CNNMoney's guide to cleaning your financial house and keeping it in order.

Spring-cleaning for your financial house | 1 | Money Magazine

Nice instant garage sale kit FREE for downloading.

Instant Garage Sale | Success Begins Today

Google recently launched Google Voice Local Search, a search engine for your phone. Simply dial 1-800-GOOG-411 and search in the following ways (excerpted from Google's page):

• search for a local business by name or category. You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".
• get connected to the business, free of charge.
• get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone. Just say "text message".

Oh, it's FREE. I suggest putting this number in your cell phone and never get the $1 or $2 charge that cell phone companies know you'll pay.

Say goodbye to toll 411 calls. Most excellent! Read a really good writeup of Google's new service, and its competition, at TechCrunch.

Google Voice Local Search

I really like the folks over at Lifehacker; they offer really great tips on saving time, spending time more wisely, etc. Here's a nice little primer on how to set up Quicken...



Ask Lifehacker: How do I get started using Quicken? - Lifehacker

From Yahoo! Personal Finance comes this article about how people waste money. Here's the short list:

1. Buying gas at the least expensive gas station.
2. Going to different stores to get sale items.
3. Buying the cheapest instead of the best value.
4. Purchasing items on sale.
5. Buying in bulk.

I prefer JIT purchasing, or Just In Time Purchasing. Purchase what you need right before you need it, with some exceptions. Things that store well, like flour, sugar, soda, paper towels -- bulk up on them if you have the space and if they're on sale for a really great price. Don't buy stuff you don't need just because it's on sale. And don't waste a lot of time looking for bargains. Look for bargains on the net, not on the ground (as in, in your car).

With today's gas prices the way they are, you might as well pour your cash down the toilet if you're "shopping" for the best deals by going from store to store.

Competition and capitalism being what they are, the prices of most goods, especially commodity goods, are pretty much the same all around. So don't shop. Buy when you need it.

Bankrate just posted an article on the top 11 credit report myths. This one is a very good list with lots of information about how credit reports work and how your credit behavior is reflected on your credit report as well as in your FICO score.

This article is a nice complement to a recent post over at The Simple Dollar.

11 myths about credit reports