Interesting Articles for August and September 2008

I usually read about thirty blogs in my Google RSS reader.  Thank goodness a lot of them do not post everyday.  I follow both a lot of civilian and military personal finance blogs and some logistics blogs as well.  I thought that I would share some of the articles from my feeder that I have saved as a favorite.

Notable articles from my reader:

Personal Finance:

• Top Eight Characteristics of a Great Mutual Fund – Guest post of Cash Money Life about the most important attributes to look for when you are trying to find the right mutual fund to invest in.
• The Inner Workings of a Car Dealership (and How To Use Them to Your Advantage). – This is an incredible article about what goes on behind the veil at a car lot.  It talks about how a dealership actually makes money.  This was actually my favorite article of the last two months.
• How to Prepare for Buying a Home – Great introduction guide on the points to look for and consider when buying a home.
• How to Sell Your Stuff on eBay – I love this comprehensive guide.  It has a lot of great tips to ensure that you will get the most money for your junk like making sure your auctions end on Sunday nights.
• Archives: Useful Homebrew Financial Calculators – I really like calculators on the internet and excel spreadsheets that will make your life easier.
• Free Debt Snowball Spreadsheet – I’m a huge fan of Dave Ramsey, and this blog had an interesting spreadsheet to help you start paying off your credit card and other debts.
• Investing in a Bear Market – I love bear markets, and it is one of the best times to buy great stocks at discount prices.
• Military Financial Horror Stories – or How Not to Buy a Car – Great posting about young military members who don’t always spend less than they make especially when returning from a deployment.

Supply Chain & Logistics:

• US Government Should Stop Subsidizing Amtrak and Let It Privatize – Since 1971, the federal government has been spending over $1 billion a year to keep the passenger train service running.
• Mexico’s Rich Embedding GPS-Assisted RFID Tags Under Their Skin In Case of Kidnapping – Instead of using it on pets, we have graduated to using radio frequency tags on humans as well.