Financial News Headlines

2011 Post Office Closure List: USPS to Shutter 3653 Locations

July 26th, 2011

It was only a matter of time before the USPS was going to have to change the way it did business. There was talk of canceling Saturday delivery, which had the potential to save $2 billion. Earlier this year, the Post Office announced that it would close thousands of locations and now that has come to fruition. Postmaster General Patrick Donohue listed the list earlier today and Ill link to it once we get it.

No post office will be closed, just branches and stations, which are supposedly smaller and have no mail processing facilities (and sometimes no carriers).

While I feel bad for the staff of the post offices being closed, its hard to argue against the ones they chose.

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Tags: Usps, Usps Shutter

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Seven Powerful Meditation and Focusing Techniques

July 26th, 2011

A few weeks ago, I put out a call on Twitter and on Facebook for detailed posts that people would like to see. I got enough great responses that I’m going to fill the entire month of July – one post per day – addressing these ideas.

Terrence on Facebook wants to know about “Meditation and focusing techniques.”

Meditation and focusing is a big part of my daily routine. I strive to be a good parent, a good husband, and a successful writer and small business owner. Alone, those demands on my time and attention are intense, but when you add on top of that my hobbies, community work, and other interests, it’s key that when I’m involved with something, I need to have ease of mind and also an ability to focus on the task at hand.

I do lots of little things to make this possible. After making

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Lessons Learned from the Netflix Price Hike

July 25th, 2011

Last week Netflix raised their rates, increasing the price of some plans by as much as sixty percent. Where before a plan with one DVD out at a time and unlimited streaming was $9.99 per month, the same service will now cost $15.98. Ouch. The outrage online was swift and furious. Customers were losing a great deal and weren’t shy about bashing Netflix on Facebook and blogs. As someone who uses Netflix heavily as a replacement for cable, I was among the outraged. (I’m still deciding what to do with my subscription: scale back, keep it as is, or cancel altogether.) Once I got over my shock I realized that Netflix’s action has reminded me of a few key financial/consumer lessons that apply to all kinds of goods and services.

A price increase might not break the budget, but it does have to be considered: No, an extra $6 per month isn’t going to break my budget. I can a

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Tags: Price, Price Hike

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“The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler” Audiobook Now Available from Audible.com

July 25th, 2011

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler is available as a digital audiobook from Audible.com. The title, provided by Audible, Inc and authored by Thomas Hager, has also become an American Consumer News favorite..

The digital audiobook The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler, narrated by Adam Verner, has received an average rating of 0 stars on Audible.com.

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Tags: Available, Doomed Tycoon, Scientific Discovery

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Getting Over the Jitters of Graduation and the Real World

July 25th, 2011

Finishing finals week of your senior year in college is an exciting time – a lot of celebration, feelings of accomplishment and just an overall joy for completing school. This past May, I graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with my bachelor’s degree in corporate communications. Walking across the stage with my name blaring in the background was one of the greatest moments of my life… it was euphoric almost.

It was after that moment where the celebrations began to die down, that the realization of not coming back to school next fall, and the constant questions of my future began to create a hazy uncertainty in the back of my mind. I wil

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Reader Mailbag: Fishing

July 25th, 2011

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Getting started as a writer 2. Graduate school impact on savings 3. Pre-set spending limit question 4. Great advice 5. Challenging religious beliefs 6. Re-entering the workforce 7. Student loans or down payment? 8. Justifying expenses 9. Collecting problem 10. Outdoor games

Every once in a while, I get a desire to go fishing. For me, that means casting a line in the water, leaning back against a tree, and dozing until the pole twitches in my hand.

I want to go fishing.

Q1: Getting started as a writer I currently work at a law firm. Law

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Tags: Mailbag, Reader Mailbag

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