MONEY CLIPPED

Here’s a clever personal finance public service announcement from The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy:

I wonder if anyone has studied the effectiveness of these types of PSA’s?

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I don’t track my food expenditures very closely but I am a pretty frugal food shopper. It may be just my imagination but it does seem like my grocery bills have really spiked in the past 2 months.

So are prices really rising? How far up will they go? Is there any relief in site? What’s being done to help?

Let’s see what Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has to say…

Hmm, I was hoping for something a little more optimistic…

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If you want to get technical, it is actually a 7.7 cent nickel. Oh, and a 1.3 cent penny.

A nickel is 75% copper, 25% nickel

A penny is 97.5% zinc, 2.5% cooper

Those metal commodities rise, so does the cost of minting those coins. How much did we lose last year minting these two? One estimate is $100 million! GTFOH!

Some in Congress want to change the composition of these two like we did back in WWII with the steel penny. I’m sure we can all rest easy knowing that lobbyists from the metals industry will no influence over those decisions.

Everyone knows the penny is now worthless. You can’t even buy a gumball with one. Actually, that’s true of nickels as well. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has admitted that it would make sense to ditch the penny but that it is not politically feasible. The only people I can imagine wanting the penny, or the nickel for that matter, to stick around are marketers and metal miners.

Marketers like being able to have that .99 (and .95) cent price point to make things appear less expensive.

Metal miners want to sell metal to the government.

For the rest of, those coins are a drain on taxes and clutter in the car console.

Coinstar, the maker of the vending machines that let you cash in your spare change, did a study that showed that there is also an environmental cost to making more of these coins rather than reusing the ones already in circulation. From the Coinstar report:

“reusing 15 billion coins translates into the following estimated environmental saving equivalencies:

— 5.3 million pick-up truck loads of waste material (overburden)”

Now, obviously Coinstar stands to gain from people cashing in their hoarded change but if those numbers are only even half right, they’re too significant to dismiss.

So, if we 86 pennies and nickels from the coinage menu, we save money, energy, emmissions, and water. Sounds like a winning plan to me.

But it won’t happen anytime soon. It is not just the fault of the lobbyists either. It is also us as a people. Giving up on the penny and the nickel somehow feels like a defeat. We’d rather waste money and resources than accept the truth about time and inflation. Like so many of our decisions about money, it is not about logic, it is about emotion.

now, about those dollar coins…

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Fantasy stock market, virtual stock markets, paper trading, investment simulators- they go by a variety of labels but they all represent one thing, an opportunity to learn about investing in the stock market.

One of my current classes requires me to keep a virtual portfolio and see if I can turn a profit by semester’s end. I’m enjoying the chance to see how some of my short-term investing ideas pan out before actually putting any money at risk.

The different games each have their different virtues and features plus they are all free to use. Some have on site research tools but I usually use Google Finance for that. You’ll just have to do a little exploring to figure out which one(s) is best for you.

If you’re intimidated by the idea of trading stocks or managing your own portfolio, these games can be a good place for you to get your feet wet with no risk. So here they are, in no particular order:

Virtual Stock Exchange
From MarketWatch. I use this one for my school project and I like it alot.

Young Money’s Free Fantasy Stock Market Game
Geared towards teens and college students. Top 5 players each month get a free one year subscription to the magazine.

Investopedia Stock Simulator
Includes all U.S and Canadian exchanges

Mississippi SMS: Stock Market Simulation
If you’re a teacher, check out this one

The Stock Game
Another good one for teachers and classrooms

The Global Stock Game
Includes various contests

The Stock Market Game
Designed for students and teachers

The Great Game
Fantasy stock trading on the UK stock market

Virtual Stock Exchange
From HowTheMarketWorks.com

Wall Street Survivor
Players can win cash prizes

SmartStocks.com Market Simulation Game
Includes a free e-mail account

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The other day I saw on a lamp post a flyer for a “credit doctor”. I was trying to imagine how desperate I would have to be to seek out credit and debt counseling from someone who advertises on the exit ramp light pole.

So it occured to me that a lot of people who are feeling desperate are probably also unclear what the difference is between credit counseling and debt settlement. Here’s a short video that should help clear it up for you:

After you watch the video you should also go check out this page at the FTC on facts for consumers about credit counseling, debt management plans, and debt negotiation.

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That’s right, go to the nearest partipating store and score some free comic books.

Free Comic Book Day was creeated by comic publishers and comic book shops to introduce new readers (and re-introduce former comic book readers) to the wonderful world of comics.

To find out where to go, use the Free Comic Book Day Store Locator.

You can also go look at the list of free comics that will be available.

Even if you’re convinced there’s nothing there you want (wrong!), I bet you know a kid you could get some comics for or a library you could donate them to so don’t miss out!

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