have the decisions made now so that I can move on that with my Christmas bonus money, instead of letting it sit around passively in the E-funds.
oohh, you’re going to my part of the country. have fun in chicago! let me know if you need recommendations…:)
I actually would not mind a few suggestions for good eats between the Sheraton and the Hyatt/McCormick Place! I may be free for dinner one night and it’d be nice to check out some hole in the wall place.