Thrifty and Thriving

10 ways to cozy up your home (fewer people have the credit line to do the renovations – kind of sad but good tips)

and,

Tired of carrying around loyalty cards on your keychain? Read about mobile loyalty programs

Let’s discuss!

Kids are trading cell phones for Porsches these days, at least this kid did

Ortiz [the kid] spends five to six hours each day searching Craigslist for the right kind of swaps. Over the last two years and 14 trades, he’s had an eclectic assortment of items in his possession, including an iPod touch, various dirt bikes, a MacBook Pro, a golf cart, and a 1975 Ford Bronco. It was the Bronco that allowed him to become the only kid at his high school who drives his own convertible Porsche to class.

Read the full article here

Check out this article from Budget is Sexy. It introduces the concept of bonuses you get throughout the year if you get paid weekly or biweekly.

I get paid 1 time a week. That’s 52 paychecks per year. There are 4 weeks in each month, or are there? Four months out of the year, I receive 5 paychecks. How can this be? Am I just that good of an employee that I warrant a quarterly bonus? I like to think so, but alas, that is not the case. 12 months X 4 paychecks each month = 48 paychecks a year. So what about the other 4 weeks of the year?

The author also lists some ways you can spend those bonuses:

What to Do With Your New Found Bonuses

There are plenty of things you can do with the extra money:

Buy some toys
Give it to charity
Go out to eat
Burn it for warmth
Put it into savings
Invest it
Add it to your retirement fund
Put it towards paying off debt
Cash it for $1 bills and roll around in it
The possibilities are as plentiful as oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

What do you do with those extra paychecks?

From Yahoo Hot Jobs:

The recession has been kinder to many college graduates, as new data from online salary database PayScale.com shows. For people with degrees, some cities have shown median wage growth of up to 15 percent since 2007.
Across the nation, wages for college grads rose an average of 3 percent in the past three years, PayScale found.

Read the full story here.

The best market for salary growth was Honolulu, Hawaii ($55,800, +15%). Looks like I’m moving to Hawaii. (just kidding, I heart Albany) The number one worst city for growth? Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I dunno about you, but I’m not moving there any time soon.

Would you be willing to move if it meant a pay increase?