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Tbrady

Tracy McArdle is the author of Confessions of a Nervous Shiksa and Real Women Eat Beef. She spent twelve years in New York and Los Angeles as a publicity executive at such companies as Turner Broadcasting, Twentieth Century Fox and Sony Pictures Entertainment before moving home to New England to wr...

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Love those MSN Headlines

Tracy McArdle

You’ve got to hand it to MSN.  They really know how to grab you on that home “Today on MSN” page when checking your hotmail.  Recent eyeball grabbers:

How to Make Him Stay in Love

Babies who Earn More than their Parents

Avoiding e-mail Scams from Nigeria and other Nations

Yes, I am still living in 2002 and using hotmail on MSN.  It’s but one of my secret identities.  I don’t mean to bash other websites here, but please.

Yesterday’s tempting tip was “7 Money Rules to Ignore” which I found so inriguing I followed the advice and ignored it.  I could easily come up with my own Money Rules to Ignore (in fact, I do it every day) so I did.  And now I’m sharing them with you.  If you’re the kind of person who reads these things.

1. Don’t Spend More than You Earn – Ha.  Please, what are we, living in Nigeria or one of those other weird countries where people have to invent email scams involving dead rich relatives to make a buck?  This is America, people, land of the $3.96 coffee.  The more credit card applications you receive in the mail, the more you should have.  Otherwise those nice people wouldn’t be sending them to you.

2. Have a Monthly Budget – I don’t really havea problem with this one, unless there are some kinds of restrictions on what I can spend.

3. Invest 20% of your Earnings in a Savings Account – This one is for people who earn more than $500,000 per year and who don’t live paycheck to paycheck despite making five times what their parents were  making at their age.

4. Don’t Rely on Social Security For Retirement – Why not?  Just like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the IRS, it will always be there, won’t it?

5. Research and Price Shop Big Ticket Items Before Buying – I’ve always bought on impulse and so far, it’s worked for me.  My assets don’t invlove  anything larger than a really nice mountain bike, some fantastic vacations for which I have great photos, and lots of cool clothes that don’t fit anymore, but I’ve enjoyed every one of these items and the unique experiences they’ve allowed me to have.  Why spend that time doing boring research when you know you’re just going to go out and buy what you want anyway?

6. Avoid Adjustable Rate Mortgages – But why?  This is the only way I can afford a house – and it’s blue!  I’ve always wanted a blue house and this is America!  Why shouldn’t I have it?  5%, 7%, 9% who’s really counting?

7. Diversify Your Portfolio – I’m not an artist so I don’t have a portfolio, but I guess this would be okay if I were that kind of visually creative person.  Of course I believe in diversity.  I mean, this is America!