You are viewing an archive of articles by Luke Landes. Luke Landes, also known as Flexo, is the founder of Consumerism Commentary. He has been blogging and writing for the internet since 1995 and has been building online communities since 1991. Find out more about him and follow Luke Landes on Twitter. View Luke Landes's Google Profile.

Luke Landes

Podcast 129: Financial Blogger Conference, Betterment

by Luke Landes

Today’s Consumerism Commentary Podcast features two interviews. In the first segment, Tom Dziubek talks with Philip Taylor from PT Money: Personal Finance and Consumerism Commentary founder Flexo about this year’s Financial Blogger Conference. In the second segment, Tom speaks with Jon Stein, founder and CEO of the online investing service Betterment. Jon discusses recent survey ... Continue reading this article…

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Offering Your Services for Free

by Luke Landes

For anyone interested in starting a business, particularly in creative arts, is building up a reputation in the field. I mentioned that my goals for this year include doing two photography shoots each month. Over the past few years, my interest in photography has grown from a hobby to a serious interest to a potential ... Continue reading this article…

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Citi ThankYou Preferred Card $500 Limited Time Bonus

by Luke Landes

The offer you are interested in has expired. Read our review of the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card $250 in gift cards.

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Quicken 2012 Review With Video

by Luke Landes

Quicken 2013 is now available. Read a full review of the latest version of the software be clicking here. What follows is a review of Quicken 2012, now outdated. For the last few days, I’ve been testing the new version of Quicken Home and Business. While most people who track their finances have moved to ... Continue reading this article…

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Citibank to Charge $20 a Month for Checking Account

by Luke Landes

For the last few years, savers have been punished by banks offering low interest rates. If that weren’t enough, banks now want depositors to pay for the privilege of putting money in a bank. In the world until recently, banks sought depositors because they used the public’s money to increase lending to borrowers who were ... Continue reading this article…

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Occupy Wall Street Protests: Money is Power

by Luke Landes

As every fourth graders knows, the United States Constitution begins, “We the people…” In the years following adoption of the Constitution, there have been movements to include more classes or types of human beings into that “people” represented by the federal government. The basic rights guaranteed by the core philosophy of the government once applied ... Continue reading this article…

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Traveling First Class for the First Time

by Luke Landes

After using the Continental Airlines OnePass Plus Card as my primary credit card for personal and travel spending for the past year, and the resulting accumulation of miles in Continental’s frequent flyer program, I decided to cash in. For 35,000 points, I was able to upgrade the round-trip ticket from Newark to Chicago. I would ... Continue reading this article…

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How to Handle Meeting Hundreds of Colleagues

by Luke Landes

My experience with the first Financial Blogger Conference This past weekend has been a whirlwind. On Friday, for the first time I took advantage of using accrued frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class on Continental. I will write more on that experience later. For now, I want to concentrate on what happened after ... Continue reading this article…

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Personal Balance Sheet, September 2011 ($342,242, -7.1%)

by Luke Landes

Each month, I publish a financial report to help me track the progress along my path to gain financial independence. This is a long-standing tradition at Consumerism Commentary, with relatively significant updates going all the way back to July 2003. I have made some changes over the years in how these numbers, including the net ... Continue reading this article…

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Podcast 128: What to Ask the Person in the Mirror

by Luke Landes

Today on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Bryan talks with Robert Steven Kaplan, the author of What to Ask the Person in the Mirror. Rob Kaplan has spent his life studying leadership and the qualities of a great leader. He and Bryan discuss the three questions any organization needs to ask itself before it can succeed, ... Continue reading this article…

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