Blog Alan Corey

Update

2011-02-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks everyone who is searching "Alan Corey now" on Google and landing on this site. I've been off the radar recently as life has demanded more of my attention offline.

You may be coming here to see if since my book published and the economy crashed, if I was still retired and flipping houses. Well, anyone who read my book should know me better than that. I sold most of properties prior to the crash and timed it well, luckily. I even sold the bar. Now I'm renting out my places, rather than flipping in a buy and hold strategy. And I would imagine most people in most markets would be doing the same. I would recommend this strategy to you as the flipping houses market is most likely going to be delayed a couple more years.

As for work, I've been earning a paycheck again. I can't sit idle too long, and I've learned being retired in your twenties is actually really lonely. You sit around waiting for all your friends to get off work at 5 pm to do something with you. Maybe I was doing it wrong. But, I have to be busy or I drive myself and anyone around me crazy. Just ask my dog.

For employment, I've been bouncing around some start-ups doing different roles and am really enjoying it. I'm at a new place now and doing some great things. Maybe I'll write about it some day. Speaking of writing, I'm also currently in the process of getting another book off the ground. This will be more focused on families and their finances, as I've moved from bachelor to family man. It will be just as candid and informational as "A Million Bucks by 30" was, and I hope you all will like it just the same.

Follow me on twitter at @alancorey. I find my downtime lends well to less than 140 characters than does writing blog entries. Thanks all!

Spring Update

2010-04-02T16:12:00.000-04:00

Hey All,

Just wanted to chime in and said I'm giving myself a spring makeover. This website should get a brand new look in the next couple weeks, and with that, I plan to start making more regular updates - probably with more of a real estate and marketing slant than a personal finance angle.

I've also joined forces with a great new tech-start up called NabeWise that provides great real estate information that I just love. It's a user-generated neighborhood ranking website and it answers the question, "What is the best neighborhood for me?" A perfect tool now for people who are moving to New York City or moving to San Francisco, and the we'll be adding more cities to it soon. (Boston should be next in the pipeline.)

Check it out and give me your feedback, it's only a month old and we can't wait to get things moving with it.

Lastly, you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/alancorey. I'd love it hear from you.

Yes, I'm alive

2009-05-19T20:28:00.002-04:00

Ok, sorry - things have been hectic. I'll give a quick overview of why I been M.I.A.

1) Got married and had the most awesome Costa Rican wedding
2) Completely gut renovated my house (year and half long process)
3) Been pitching TV show ideas out the ying-yang for a personal finance makeover TV show
4) Wrote a short passage for the Improv Everywhere book which came out today!
5) Also got a new puppy!

And well, also a million other things in-between. Life as changed a bit since my book, I'm relaxing more, travelling more, and well doing what married people do (i.e. going to bed at 10 pm.)

Future posts will also be sporadic, working on some other projects which may or may not actually materialize, but we'll see! Thanks to everyone for checking in. Now go buy that Improv Everywhere book!

CVS bargains

2008-12-23T10:45:00.002-05:00

My buddy Matt makes money by shopping at CVS. I'm not familiar with the CVS game, but here's a great way to get started if you're looking to learn.

http://mattbillings.com/cvs/
(Click on the photo to see the story)

YouTube Book Review

2008-12-10T19:10:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine found this on YouTube, and I like it! A YouTube book review about my book. Thanks, reviewer! And I promise if there are more, I'll gladly link to them! So go on out there and make 'em.

Thrift is a virtue

2008-12-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

Excellent article, worth reading by everyone.

http://blogs.wsj.com/wallet/2008/11/25/what-a-bear-market-might-teach-us/

Trim your bottom, add to your bottom line

2008-11-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

Check out an article I wrote for bankrate.com. I talk a lot about butts in it.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/Financial_Literacy/investing_money/make_money_a1.asp?caret=115c

Whatever You Like

2008-10-21T11:24:00.002-04:00

Keeping the bad-financial-moves-in-a-song theme going, Consumerist even introduces the Weird Al take on TI's "Whatever You Like":

http://consumerist.com/5060786/whatever-you-like-parody-coupon-clipping-is-the-new-largesse

Fun song; bad financial advice

2008-10-14T15:55:00.002-04:00

"Talk Shit" - Timbaland with Missy Elliot and T-Pain

Real Estate Trends

2008-09-29T10:41:00.002-04:00

Portfolio has some great articles on real estate recently.

About US markets:

Author Michael Lewis rents a New Orleans mansion
Real-estate developer Toll Brothers business model

About UK markets:
Squatters takeover mansions
One mansion can't sell

Secrets That Sell

2008-09-24T11:07:00.003-04:00

(It is available, just click on it.)

How Banks Work

2008-09-12T13:55:00.003-04:00

Came across this interesting 5 part series on YouTube.

Blunt Money book give away

2008-09-09T10:28:00.001-04:00

Just leave a comment on this book review by Blunt Money and you can enter to win a free copy of "A Million Bucks by 30" written by yours truly.

Guaranteed $20

2008-09-04T17:48:00.002-04:00

After reading this post on con men, I came up with my own way to earn $20 while in a bar.

First you search for the densest person in the room. Blondes, drunks, and blonde drunks are usually a good target for beginners. And then you approach your target, do some small talk, and let it slip somewhere in the conversation that you are a fortune teller. The natural reaction of most people is one of curosity and this leads to questions of you to prove your fortune telling abilities.

Then you, the swindler, backtrack a bit and say "well, I'm only right about 50% of the time. But I'm willing to bet $20 on it."

Then you take a twenty from him and then tell him "Go into the bathroom right now you'll see a fire-breathing unicorn."

The target goes to bathroom and you move around the corner and wait. When he comes back and finds you, you instantly say "I knew you'd come and ask for your money back!" And then you pocket his twenty dollar bill.

Coins

2008-09-02T15:39:00.003-04:00

My buddy Paddy sent me this, thought I'd share:

I thought you might like this. You can get up to $500 ($250 increments) of the $1 president coins from the US Mint shipped free. The shipping disappears when you go to the final checkout screen. This is cool for a couple of reasons.

1) coins are cool and dollar bills are such a pain in the balls. So, circulate these things.

2) If you want to be a true cheapskates, you can buy these with a credit card and get whatever rewards, x%, skymiles, etc. I suppose you'd have to carry 10lbs of coins to the bank if you just wanted to deposit them, but hey. You could look at this as an immediate 2% (or whatever cc rewards you have) on a $500 investment.

3) who doesn't like Andrew Jackson?

All solid points. I'd also like to add a part 4 to this if you still aren't sold on coins. This is from the old Comedy Central show Upright Citizens Brigade:

I.O.U.S.A

2008-08-19T13:02:00.002-04:00

Looks like a must-see.

Official Website: http://www.IOUSAtheMovie.com

Some new ideas to make money and save money

2008-08-15T14:44:00.003-04:00

You can read about what I've come up with on Main Street today. Let me know if any of the ideas work out for you.

And don't even try to sell me your art.

Book Giveaway

2008-08-13T11:18:00.004-04:00

The Bank Bonuses blog not only says "A Million Bucks by 30" is a must-read, but that he is also giving away my book for free. So far only 8 people have signed up to win. Those are some good chances! All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and he will randomly select a winner. You have less than 40 hours to enter. Good luck!

Extreme Home Makeover goes bust

2008-08-04T18:20:00.003-04:00

I haven't been this angered by a news story in a long time. A family on Extreme Makeover got a free pimped-out mansion with no mortgage, plus a $100,000 stiped to cover carrying costs such as utilies, insurance, etc.

The couple is now in foreclosure. After the makeover, they took out a $450,000 home equity loan and invested it in a speculative construction company that apparently didn't do too well.

It's stories like this that make me believe that no matter what helping hand you give people, it's just easier for some people to be broke. (The $100,000 homeless man story comes to mind too. And this $54 million dollar lottery winner.)

And they all had access to financial advisors.

I'm speechless.

Explanation of the mortgage crisis

2008-07-28T15:33:00.002-04:00

To fully understand what caused the tremendous rise in the real estate market and then the subsequent fall, check out this thorough and interesting explanation about what caused it all. It's an hour long, but it's amazing. It's from NPR's This American Life, one of my favorite radio shows. Stream it for free.

Wordle

2008-07-22T17:45:00.005-04:00

Wordle is a cool program that creates "word clouds" from the text you enter. The size of the words is represented by the frequency of its use. Below is the entire text of my book in word cloud form (with common articles excluded). I'd say it looks like a fair representation of what the whole book is about: JUST MONEY.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Another week, another chance for a free book

2008-07-15T12:09:00.002-04:00

This time on the heels of a great review from The Money Gardener is your chance to win another free book. That's basically saying you have about a 1 in 50 chance to have the knowledge of a millionaire in the palms of your hands (albeit with numerous dog-earned corners and ring marks from a few beers.) But nevertheless, you have a chance. All it takes is leaving a comment here.

iPhone or Millionaire?

2008-07-11T09:47:00.010-04:00

Photoshopped by my collegues Jack and Steve. They know me too well.

But it's true!

Another chance to get my book for free

2008-07-07T18:10:00.000-04:00

Over on finance blogger Clever Dude today through Thursday, you can enter to win a free copy of my book. Just leave a comment on his review of "A Million Bucks by 30", which thankfully, looks to be more than stellar!

Cheap beer blind taste test

2008-07-06T23:09:00.004-04:00

I took the opportunity at my friend's July 4th cookout this weekend to make my binge drinking more than about getting drunk. I made it a bit educational too by doing some self-motivated market research on what is the favorite cheap beer amongst the diverse group of Brits and Americans the would be gathering for the event. (I figured spending America's Independence day with a bunch of Red Coats required some sort of distraction from the reason we are having this patriotic celebration.)

I went to the local bodega and bought 12 tallboys of the cheapest beers I could find. Those watered-down beverages ended up being: Modelo, Keystone Ice, Coors, Coors Light, Budweiser, Bud Lite, Miller High Life, Presidente, Busch, Busch Lite, Colt 45, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. I want to know when I'm in a bar with just a dollar or two in my pocket, which discount cold one would taste the best to me. And if I was feeling especially generous, for my friends too.

I poured each beer into a plastic cup assigned a corresponding number matching the can it can from and instructed the party-goers to try each one and identify their favorite adult beverage as well as the worst tasting one. I prayed to the beer gods my palette was distinguished enough to not choose Colt 45, the only malt liquor on the judging table, as my favorite. I've drunk enough beer to know that malt liquor does not make for a great sipping drink. Nor chugging drink. Or really, any drink. I learned that lesson first week of college.

The results of my frugal drinking research were a a bit unexpected. The runaway best-taste winner of the group was surprisingly also the lowest price beer I brought to the party. A 99 cent 24-oz can Coors was the majority favorite. The least liked by the group, Miller High Life. The champagne of beers apparently tasted more like warm champagne than a cold beer. I should mention, by the time I completed the setup, all the beers were indeed extremely warm and also served in cheap plastic cups. A taste test of beers in frosty mugs would most likely result in different winners and losers here, but this was not the most detailed research project to begin with.

Regardless, I was pleased with my personal results. My winner was a tie between Pabst Blue Ribbon and Presidente, both solid go-to orders for me in a crowded bar and a pocket full of change. And thankfully for me, Colt 45 was indeed rated as my worst. The best take-away being I am possibly indeed the connoisseur of beer I think I am. Not a bad way to spend the fourth of July: drunk on cheap booze.

What else to read?

2008-07-01T16:09:00.003-04:00

I probably get an email a week from readers asking what else I would recommend reading. I've mentioned it before in a previous post here, which I've updated twice recently, and will continue to update in the future. Have a look at it here and feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments.

A thing I found that worked for me is to try to pull 3 new things from each financial book I read and apply them to my life. Not every book will outline steps that fit in your life, circumstances, or agenda, but if I could pull and apply 3 things from a book that I read, then I found it was worthwhile. And then I just kept reading, reading, and reading. Those 3 things you are applying to your life will keep adding up, and after you put them all in action, you'll have a book to write for yourself. Good luck!

George Carlin

2008-06-24T16:09:00.002-04:00

George Carlin always had a way with words. He apparently had a hell of a time with finances. I came across this article on financial struggles (among others) that Carlin overcame, which gave life to his comedy by providing a great source of material for him, for which I can relate.

Maybe he should have read this article, which unfortunately came out today, on 15 ways stores try to take your money.

Get a copy of my book for free

2008-05-23T11:31:00.005-04:00

I've gotten two great book reviews recently. One from the laid-back financial blog BudgetsAreSexy and one from the freebie-friendly Saving For A Home Of My Own, who is of course, giving away a free copy of the book. Good luck to all of you who are library-adverse.

Also, great article here on 9 websites that will save you money, which I agree are some great sites worth checking out. As for my website, I don't recommend so much.

Real World Brooklyn

2008-05-13T18:06:00.007-04:00

"A Million Bucks by 30" is so hip with twenty-somethings*, it has influenced MTV to to have Real World XXI in Brooklyn.**

As readers of my book know, I made my money converting my home into a 7-bedroom house full of strangers which whom I charged a discounted rent. I dubbed my place "Real World Brooklyn" (while others called it "House of Clowns"). I know MTV will forgo the rental aspect of it's tenants and keep the Real World moniker, but I'm sure they'll have the same experience I had: plenty of drunk antics with a carnival of characters, occasional fights and disputes, and some minor property damage.

All in all, it will be highly entertaining, and yet profitable. Especially once my royalty checks start rolling in. We all win!

*If you poll only my friends on Facebook.
**No it didn't.

latest interviews

2008-05-02T08:37:00.003-04:00

Can you spot my "tv jacket"?

THE BIG IDEA:

CNN:

Recent press

2008-04-17T18:18:00.002-04:00

Exciting news today as I found out I will be in your doctor's office waiting room starting next week, and thus, for the forseeable future. As you are killing time to get that mole removed, look for the April 28, 2008 issue of US News & World Report. It will be there. Somewhere. Forever.

Specifically, I'll be somewhere in the back pages of the magazine based on looking at author interviews of past issues. Or if you want instant gratification, you can read the interview online right now. And please refrain from echoing the "pompous wierdo" comment. As far as I know, my mom's the only other person to have read the article so far. I'm guessing that's from her.

Book Signing - Los Angeles

2008-04-02T15:54:00.002-04:00

For those West Coast friendly friends and fans, thanks for coming out to my talk and book signing. Much appreciated. Book Soup on the Sunset Strip was a very unique and cozy book shop with excellent staff. Great experience over all. Especially had a good time drinking afterwards across the street at Red Rocks. But beer in generally usually makes me happy regardless of when, where, or what occassion.

I could write more about the whole night, but LA Magazine has the full scoop right here.

Missing chapters

2008-03-07T15:24:00.004-05:00

Writing a book is a pretty lengthy process with numerous rewrites, edits, and deletions. It broke my heart with I worked forever on a chapter, and then an editor at my publishing house decided it was best to remove it entirely. That's right, deleted, gone forever. My child, taken from me.

This happened six times to me. That's right, 6 beautiful chapters cut from my book. I admit, removing them did make for a better book, but still all that work for nothing? So my fellow readers, if you absolutely want more "A Million Bucks by 30", and I know you do, you can read a missing chapter titled "Oh No, Girlfriend" on the personal finance blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. I've given them one of those missing unpublished chapters. It's broken up into 4 parts, which you can now read here:

1. Oh No, Girlfriend Part 1
2. Oh No, Girlfriend Part 2
3. Oh No, Girlfriend Part 3
4. Oh No, Girlfriend Part 4

Get paid to be interviewed

2008-03-06T15:18:00.002-05:00

Now the unemployed have no excuse about not being able to make money. Check out this new start-up company that cuts out head-hunter fees and pays you directly to be interviewed. I would love to see this take off, and would love to get paid for being interviewed. If you sign-up, please come back and comment about your experiences.

Great Brooklyn Apt Deal for people making less that $30k

2008-03-05T10:53:00.002-05:00

I would recommend anyone who qualifies to apply for this:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/03/time_to_get_you.php

House raffle

2008-02-28T16:03:00.004-05:00

I don't advocate gambling or lotteries, I think it's a waste of money. However, I felt compelled to buy a ticket for a house raffle. For $100 you have a chance to win a $390,000 home (the owner has resorted to this as they are having trouble unloading it in this depressed housing market.) You also have a chance to win a car, rug, furniture, and the 5th prize is $1000 cash. Plus some of the proceeds benefit a children's home. There is a maximum number of entries of 7000. Put it all together, you have a 5/7000 chance of winning a prize equal or greater than $1,000. Not a bad deal if you have an extra $100 to spend. Full rules here. Rest of info here.

2 cool money links from Kottke.org

2008-02-27T09:53:00.002-05:00

1. Why movie popcorn costs so much

2. A creative way to pay rent

Update: Here is another cool link I found today that is not money oriented, but makes a great time waster.

The Greatest Nintendo Games of All Times - Playable Directly In Your Browser

The Welsh do it right

2008-02-27T07:33:00.002-05:00

I just spent a week driving up and down and around the coast of Wales. The trip was twofold, I needed a break from nonstop book publicity and I heard once that Coreys orginated from there. I found only one sign of Coreys among my travels, an A.K. Corey in a phone book. A lone entry most likely isn't the cornerstone of my family name, so I didn't even bother calling. However, the last 20 minutes we spent in Wales was on a tour of Cardiff Castle. Upon completion, I informed the tour guide of my difficulty in finding anything to do with Coreys and was a bit disappointed that I didn't find more about my family's history before I had to leave the country. He had a simple explanation, it's because Coreys come from Devon, England. Doh! Well, that just means another excellent trip in my future for me. So, Devon is now offically on my to-do list.

Most challenging thing about the trip: Driving in roundabouts on the wrong side of the street in a left-handed manual car.

Best way I found to fit in with the locals: Wearing a Welsh rugby shirt and watching a Wales rugby game in an authentic Welsh pub. You instantly become everybody's friend when you wear red.

Worst to Best experience in 1.5 hours: Getting a urinary tract infection from e-coli somewhere and having to go to a Welsh hospital. I was seen in 20 minutes, out the door in a little over an hour with a correct diagnosis, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of pain killers, and feeling great. Total cost: $0. This completely validated Michael Moore's movie Sicko for me. Makes me really want to push for Universal Health Care even more now.

Improv Everywhere on 'The Today Show" today

2008-02-19T17:51:00.003-05:00

Check it out. Those are peeps re-doing the freeze prank in Rockefeller Center.

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/02/19/ie-on-the-today-show/

In other related news, IE founder Charlie Todd just inked a book deal, so be on the lookout for a prank-filled IE book to come out in the next year or two.

Credit Cards

2008-02-15T10:27:00.004-05:00

I've gotten a few questions sent to me regarding my credit card that I mention in the book. It was issued by Fleet Bank, which got bought out by Bank of America 2 years ago. I still use this credit card, however, they keep sending me replacement cards with new numbers on it. I can't seem to find where new customers can sign-up for this card.

I do know credit card deals go in and out of favor all the time depending on things like interest rates, the strength of the economy, and even oil prices. (When gas prices are expensive, gas mile credit card perks are obviously more attractive to customers.) So keep on the look out for it. If I find it, I'll post it here too.

Also of note, GetRichSlowly has a great article and discussion about credit cards today, check it out.

UPDATE: I've been informed by mail my bond credit card has been discontinued and has been rolled into a "Credit Rewards" card by Bank of America and now instead of getting bonds, I get a small portion of money back. I'll have to now read the fine print to see if it's worth keeping.

Ethics

2008-02-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

It's been super fun getting feedback about my book. I get a handful of emails a day from people I've never met before thanking me for inspiration, education, and for an overall good read. (If you have written and I haven't responded back to you yet, then your email address was mistyped.)

The only partially-negative feedback I ever get comes through interviews I have had which bring up the subject of ethics in my path to a million dollars. Kimberly Palmer over at Alpha Consumer actually blogs about it today.

I understand from afar these reporters viewpoint. But I explain that I do know all of my tips are not for everyone, I make that statement in the book several times. This is my story of how I got by on as little as possible. I don't think I lied or cheated to get where I am, but using some creative scheming, sure.

For the umbrella recyling idea: I've owned a bar and restaurant, not to mention worked in the service industry most of my life. The lost and found is a necessary evil of unclaimed goods in every store. As nice as it sounds, donating them all to a charity is on everyone's mind, but it's hard to do without a car or without much free time to spare. This item rarely gets put on the top of the to-do list of restaurant and store owners. Many are appreciative to reduce the lump of umbrellas in the lost and found whenever possible, I know I was. And I do advocate if using this strategy to take an umbrella from lost and found and to leave it in another lost and found for another person, for good karma's sake. Or better yet, returning it from where you borrowed it from. Either way, you save $5 and no one gets hurt (just wet.)

The popcorn bag trick I did on a few occasions too. As I say in the book, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. And nothing's more desperate than paying $7 for a large popcorn and watching a chick flick with your girlfriend." There are no indications at the theater that "refillable popcorn bag" had to be for one showing. I probably would say it's unethical only if that statement was explicitly stated somewhere. Otherwise, I'm buying what I want to buy - a refillable popcorn bag. But being an older, wiser, newly 30-year old that's a business owner, I can see that gray line for sure. In my twenties though, I was a man on a mission without a penny to spare.

I could go on, but I think most of these are victimless. I would always take the worst umbrella in the bunch, buy a drink at the concession stand as courtesy, and I always explained to those with me what I was doing. I never felt I was being secretive or deceiving, but creative. And those around me during these "cheapskate moments" seemed to agree. I was always just "being Alan", constantly looking to save a buck whereever I could. Unethical? Not in my eyes, but I know some disagree.

I think entics require a victim. Someone who loses out for my gain. I don't see this happening in my situation. But then again, that's just my two cents.

Movie!

2008-02-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

Been contacted this week by a major feature film company to acquire the movie rights to my book. Excited, but been scrambling to find an agency to help me navigate through the rest of this process as I'm currently unrepresented in this area. Any gracious readers in the entertainment field please send me any contacts you may have of your own personal Ari. You will be rewarded with a high five from a millionaire at the very least.

Simultaneously, I'm also auditioning to outfit my entourage. Groupies need not apply.

ATL/ATH

2008-02-01T13:45:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a whirlwind trip of press, book signings, and after-parties in Atlanta and Athens, GA. Very much a success, saw a lot of old friends, teachers, neighbors - it was great. Even got my friends quoted in the AJC! I like doing that. Well, mainly because they are kind enough to say nice things.

Now I'm back in NYC rested and looking to start up again! Those up at 6:00 am on Sunday morning still celebrating the Giants forthcoming Super Bowl victory, I'll be on ABC's "New York Viewpoint" nice and early. Tune in! Cheers.

Timeout NY mailbag

2008-01-23T11:44:00.001-05:00

Last week I did a advice column over at Timeout NY's website. It finally ran today, which is great, although my setups were edited down/cut out entirely. I think it comes off as rather rude now, instead of the humorous format which I submitted it in (well, I vouch humor was at least attempted). It definitely lost it's funny tone as I read it now. Oh well, I have no control over the editing. Sorry to Sarah, Julie, and Alexander, I'm really not an ass!

The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch

2008-01-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

Shot over to Englewood, NJ today to shoot a segment for The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. I was the poorest person in the room. It was awesome.

There was fitness czar Kathy Smith and designer and former model Emme to start with. They are basically iconic from what I gathered in the green room and from watching their interviews.

Also got to meet The Orginal Sprout creators, the unstoppable, and seemingly unflappable Cynthia Kersey, and also the founders of Samazon. All products I was introduced to today and looking forward to trying them out as soon as possible. It made for a very "green" friendly show lineup, and not just in the color of money kind of way. Tune in tonight: 10 PM ET, CNBC

Interviews

2008-01-16T14:12:00.000-05:00

Two fun interviews I did recently are listed below. Both are from sites I've recommended before to check out, and still do.

Geezeo calls me single in the non-married sense. For the record, I'm taken. And Thicken My Wallet puts up with my man-crush.

My First Book Signing

2008-01-15T18:55:00.001-05:00

Things went great last night! Thanks to everyone that came out, it meant a lot. I know the book store sold out of the 50 books they had on stock, sorry to those that didn't get a book. I don't control that aspect, but obviously more people came out than expected. That means you people rule!

IE No Pants a Success

2008-01-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

900 People came out this year, almost tripling the previous record. It was almost a parade atmosphere with so many people. Reports here:

+AP via Yahoo

And also on The Today Show below:

For full report, a ton of pictures, more details etc - check out Improv Everywhere in about week. Charlie should have compiled things by then.

I heart Bryant Park Project

2008-01-11T10:40:00.000-05:00

NPR's The Bryant Park Project is becoming my favorite show, and not only because they had me as a repeat guest again today. Ok, maybe that's the only reason.

Just kidding, it's fun, informal, and the whole staff there rocks. It makes for a good comfortable environment. The show today was more about my reality TV experiences, but they seemed to also appreciate my cheapness, which I got ridiculed for mercifully on The Judith Regan Show last week. That goes a long way with me.

Now I have 48 hours to do something crazy to get invited back again for the next installment of the Bryant Park Project. Good thing Improv Everywhere's No Pants 2k8 is this weekend.

NPR - The Bryant Park Project

2008-01-10T10:17:00.000-05:00

Was interviewed on NPR's The Bryant Park Project this morning promoting the prank collective Improv Everywhere's No Pants 2k8 coming up this Saturday, Jan 12. It's being hosted in 10 cities in 3 different countries this year. So far we have:

New York
Boston
Washington DC
Portland, OR
San Francisco
Chicago
Toronto, CA
Adelaide, Australia
Baltimore, MD
Salt Lake City

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Reader Mail - I want more!

2008-01-08T18:09:00.002-05:00

I've been getting a lot of positive feedback and a lot of questions recently through this site. Fan mail is great! I've decided to reply to them publicly if I find they could help others or if the review is so positive I'll put them up here for you to debate whether I actually made them up.

First up:

Awesome awesome book. I am stunned that I have found a book that represents what I am about to go through once I graduate this may.

I would like to know if you could recommend any books that can help me learn more? Maybe a few books that you found were useful when you first started learning about finance.

Thanks,
BKarp

Good question, and first congrats on being on top of your finances at such a young age. You are well ahead of your buddies, believe me. But luckily you have more options these days than just books. Blogs and websites are great resources too and even better, they're free!

Some blogs I really like about frugal living include GetRichSlowly.org, FiveCentNickel.com, ThickenMyWallet.com, and Queercents.com. (You don't have to be gay to appreciate the financial advice on the last one.)

More stocks, mutual funds, and 401k type questions I would recommend the websites of The Motley Fool and CNN/Money.

But if books are must haves, I would recommend "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", "Building Wealth: From Rags to Riches in Real Estate", and "Millioniare Next Door". They are all good reads on 3 different and smart approaches to investing over the long haul. Albeit, none are stock related. And I know people love to hate Rich Dad, but I do think it's something everyone should read just to figure out what kind of investing is or is not for them.

I got more excited about real estate than stocks when I first started out (I think because I understood quicker), so my stock investments were just the normal index 500 mutual funds Motley Fool and Cnn/Money recommended to me. I didn't dig deep into any books specifically on stocks either, so I don't know what to recommended. I invested in medium risk things and a mix of large cap and small cap funds, basically balanced across the board. I wasn't comfortable with my knowledge of stocks too much, so I just maxed out my 401k, Roth IRA, and put as much as I could in big name mutual funds that I read about over and over again on many different websites and magazine articles. Don't get me wrong, stocks are important in any investing - I just don't feel comforatable recommending books specifically on that subject. I've also read many of Suze Orman's books - the stock sections are a bit droll, but it has solid advice anyone should follow.

Lastly, if you are looking for something really cool online, I just got contacted by a really zippy website that I wish was around when I started out 7 years ago. It's called Geezeo, and it's like Facebook meets Quicken Online. You can set and see other people's goals and you can also get the guilt of money off your chest in the confessional room. Basically it's a free way to stay on top of finances in an interesting environment with like-minded peeps who are computer savvy (i.e. under 35).

Hope this helps and anyone who has more recommendation, please post them in the comments sections. There are hundreds of blogs out there, find the one that works best for you, and check it daily. No one cares more about your finances than you.

UPDATE: Wanted to updated this post to say I read "The 4-hour Workweek" recently and I would add this book as a must read too for people who love to travel, comfortable with their current income, and/or want to reduce their workload. It's a very informative book, and after reading it, I've made some changes in my financial life too.

UPDATE 2: Been having time to read some more books, here is another rec. Scratch Beginnings is an awesome book, especially those skeptical of the American Dream. Adam Shepard on his own will enters a homeless shelter in a foreign city with $25 in this back pocket. A year later, he has a car, a livable apartment, and a savings of $5,000+. If he can turn $25 into $5,000 in one year, imagine what you can do with your money. Definitely a solid read.

The Judith Regan Show

2008-01-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Just did The Judith Regan Show on Sirius Radio today. I can't find a link of the interview anywhere, but it was fun. I got railed for a good portion of it (granted it was deserved as I brought up her O.J. Simpson's book "If I Did It..."), but she feels stingy parents help teach kids about education as she has a son that was raised stingy by her and a daughter that was raised spoiled by her father. The son is obviously in better shape financially from it today. I agree, I definitely learned my frugality from my parents. They made me work for everything, and I appreciate it so much more than if I was given a chunk of cash. So there's a lesson for everyone - if you have kids, give them nothing. They'll thank you when they are 30.

Money Matters - ABC News

2008-01-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

Had a fun television interview today at ABC News. I found online the first half of the our interview, which can be seen here:

The Vent

2008-01-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

The AJC has a section called "The Vent" where people call up anonymously and leave a voicemail to vent their frustration with the world, or Atlanta, or usually just the Falcons. And then Vent Guy publishes the best vents each day.

I remember calling the number all the time as a kid and then checking the paper the next day to see if my vent got published. Even though vents are uncredited, I would still feel a bit of glory seeing something I yammered about on a voicemail in print. I think the only ones of mine that ever got published were the ones I made up about bad traffic. I realize that's probably because nobody really wants to read what a 16 year old has to gripe about anyway.

In even more glorious fashion, I was actually mentioned in a recent vent based on some recent press. It read:

Alan Corey (How many pennies do you have to pinch to become a millionaire) makes Clark Howard look like a spendthrift.

Wow, I'm not sure why that person had to get that off their chest, but inside, I hope it was some high school kid trying to get his first vent published.

And to Atlanta's iconic financial money-saver Clark Howard, I invite you to celebrate this great occassion with me. Drinks on you.

AJC

2008-01-02T13:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, must have been a slow news day in Atlanta on Saturday - as a complete suprise to me - my face (twice - one aged 10) was on the very front page of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution! I couldn't believe it! Now I have a huge backlog of emails to return from this great exposure, but what a great way to start '08. I'll get back to everyone shortly after I try to find my way off this damn Merril Lynch bull.

What I've Learned

2007-12-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

Some good nuggets of knowledge can be found in Esquire's "What I've Learned" series. I've spend 3 straight hours reading them.

wow

2007-12-18T16:38:00.000-05:00

This is interesting:

http://strangedays.jottit.com/

I hope "million bucks" + "how to" does not equal a terrorist search or no one would find this site.

I heart Caroline Leavitt

2007-12-17T13:52:00.000-05:00

Caroline Leavitt of The Boston Globe made my weekend. In her Sunday book review, she found my book "outrageously funny", and called me "likable", but added a disclaimer of "I wouldn't really want to hang out with Corey [though]."

That's probably the nicest way I have ever been told someone doesn't want to hang out with me. Almost in a "it's not you, it's me" kinda way. So, anyone else with the same thoughts, please take a cue from Ms. Leavitt to never hanging out with me: Write a great review of my book, then break the news in said book review.

Cheers to Caroline and me, to never hanging out.

New website

2007-12-17T00:26:00.001-05:00

Alright, just launched a new and improved website! Additionally, I made the decision to clean house and delete all my old blog posts and just start fresh with everything. I'm obviously not much of a historian.

I consider the action of erasing all my blog posts similar to email bankruptcy, except the only person getting screwed is myself. Erasing all my posts will probably make everything more difficult for me in the long run (past link references lost, those few readers I had lose out when returning to find something on my site, and my own personal timeline of my activities are lost).

I'll coin this behavior of screwing myself and probably recreating what is most important to me as creating "blog debt".