Comments on: Tip #6: Use gas prices to become your own hedge fund

By: j

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:22:59 +0000

should be called – a qaurterly equal payment plan for continual purchases.

By: brent

brent — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:35:10 +0000

wouldn’t it make more sense to buy oil stocks or a manage future ETF this is not real hedging because your not capturing higher prices

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:10:37 +0000

I am basically doing the same thing with an excel spreadsheet. I make regular deposits in a high interest savings account at my bank and track the deposit amount and my different “subaccounts” on my spreadsheet. Works for me.

Years ago we lived in Europe but were paid in US $ and had to exchange our salary into local currency. Over the years we experienced pretty wild fluctuations in exchange rates. We based our budget in local currency. If the $ was strong, the “extra” went into a savings account, accumulating and ready for the next market dip.

By: josh

josh — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:50:32 +0000

Howdy!
Here’s how you can do real “hedging” on a scale accessible not only to the big companies: when there is a sale on non-perishables which you consume a lot of anyway (which includes long shelf-life products such as UHT milk, cereals and canned goods), go to the shop, and buy up a several-month supply. Don’t buy anything else though – (other than perhaps the usual shopping) these sales are generally a trick to lure you into the shop and buy a whole bunch of other useless things which are more expensive than usual… It’s like going to Las Vegas, and enjoying the cheap accommodation, great buffet breakfasts, but STAYING AWAY FROM THE GAMBLING… This technique is only for those who are strong enough to resist the many temptations…

By: VJ

VJ — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:12:05 +0000

Lord, you don’t need any of this complicated (I.E. time-consuming setup and management) budgeting junk.

Just withdraw a fixed cash amount each month for your discretionary spending (whatever you define that to be) and when it’s gone, it’s gone, you don’t get to spend anything more – period. Keep that cash amount small, like $50 if you’re young or a couple hundred if you’re older. The rest goes to bills, and set up a regular diversion for longer term investments like IRAs and HSAs,etc.

There is absolutely no need for complexity whatsoever.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:20:03 +0000

Lori,

All savings account interest rates are down right now due to the historic lows in interest rates generally (mortgages, fed prime rate, etc). What ING gives you is the easily created multiple/sub accounts with pretty easy access (transfers in and out of “linked” accounts like checking) and a very competitive interest rate for an FDIC insured liquid/cash savings account. ING Direct Orange Savings has been as high as 4 or 5% since I’ve had my account, but is currently about 1.5%, which is a bit lower than FNBO Direct’s 1.9%. I would need to do more due diligence to comment on any other pros and cons between the two accounts/banks.

By: Lori

Lori — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:01:16 +0000

New reader here. It appears the 3% interest on the ING account is down, especially for the lowest tier, or else I am missing something. The best I have been able to find is FNBO Direct–1.9% on savings, non-tiered.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:41:16 +0000

I know you love to push the ING Direct accounts, and they really do sound like a good idea. However for those of us offshore, like me in New Zealand, is there a comparative option? ING does have a branch in Australia, but that still does us ‘across the ditch’ no good! Any feedback would be appreciated! Cheers!

By: GOTHAN

GOTHAN — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:03:16 +0000

I’m lucky I’m Chinese. We don’t have to worry about this, since we earn money during weddings xD

It’s tradition for guests to give money, instead of gifts.

By: Dr.Stuart Schaller, PhD

Dr.Stuart Schaller, PhD — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:05:16 +0000

I understand taking the money from a checking account and putting it in an ING savings account, but I don’t understand the reason for creating a number of ING savings accounts, rather than just one. Is it simply for accounting purposes??