I wanted to inform my readers, visitors and fellow bloggers out there of a new and pretty neat plug in that has just been released by my good friend Fred over at Credit Card Finder.

The Net Worth Plugin is provided by Credit Card Finder. Feel free to download and install the Net Worth Wordpress plugin.  According to Fred, “The plugin is easy to use and customisable. It allows you to calculate your Networth based on your assets and liabilities.  All the data can be entered in the backend and it then publishes nice looking graphs and tables directly into your blog.  We have invested time and money to make this work, but are keen to keep it free and available for everyone.”

It is basically a Networth Calculator that can be used to easily track your net worth on a month to month basis for your readers to view.  I think this would be particularly handy were you ever to do some sort of project where you wanted to show your readers how you were progressing.

I have seen this in the past on many other personal finance blogs.  There are some bloggers out there who grow vegetables in their own garden and track on a monthly basis how much they received for selling them and also how much they saved by not having to buy them.

I have also seen some other bloggers out there actually track their net worth on a monthly basis to show their readers how they progressed in that category.  The plug in allows for a variety of graphs and data tables, which can visually give your readers a snapshot of your progress.

I would certainly consider downloading the plug in for my blog were I ever to take on certain projects like this.  So many things that I save money on can only truly be tracked on a monthly basis in order to show their worthiness, making this plug in the perfect tool for such tracking.

Many savings ideas regarding utility bills look like they are a waste of time, until you look at it over the course of an extended period of time-say six months or a year.  This plug in would be ideal to track your progress for your readers in one of these areas.

So if you have a personal finance blog in need of some graphic updates, consider downloading this free and easy-to-use plug in.

It could provide both you and your reader an easy way to track a variety of different financial endeavors.

As always, your comments and feedback are appreciated below

For those of you that have followed my blog at all over the recent past, I am sure you are quite aware of the book that I wrote.  You must be because you can see it every time you check out my blog.

I have not spent too much time trying to promote this book, and I have opted for that strategy for several reasons.

One, I have never wanted to come off as someone who is “hawking” their product and nothing more.

Two, though I am in this venture to make money, it is not my single solitary goal.

Third, I am looking at this entire venture in the long-term, and not out to just try to make a few quick bucks selling my book.

And finally, it was my very first effort.  I have had a lot to learn along the way.

However, in a very non-pushy manner, I just wanted to let you know of a reader/subscriber/visitor special that I am currently running concerning my book.

For a very limited time, you can get a copy of Don’t Be a Mule for the giveaway price of $2.99 by clicking right here.  Look for the first listing (Little Bit O’ This, Little Bit O’ That).  That’s me.  Yep, that’s right; $3 gets you a copy of my book.  Actually, I think after shipping it will be $7, but that’s about 70% off the cover price.

Consider it appreciation for your support over the past several months; consider it an opportunity to get some real good advice about you and your money, at a really cheap price.

Buy my book here, don’t buy my book-I still appreciate each and every one of you that are reading my words right now, and I will always.

Take care and have a great weekend

The following is my first post of 2010 and my first leap into the world of book reviews. I enjoy reading books on any topic related to personal finance, so if you are looking for a review of your book, just drop me a line and we can set something up.

 I recently  had the pleasure of reading a book called The Naked Portfolio Manager by Robert Fischer.  Robert is a senior portfolio manager and advisor for affluent individuals at a national brokerage firm  and a colleague of mine.

The Naked Portfolio Manager is a good smooth read for just about anyone interested in personal finance.  And this is regardless of your investment experience, knowledge, and or abilities.

I would have to consider myself basically a novice in the world of investing, although I am trying to improve this area of my life.  Mostly, I do go on the advice of others; however, these “others” are people that are highly trusted in my life.

The premise of The Naked Portfolio Manager is that we need to remove any and all kind of emotion from our investment strategy, and to basically steer clear of any people who haven’t yet done it. Robert states in no uncertain terms that these emotions can cloud our judgment (or the judgment of people making our investment decisions for us) which could lead to potentially bad financial decisions, or decisions that are less than optimal.

He goes on to say that our investment strategy needs to be based on SPMs (Statistical Prediction Methods), which are basically a set of rules which will govern our investment portfolio.  In short, the book could be used as a guide for someone who wanted to get started in the world of investing.  It provides solid, easy to understand tips and pointers that in my opinion, would be helpful to any investor on just about any level.

If you think about it, emotion clouds our judgment in virtually everything we do.  Think of what better decisions we could make with respect to relationships, with our health, with our careers, anything, if we take emotion out of the equation.   Let’s see….”He/she really doesn’t treat me that well, but I’ve been with him/her forever.”  “Sure, there are better jobs out there, but my co-workers are nice and the company really needs me.”  If you think hard and long about it, this strategy could be used in just about any area of your life.

The Naked Portfolio Manager to me is almost a must read for anyone looking to start and/or improve an investment portfolio.  I was previously invested in money markets for what I thought were a list of very good reasons.   After reading The Naked Portfolio Manager, I realized that there is a different way of thinking out that statistically beats the results of these money market funds on a long term basis.

I would give this book a shot.  It is currently available at Amazon, and Robert also publishes a blog under the same name of the book. 

So, what do you think about the idea of taking emotion out of our investment strategies?  Please comment below.