Author Archive

How I Bought an 8-Unit Apartment Building with No Money Down and Walked Away with $1000 Cash at Closing

January 19, 2010 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently outlined his ambitious 2010 goals for his blogging, business, and life.
When I was 23, I bought an eight-unit apartment building with no money down. And I walked away with $1,000 cash at closing! Sounds pretty fancy, right? Wrong.
It was one of the dumbest (and riskiest) moves I’ve made in my young life.
I escaped without a scratch,

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9 Sneaky Expenses That Eat Away at Your Income

January 11, 2010 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker is a founding member of Untemplater.com, a new multi-author blog focusing on personal finance, entrepreneurship, and life design for people in their 20’s and 30’s.
Few concepts have had as great an impact on my family’s financial decision-making as learning how to calculate our real hourly wage. The concept was introduced by (or a

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Are Americans Ready to Ditch the Dollar Bill?

January 6, 2010 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker is a founding member of Untemplater.com, a new multi-author blog focusing on personal finance, entrepreneurship, and life design for people in their 20’s and 30’s.
Americans have been fairly resistant to the introduction of a coin form of our dollar currency. We have them in circulation, of course: The Presidential Series and the Sacaga

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Start Saving For Next Year’s Christmas Today

December 20, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently listed the Top 10 Money Movies of the Decade. Baker and his family are spending their holiday season hiking around the south island of New Zealand.
I have some potentially shocking news for you: Christmas is coming! No, I’m not talking about the one in a few days; I’m referring to the one that’s coming just twelve months

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Ask the Readers: Do You Buy Christmas Gifts For Your Spouse?

December 17, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently listed the Top 10 Money Movies of the Decade.
At this point, I hope you’ve done most of your Christmas shopping (and/or making). Only the brave or the foolish have yet to form a holiday shopping plan of attack. *looks around* Alright, so I have a minor confession to make: Courtney and I don’t buy gifts for each other.
To put i

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Suze Orman Jumps Aboard the “Pay With Cash” Bandwagon

December 11, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently listed the Top 10 Money Movies of the Decade.
For years now, Dave Ramsey has recommended ditching credit cards and paying with cash. (Specifically, Ramsey advocates the use of an envelope budgeting system.) In fact, this anti-credit card stance is one of the biggest problems critics have with his philosophy; they often point out that ̶

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5 Little-Known Websites That Will Save You Time and Money When Booking Airfare Online

December 1, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently reflected on just how much money affects our internal values.
When booking airfare online, most people think of the popular online aggregation sites. You know the ones: They have the fancy commercials, catchy jingles, and washed-up celebrity pitchmen. While those sites aren’t inherently bad, there are a few well-documented problems

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Don’t Just Thank…Act!

November 28, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker has recently come to realize that there will always be an excuse not to give if you look for one.
As the holiday season approaches each year, we’re reminded to reflect on those things we’re most thankful for.
Some of these remain consistent from year to year. Occasionally, a dramatic life experience — either positive or negative — w

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Stimulus Programs: Cash for Buyer’s Remorse?

November 19, 2009 by Baker  |  1 Comment

This post is from GRS staff writer Adam Baker. Baker, along with his wife and 20-month old daughter, will be spending the next couple of months exploring Thailand as they continue their recent backpacking journey.
Since the start of the economic slump started in 2008, the U.S. government has issued several incentive programs in an attempt to stimulate some positive movement in the economy.
First,

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Creative Cleaning with Everyday Products

November 10, 2009 by Baker  |  2 Comments

This article is by GRS staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently shared an in-depth video example of how you can save $521 when booking airfare online.
Recently my 19-month old daughter managed to get her tiny hands on a ballpoint pen. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a major event. This time was different. In the 30-45 seconds it took for me to notice, she’d thoroughly covered two-an

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The Curse of a Big-Win Mentality

November 6, 2009 by Baker  |  Comments Off

This article is by GRS staff writer Adam Baker. Despite his best attempts, Baker struggles to budget while adapting to life in New Zealand.
Earlier this week J.D. tackled an important issue with his tenet Large Amounts Matter Too.
This concept goes by many names:

Focus on big wins.
Pick the low-hanging fruit
Attack high-leverage areas.

You get the point: It’s efficient to do things that ha

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