Jordan Independent - money - Comments

please cancel my comment

todd s. — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:37:18 -0500

please cancel my comment and login membership because im moving out of town and changed my mind about issues in jordan

any costs in jordan should

todd s. — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:37:08 -0500

any costs in jordan should be a city workers that care about dogs at large and partying of all hours of the night and drunkenness-not worry about streets at this time-jordan is way behind--most cities like most cities have 2 minute dog barking ordinances and city notices parties outdoors-like noise pollution and drunkenness till 2am outdoors-then maybe,maybe in 2012 get new street lights etc after replacing city officials--god bless jordan mn

I wouldn’t expect the

Brandon — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:21:09 -0600

I wouldn’t expect the state to be speedy on sending me money, either, but it’s good to hear that I may be getting my return sooner than I expected. I didn’t think I’d see any money until late this month or early next month.

Good luck on your return, I

iceman — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:32:48 -0600

Good luck on your return, I did mine last week and elected to have my state return sent to me as a check rather than direct deposit, and to my surprise the check arrived a day before my fed return was direct deposited, I've never seen the state act that fast on anything, let alone returning money !

... only if you're one of

Mathias Baden — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:17:28 -0600

... only if you're one of them. If you're an employer, having a lot of candidates from which to choose is a good thing.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

The number of competing job

Brandon — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:31:37 -0600

The number of competing job candidates and the number of available jobs certainly looks grim.

Those are all good tips.

Brandon — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:12:51 -0600

Those are all good tips. Unfortunately, though, I already own a new car – so that one’s off the list. The rest of your advice seems relatively doable, though, so I’ll definitely take it into consideration.

I've cut the Internet and

Mathias Baden — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:43:05 -0600

I've cut the Internet and cable out of my budget, but I'm not sure it helps my productivity at work. It certainly helps my budget.

I also bought the cheapest slightly used car on the lot, rather than a new one.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

My budget advice - 1) Never

goldengopher — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:24:37 -0600

My budget advice -
1) Never buy a new car - self made millinaires rarely buy new cars
2) When you receive a windfall - even a small one, save it. Or pay off debt. Don't spend it on a new ipod, or whatever to keep up with the jones'
3) Don't keep up with the jones' you don't like them anyway so don't try to impress them.
4) When you get paid, put the money into savings first, and then pay bills.
5) Save at least 10% of your earnings
6) Put your money into American Funds
7) Have $1000 in an emergency fund ( I put the $1000 in the online account ING -which currently has 4.25% interest)
8) Buy a house that is within your means - stay away from Adustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs)
9) If you need cash quick - have a garage sale or sell stuff on Ebay.
10) Take advantage of any matching funds your employer offers.

As far as credit cards, if you can pay off the entire balance each month and not overspend your means, then some cashback bonuses are nice and using the card to establih good credit is not a bad thing to do- but if you have a history of credit card debt, don't budget your expenses, and generally not good with money, then the credit card companies will take you for a huge ride and make your life miserable.

Coming back from a fishing

Ray Sandey — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:03:58 -0500

Coming back from a fishing trip up north we stopped at Black Bear Casino. I won $85 playing black jack in about 15 minutes. I put away my winnings and down the road we went. We then decided to stop in Hinkley. I lost the $85 in about 10 minutes. I was done. I played no more and left shortly after.

This is sad but I once lost

mittens — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:33:28 -0500

This is sad but I once lost almost $80 playing the nickel slots. This was my first time gambling at a casino and none of us who went won anything.

I seem to remember this kid

Mathias Baden — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:32:30 -0500

I seem to remember this kid who just moved to Jordan, was invited once to a poker game in St. Paul, and went home with $75 in a $5 game. But he says the most he won in a poker game was $1.

This is how you know when you gamble with a shark.

I don't gamble much, but I won $125 once. That kind of a win can fund a mild player's losing poker games for a year.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

I lost $5 at the slot

Brandon — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:17:20 -0500

I lost $5 at the slot machines in the Las Vegas airport. My friend, sitting right next to me, played $4 and won $188.

The most I've ever won is maybe $20 in a poker game with friends.

Jayne you are a 'DOLL' for

bigbobbob — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:38:52 -0500

Jayne you are a 'DOLL' for the detailed answer (and all the typing) you provided. I have Picassa on my computer but didnot like. I don't remember why. I use 'My Pictures'. But with Picassa, keeping the original image is quite an advantage. You are aware, I am sure, that each time a photo file is 'handled' it degrades slightly and does not reproduce the same 'qualities' as the original. The computer - with a mind of its own - simply sluffs off that which the computer does not feel is necessary.
I have an old Kodak 3400 I bought about 6 years ago (2.0 pix) that provides good pictures and some good 8x10s and adequate 'slide shows' on the TV. But the 3400 ain't no Nikon. I have two 125 mb cards and use the highest resolution (that is part of the answer) available on the camera. I flash everything. Rechargable batteries are a pain in the neck, I use 'Energizer' and keep a spare pack in the glove box.
My old HP 822C printer does a fairly good job (even on 8x10) for home scrap book and 'giveways'. My Dell 964 AIO printer is far less satisfactory, for printing B&W or Color. Text on both is very good, but the HP is the better.
Thanks again. The result of your comments, I can better organize my photo files. My 'old' film camera was a Pentax 6x7, that is like carrying around a cement block.

I have to get in on this

Jayne — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:55:59 -0500

I have to get in on this discussion!
I actually had a job in graphic design for a while and the very first thing the boss wanted was to catalog all the images the company owned... prints, positives, negative, transparencies, and digital. I ended up doing an excel spreadsheet that I was the only one that could read - not really effective. (the company was in the trades and I had to learn all about clamps and equipment and be able to tell at a glance what it was)
But the challenge remained as to how to catalog.
I currently only do digital with a Nikon 8700. Big enough for just about anything but not to complicated to stop me from using it.
First thing I do is copy the images on to my computer. I found Picassa to work for me. There are a lot of image programs out there, but Picassa works fine for me - I especially like the straighten feature. Once Picassa has changed the image it backs up the original in a separate file.(if needed I can retrieve that file) If I want, I can open the image in photoshop. The other nice feature is I can create my own 'groups' of images (say black and white or Pete's wedding)and picassa will keep that group for as long as I want and if I want one picture to work with I can open it in photoshop or if I want to burn a cd - burn just that group. After I have messed with the pics - renames - made my groups, changed - I move the entire file to my external harddrive to get it in a safer place and free up space on my computer. Every once in a while I burn off the images for archive - now that I have a dvd burner I am sure I will do it more regular!
As for printing - I am not a fan of home printing because of the cost - when I print I take my cd to Sams or Office Max and make use of the really good printers and get them at a really good price.
As for digital being the rage - I guess I am excited about the format after years of working with my Minolta 35mm - the Hikon gives me a lot more.
Jayne