Black Coffee: Defective Hammers & Labor Day Threesome Fun

It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of whats been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Heres what caught my attention over the past week

Let’s get right to it this week!

Blogs I’ve Been Following This Week

Bargain Babe – 8 Things Worth Doing over the Labor Day Weekend. Last night I had a dream about the Bargain Babe that I’ll never forget. It turns out I found myself smack-dab in the middle of a threesome with her and the Honeybee. Then, after we finished our round of golf, we all went shopping at WalMart. I know. I couldn’t believe it either.

Personal Finance by the Book – Should You File That Insurance Claim? About 10 years ago my homeowner’s insurance policy was unceremoniously canceled by my provider because they no longer desired to accept the risk of covering Southern California homes that abutted a wilderness area (due to potential wildfires). In this article, Joe notes that his daughter recently saw her homeowner’s insurance policy get canceled without notice for a completely different reason. He also explains the whole story and passes along some tips to help you avoid a similar fate.

Wealthy Turtle – The Rule of 72. When it comes to guidance on how to keep a household running smoothly, there are two tried-and-true rules that I refer to constantly. The first is the “Rule of 72,” which is one of the most important tricks any household CEO should know because it gives a rough approximation of an investment’s doubling time. The other is the “Rule of 0.” That one reminds me how many times I can be expected to win an argument with the Honeybee, regardless of whether or not I’m right.

Couple Money – Basic Tools Every Couple Needs for the House. Says Elle: “Dont go cheap on the hammer. My first one broke and I learned my lesson.” That’s scary. For her hubby’s sake, I sure hope he knows about the “Rule of 0” too.

And Here’s Some Other Posts You Might Enjoy …

The Chicago Financial Planner – 4 Tips for Setting and Achieving Financial Goals.

Out of Your Rut – Forget the S&P500 Level — It’s the P/E10 Value That REALLY Counts

First Gen American – Life Changing Advice

Budgets are Sexy – Side Hustle Series: I’m a Running Coach

Fiscal Fizzle – Moving Your Finances Overseas

Debt Free Adventure – Proverb About Saving for a Rainy Day

Mr. Money Mustache – A Wealthy Future for Junior Money Mustache

From December 2010:

Money Mirages: 6 Money Saving Ideas That Are Anything But – There are a few things in life that, over the years, people have come to associate with saving money when, in reality, they really don’t. Here are six of the biggest examples. Are you guilty of falling for any of them?

Credits and Debits

Debit: Even though she was reelected just 10 months ago, Argentine President Christina Fernandez’s popularity is in the dumpster. One of the biggest reasons: high inflation.

Debit: Despite five long years of absurd government claims to the contrary — and fines for those who dare to publish credible independent analyses — private economists in Argentina currently peg the actual annual inflation rate there at 20 percent.

Debit: In case you haven’t noticed, inflation continues to affect the United States too. In July, wheat and corn prices rose 25 percent, while the price of soybeans climbed 17 percent.

Debit: Nowhere is inflation more noticeable than at the gas pump; last Sunday, the national average was $3.75 per gallon. This weekend, Labor Day prices are expected to reach an all-time high.

Credit: Then again, if you ask the Italians, us Americans have nothing to complain about. Unleaded gasoline prices there reached $9.50 per gallon in August.

Credit: I know what you’re thinking: So why don’t our Italian friends buy themselves a nice electric car like the Chevy Volt? Because the economics generally don’t pan out; that’s why. I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’.

Credit: A Volt can travel just 35 miles on a single charge. After that, it averages 37 miles per gallon. However, the gas-engine Chevy Cruze — which utilizes the same platform — gets an even better 42 mpg. And the Cruze is half the price.

Credit: As usual, the consumer is driving the market, and the resulting lackluster demand is the main reason why Government Motors is temporarily shutting down production of the heavily subsidized Chevy Volt for the second time this year.

Debit: Despite signs of inflation almost everywhere you look, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is still considering putting the printing presses back into overdrive. Leave it to “Helicopter Ben” to try and save us by pouring gasoline on a house fire.

Debit: Bernanke believes a third round of so-called “quantitative easing” (QE) will help reduce the unemployment rate. Right. That may be true for Wall Street investment bankers and stock brokers, but not for the rest of us.

Debit: Of course, after Bernanke’s latest announcement, the stock market closed higher. No surprise there; thanks to two previous quantitative easing campaigns, the Fed has been artificially propping up the stock market since 2009.

Credit: In fact, the CEO of Streettalk Advisors, Lance Roberts, calls the Fed, “Wall Street’s drug dealer.” Come on, you didn’t really think the market is where it’s at because the economy has been firing on all cylinders for the past three years, did you?

Debit: Meanwhile, consumer confidence fell to a 9-month low in July. I know.

Debit: Speaking of lack of confidence, since mid-August, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz has been dumping 150,000 shares of stock almost daily — 1.35 million in all. On Friday, Facebook was fetching $18.06 per share, 52 percent less than its May IPO.

Debit: Did you see this? Over 117,000 people have been collecting unemployment and disability insurance, including a scammer who cashed $62,000 worth of government checks in 2010. In all, the double-dipping scofflaws have cost taxpayers $850 million.

Debit: Then there’s this: A former city official who was fired during a corruption scandal is suing his ex-employer for $837,000 in severance pay and compensation for unused vacation and sick time, 329 days in all. Now that’s chutzpah.

Credit: Finally … An 8-year old boy who had the good sense to bring home a rare six-pound whale turd after finding it on the beach is set to collect a small fortune. Ironically, the rare poop — actually ambergris — is used by the perfume industry and sells for $10,000 per pound.

Credit: That’s why I don’t wear cologne, folks.

By the Numbers

Here are a few more facts on ambergris:

350,000 Number of sperm whales in the world’s oceans. Ambergris is only made by sperm whales.

1 Percent of all sperm whales that can actually produce ambergris.

20 Minimum number of years the ambergris must typically float in the ocean before it acquires the aromatic properties that make it valuable.

32 Weight, in pounds, of a large chunk of ambergris found by a couple along the beach in South Australia in 2006.

$295,000 Approximate value of that 32 pound chunk of ambergris found along the South Australian coast.

1972 Year that possession of ambergris officially became illegal in the United States. (Apparently, because sperm whales are endangered.)

0 Common sense belonging to the US lawmakers who voted for a law that makes possession of whale poop illegal.

Sources: ABC News, The Exploding Whale

The Question of the Week

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Other Useless News – I’m Off to FINCON12!

This Thursday I’m off to Denver for the Financial Blogger Conference, where I’ll be giving a talk the following day on how to write great headlines. I know. But they didn’t trust me to speak on anything actually related to personal finance. Anyway, if you’re in town, be sure to stop by and say hi — or heckle me while I’m making a fool of myself on stage. I know the Honeybee will.

Hey! If you happen to enjoy what you’re reading — or not — please dont forget to:

1. Click on that Like button in the sidebar to your right and become a fan of Len Penzo dot Com on Facebook!

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And last, but not least…

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Top 25 Referrers for August

Its the first weekend of the month, which means its time once again to thank the top 25 referring websites to Len Penzo dot Com.

1. MSN: Smart Spending
2. Business Insider
3. Money Talks News
4. Everyday Money
5. The Sydney Morning Herald
6. The Age
7. The Simple Dollar
8. Kiplinger
9. Budgets Are Sexy
10. The Oblivious Investor
11. Monevator
12. Time Magazine: Moneyland
13. The Brisbane Times
14. The Quest for $85,000
15. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
16. Financial Uproar
17. WA Today
18. Afford Anything
19. The Griper’s World
20. Wealth Pilgrim
21. Sweating the Big Stuff
22. (tie) Frugal Workshop
22. (tie) Couple Money
24. Mr. Money Mustache
25. Bargain Babe

Thank you to everyone who refers their readers to this little ol blog! Its much appreciated.

Letters, I Get Letters

Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it’s interesting or not!

Woodrow was apparently left disappointed after reading a post I published on Thursday entitled 100 Words On: The Dangers of Loitering In the Comfort Zone.

This isn’t an article. It is a couple of thoughts, NOT an article.

My apologies; it’s clearly a “blurb,” not an “article.” I need to fire the dingbat who came up with such an extremely misleading headline.

I’m Len Penzo and I approved this message.