http://www.vinayahs.com An Analytic Journal on Technology, Travel, Business, Finance, and Experience. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:47:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Having rethought through Part #1 of this series and the comments which followed, I should point out that the choice of financial instruments also depends upon when you expect to utilize the funds built-up in working towards your goal. For example: the financial instruments applicable for a short-term goal of ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/08/07/how-to-choose-the-right-financial-investments-to-reach-your-financial-goals-%e2%80%94-part-2-short-term-goals/ When you see a financial offer that sounds too good to be true, you should always read the fine print. For example, a recent issue of Outlook Money carried an ad from Kotak Mahindra Bank that touts a 48-day interest free period on cash withdrawals done using the Kotak Fortune Gold ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/08/06/the-hidden-rupee-kotak-fortune-gold-credit-card-your-happiness-lasts-just-48-days/ The big issue today is inflation. In my view, frugality can beat all inflation. I still don't own a car, I don't have a mobile. Ours is now an economy based on waste. If you change that, other factors will correct themselves. Source: A senior citizen's quote in the latest issue ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/08/05/tweets-on-2008-08-05-ours-is-now-an-economy-based-on-waste/ I can't believe this -- I hit my target of 20K pageviews a full month early. In fact, I almost touched the 22K mark; a full 10% above my target! Pageviews are up by 17% and absolute uniques are up by 19% over June, 2008. I drilled-down into the stats and ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/08/02/site-statistics-july-2008/ A key to achieving your financial goals lies in knowing what financial instruments to invest in for a given financial goal. For example: if your goal is to eliminate your car loan within the next twelve-month window, it's financial suicide to start investing your loan repayment money in equity instruments ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/08/01/how-to-choose-the-right-financial-investments-to-reach-your-financial-goals-part-1/ A "must see" presentation. Don't judge the presentation by it's title -- it's applicable to a general audience. [slideshare id=415548&doc=brainrulespzreview-1211213300619507-9&w=425] Link: Brain Rules for Presenters. Pay particular attention to slides 49, 51, 55, and 56. I strongly believe in the following two points made in the presentation: "There is no greater anti-brain environment ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/07/30/tweets-on-2008-07-30/ In describing my credit card usage policy, I said, I should look at every other option before opting to purchase with a credit card. For reasons that still remain a mystery to me, I recently used my credit card to pay for goods and services when there were a whole set of ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/07/29/financial-confessions-the-lure-of-credit-cards-and-the-need-to-be-responsible/ How's this for a bizarre experience? Last week, I opted to open a savings account with ICICI Bank. I am given a welcome kit with an Internet banking password mailer dated April, 2007. I try to login but receive a "User ID has expired" error message. I call customer care who ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/07/28/to-icici-bank-if-passwords-expire-in-one-year-why-give-me-a-welcome-kit-with-an-already-expired-password/ Using this SlideShare Wordpress plugin by Joost de Valk. Installation is pretty straightforward: Download the plugin. Unzip the downloaded file. Upload the "slideshare" folder to the plugins directory of your WordPress blog. Activate the plugin in the WordPress admin panel. Start embedding SlideShare presentations! You simply have to copy-paste the code (for example: [slideshare id=415548&doc=brainrulespzreview-1211213300619507-9&w=425]) provided in ... http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/07/27/problem-how-can-i-embed-presentations-from-slideshare-into-my-wordpress-blog/ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintains the list of MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) codes for all Indian banking institutions (ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, et al.) at the following location: http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/pdfs/68774.pdf Thanks Gaurav for your query that resulted in this post. http://www.vinayahs.com/archives/2008/07/26/problem-where-can-i-get-the-list-of-micr-codes-for-indian-banks/