Dining out can be expensive and if you want to save money, it is a good idea to cut back a little on the number of times you eat out each week.  Preparing your own food can be much cheaper and also healthier.  Still, I absolutely love to dine out since I love all types of food and really enjoy eating all the different foods that I don’t know how to make.  For those of you who are like me, try using restaurant.com.  They sell gift certificates to local restaurants for less.  For example, they sell $25 certificates for $10.  Of course, restaurants place restrictions on these deals, ie. you have to spend above a certain amount, etc.  However, you can still save some money with these certificates.

It gets better, restaurant.com is offering a deal for $25 gift certificates that ends on the 31st.  You can save 80% on your purchase by trying in the code TREATS or APE.  So, you can now get a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant for only $2!! There are some pretty quality restaurants available too.  I got 4 certificates yesterday, and they’re good for a year.  Some restaurants require you spend $50 minimum, but I feel like it is still worth it.  I can basically get a meal for 2 for only $27 (not including tax), which is quite a deal at some of these restaurants.

Happy eating!

Last weekend, I moved to a suburb just outside of the city.  It’s about a 10 to 15 minute drive into the city, which isn’t too far.  I am renting a room in a townhouse with 3 roommates who were introduced to me through friends.   Since I have the master bedroom, I pay slightly more than I used to pay at my previous apartment.  However, the house is much nicer than the one I used to live in and my room is more than triple the size of my old room.  Despite the fact I pay more rent than I used to, I think it is justified by the quality of the apartment as well as my new commute, which is significantly shorter than before.  It used to take me about an hour to get to work and another hour to get home.  Now, my commute takes only half that time! This means I have an extra hour each day to be productive!

Now, some of you who have been reading my blog for a while, might be wondering why I am renting again when I had said that I wanted to buy a place.  I have a few reasons for this.  First, I have yet to find the right place that I can afford and in which the numbers work for me.  I also need to save more so that I can still have an emergency fund.  Finally, I realized that although real estate prices are slightly lower in my area and mortgage rates are great, I can probably realize a greater gain if I put my money into the stock market that has been recovering.  So, I will be renting for at least another six months and likely another year, while I save up more money and wait to see if I can find the right place. 

I lied about free chicken dinners to get you to read this post. Don’t hate me! I don’t know about free dinners, but I can offer you a coupon that gives you a chicken dinner that is basically free! One of my roommates decided to welcome me to the house my sending me a link for a coupon for a chicken meal (quarter white meat or 3 pieces dark meat) with mash potatoes and corn bread from Boston Market (which is only a few blocks from my new house) for only $1.  It is good for the whole week so I’m going to go for dinner every day this week! Enjoy!

According to an article on yahoo, Nicolas Cage is suing his ex-manager for financial ruin.

Cage claimed that his recently-fired business manager had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed him in speculative and risky real estate investments “resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses.”

The lawsuit said that his ex-manager “failed to alert Cage to the fact that his money was running out, and had over-extended his lines of credit with banks.” 

There are two points to take away from this. 

1. If you let someone handle all your finances, you better be careful who you allow to do this.  I would even say that you shouldn’t let anyone handle all your finances, unless you are married.  In this specific situation, it amazes me that Cage didn’t even know that he was running out of money.  At some point, you have to wonder how much money you are spending.  Even if you are making a lot of money, you would think that you would at least notice if you were spending a significant amount of money than you were making? Maybe I’m being too harsh, but this only shows how important it is to keep track of your finances.

2. Always understand what you are investing in.  Even if your money is managed by a certified financial planner, you have to understand what they are doing with it.  In fact, it is your responsibility to learn about your investment options.  It may be a financial planner’s fiduciary duty to act to your benefit, but if you don’t educate yourself, you still put yourself and your money at risk.

Just so you all know, I wrote a guest post that is up over at Brip Blap.  Click on the link to check it out!

Steve over at Brip Blap writes many great posts about personal finance, careers, self-improvement, and financial freedom.  You’ll find his blog a great resource with a lot of helpful information.  Check out his about page or subscribe.

With the recent US recession, the stock market took a plunge in the last year.  Since March, the stock market has  been steadily climbing and as of this weekend, the Dow is on the verge of hitting 10,000.  There has been much media attention towards a potential recovery and many people are starting to say that this recovery is here to stay. 

I think that ultimately, there will be a recovery in the stock markets.  However, I do not think the time is now.  At this time, the media appears to be, for the most part, bullish.  In my opinion, they are full of BS.  There is nothing that supports the level that the stock market has reached.  Here is an article that I read last week that sums it up very well – don’t worry, I’ll give you the gist of it so you don’t have to read it.

The article claims that we are due for another correction and that once the Dow hits 10,000, people will start selling.  I think the most telling piece of information mentioned in the article is that when you look at price to earnings (P/E) ratios of the current market, the market is extremely overvalued.

“Based on P/E ratios, the stock market is grossly overvalued, even at current prices. As per Standard & Poor’s research, the Q3 2009 P/E ratio is 138.97.  Historically, a P/E ratio north of 20 is viewed as expensive.  Also, historically, the market almost always corrects within a year of a 20+ P/E ratio.  Imagine the impact of a 140 P/E ratio.”

What the article is essentially saying is, there are no earnings to support the current prices of stocks.  The market is overvalued because everyone is so optimistic about the market.  The article claims that the stock market has not bottomed out because the P/E ratios have not completely reset.  In order for the stock market to bottom out, the P/E ratios have to fall below historical reset levels. 

I thought this article was a little too pessimistic, but I do agree that the current market rally is not sustainable.  Clearly if P/E ratios are so high, there is nothing substantial supporting the prices of stocks.  There will have to be a correction coming soon. 

What do you all think? Is the stock market overvalued or is this current rally the real deal?