Are you a shopaholic? – Oct. 31, 2003

I spoke with a small army of experts and self-admitted compulsive shoppers across the country. They soon dispelled any lingering notion that shopaholism is a make-believe disorder afflicting only bored housewives and “Sex and the City” types. The addicts I spoke with conformed to stereotype in one respect: Almost all were women.

The article is good, but there is a different type of shopaholism prevalent among men. The author didn’t even touch this. Some guys must have whatever the newest technology is. It may be cars, computers, cameras, cellular phones, or even other things that don’t begin with the letter “C.” They rack up credit card debt just the same as those in the article.

Fool.com: Couples and the Christmas Cash Crunch

Have you budgetted for the holiday season? Planning on going into debt to pay for all the people in your life who deserve the kind of Christmas you used to have? There are some good tips in this article to help you get through the holiday season without paying a 20% premium on your purchases (due to interest on credit cards).

Most expensive housing markets – Oct. 22, 2003

Here are twenty localities (ten at each end of the spectrum) in which I will most likely never live.

Let’s start with the bad news. The bad news is public college costs jumped 9.8% and private college costs went up 5.7%. The good news is that colleges are giving out more money to students. The bad news is that this money is in the form of loans, not grants. The good news is colleges have increased spending on things that benefit the students, like technology. The bad news is that college costs outpace inflation and sometimes stock market returns. The good news is… sorry, there’s no more good news. The bad news is higher education is eventually going to be a luxury for the rich, if trends continue.

Millionaires in the Making: Budding real estate tycoon – Oct. 15, 2003

CNN posted a story about a young person (26 years old) who has been involved in real estate investing. I think this is a good way to go. I could see myself getting involved in this sort of thing, but I would need to wait until I’m ready to settle down somewhere.

Here’s how I’ve been doing this past month in saving money. I’m not including my new student loan in this because I should be reimbursed for my classes from my company as I finish them. However, I plan on using the reimbursement to pay off my earlier student loan with a higher interest rate first, even though it is in deferrment while I get my MBA.

I’m still not saving as much as I’d like, and on top of that, it looks like I’m going to need to buy a car. I don’t know whether I should buy something just off a lease and reliable enough to last ten years, costing me what I currently have in my cash accounts plus some, or save the money now and just get something older that will need more work to keep for another ten years.

MSN Money – Getting rich is simpler than you think – Start investing

Now that we’ve determined that you’re happy, you can get rich.

Blend three ingredients—a paycheck, discipline and time—and, you, too, can be a millionaire. It’s not always easy, but it’s simple. And you have no excuse not to do it.

How uplifting and motivating. Then the artcile goes on to make assumptions you don’t normally read about. Invest $500 per month. Assume a 10% return. Those are two items that many people are not comfortable with.

The 10 commandments of financial happiness – Oct. 2, 2003

According to the tips within this article, I should be pretty happy at this point. How happy are you?