I’m facing a bit of a home refinancing dillemma. Back in the (stupid about money) day, I took an interest-only loan on my house. I also have a 2nd mortgage, but at least that’s at a fixed rate that I’m paying down automatically every month. The interest-only loan is killing me. Every month, the rate goes up - it’s tied to the LIBOR rate - and so does my payment. So should I refinance?

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A while back I posted My First Rule of Money, a slightly tounge-in-cheek look at how people always seem to get in the middle whenever money changes hands - just look at your paycheck for an example. Now I think I’ve learned a second rule that will help my net worth.

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I went to pay off one of my credit cards tonight.  Then I realized I had it paid off.  Now I’m closing it.  Life is good.

I thought I knew money when I was younger, but as life went on, I had a few lessons to learn.  I’ll try to spare you all the maudlin details.  What I’d really like to talk about is the events that led me to change my behavior with money.

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I have a rather long commute to work.  I almost always have.  So I have had ample time to notice the cars around me.  And I usually sat there in my dented Honda wondering how the people around me managed to afford Hummers, BMWs, Mercedes and the like.  Then the awful truth hit me.  They can’t.

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1. Attack on midhanders.  Will real estate agents become a thing of the past?
2. Making the case for cold, hard cash: The Myth of the Cashless Society.
3. I’ve been laid off twice.  Once due to 9-11 and once due to a product line cancelation.  But I’ve never been fired.  Here’s how to avoid it.  Oh, and don’t blog about your job online or you might get “dooced” - another term for fired. 
4. Money can’t buy you happiness.  It didn’t seem like such a cliche when Forbes agreed.  See the special report.
5. Life is good.  Stocks are up and oil is down.

I read an article in Free Money Finance where the author disclosed the contents of his/her wallet and invited others to do the same.   Well, I just so happen to have my wallet out, so here it goes…

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In a previous post about credit cards, a commenter made an excellent point. What he said made me do a reality check on how I think about money. He simply pointed out that if I paid off my credit cards, I wouldn’t have increased my net worth one dime. How could that be? And if my net worth doesn’t change, why should I even bother to pay off my credit cards?
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1. Let’s leave record setting to the Olympians, OK? U.S. Sets record trade deficit.
2. Taxes: Forbes Special Section
3. The last blue chips I touched were at a poker table.  Michael Sivy tells us why he likes three of the other kind of blue chips.
4. Rampant Speculation: People are betting on Enron, Lay.
5. Rising Interest Rates: Not just an American thing.

It’s tax time, and that means it’s time to face the music.  I’ve gotten a jump on things this year and have everything but electronic filing done.  Here are some of the strategies I used to keep the pain of filing my taxes to a minimum:

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