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PT Money Goes Mobile: iPhone App, Amazon Kindle, and WP Touch Theme

PT — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:00:21 +0000

Free iPhone App from PT Money

Check it out. PT Money is an iPhone App. Visit Apple iTunes to download the App for free.

With this App, you’ll be able to read the blog content online or offline, share your favorite articles, and follow my recent tweets all from your iPhone.

Here’s the description:

PT Money is an App based on the personal finance blog, PT Money, at ptmoney.com. Everyday on PT Money, PT shares real personal finance tips for a life without limits.

The App contains an RSS feed from the blog as well as a feed from PT’s Twitter account. The content of the feeds are strictly related to personal finance. Topics include saving money, frugality, credit cards, debt reduction, making money, budgeting, insurance, taxes, retirement, etc.

Visit the PT Money App test page at AppMakr.com to click around on the app without an iPhone.

Get your blog made into an App. Use the code PTMONEY to get 25% off.

The biggest benefit to having the iPhone App vs just visiting via browser or reader is that you automatically have the last 10 posts downloaded on the app. This way if you wanted to read the latest blog post but don’t have a wireless or wifi connection (on a place for instance) then you will still be able to read 10 posts.

Here are a few screen shots from the app in action:

Download Page in the App Store

Home Screen (showing the RSS feed)

Twitter Feed Screen

PT Money on Amazon Kindle

Do you have an Amazon Kindle? PT Money is also now available for the Kindle. Visit Amazon and subscribe to PT Money on Amazon Kindle. This is a subscription service from Amazon and will cost .99/month. I would have made it free, but that wasn’t an option.

I don’t have a Kindle so I can’t show you a screen shot. Anyone?

Get your blog published on Kindle: visit Kindle Publishing

PT Money on WP Touch Browser

Last but certainly not least, if you’ve been visiting the blog via mobile browser over the last month or so you may have noticed the special theme designed just for viewing on a small screen. I installed the WP Touch WordPress theme. The theme automatically resizes my blog for mobile devices. Here are a few screen shots:

Home Screen

Individual Post

I love this theme. Makes the blog so much easier to read by phone.

Have your own blog? Download the WP Touch Plugin for WordPress

I’d love to get your comments, ratings, feedback on the 3 options. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make it easier for you to grab the content here at PT Money.

Flip Camera Winners and $100 for Doctors Without Borders

PT — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:59:51 +0000

Just a quick announcement post to share the results of the Amex Charge Card Flip Ultra Video Camera Giveaway as well as the results of the readers’ choice charity fantasy football challenge over at Cash Money Life:

Winners of the 10 Flip Video Cameras

There were a ton of excellent comments (169) and well over 300 retweets about the giveaway. Thanks to everyone that participated.

The winners from the comments:

The Proverbswife
Ryan P
Kay
Doreen
Jeff@MySuperChargedLife

The winners from Twitter:

@onemoneydesign
@domesticcents
@figalicious
@junkytrinket
@desiree_allen

I will be contacting all the winners to mail the cameras.

A big thanks to American Express Charge Card services for providing the cameras and for providing them to PT Money.

$100 for Doctor’s without Borders

The readers over at Cash Money Life selected Doctors Without Borders as their charity of choice. Therefore, as promised, Patrick and I donated $100 each to this charity.

More about Doctors Without Borders:

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971.

Today, MSF provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need. MSF reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, to challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.

In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Seems as if the money will be put to good use.

PT Money Gets a New Look with Headway Theme

PT — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:48:16 +0000

I recently upgraded the blog’s theme and logo. Those of you that actually visit the blog occasionally should have already noticed the change. But I know some of you only get the rss emails, or view the site through your rss reader. So, in case you missed it, here’s a screen shot of the new look:

The New Logo and Tagline

The logo was designed by yours truly, with the help of Mrs. PT’s watchful eye. She gave me a big “no way” on several previous versions. She barely let this one fly.

The tagline was something I struggled over and I’m not sure I’m totally happy with it. I crafted it using the guidance from a Copyblogger post titled, “How to Create a Rock-Solid Tagline That Truly Works” (thanks, James Chartrand), and my desire to move the purpose of my blog content away from simply saving, debt, and frugality towards something bigger: “A Life Without Limits”.

I want this to be a positive place where the focus is on moving people towards a more positive financial position: a place where you’re not limited by debt, the need for stuff, and a lack of savings.

New Blog Theme by Headway

The big change, the theme, was a hard one to make. I’ve been with the Blog Oh Blog BobV2 theme for about 2 years now. I loved it. I tried several times to move to other themes for various reasons but I kept coming back to ole Bob. I was tempted by the Thesis theme, but never could make the move.

Then, the Headway Theme came along and it seemed like a good fit for me. I tested it out and found that it could quickly maneuver into a theme that I could use. The main selling points for me were the visual editor (I can change things while looking at the blog - don’t have to go into the admin panel), the forum support, and the easy hooks feature.

If you’re interested in a new theme, click through the banner to see the Headway Theme visual editor in action. It’s definitely worth a look.

Update: The Headway theme failed me due to poor customer service, bugs in the visual editor that jack up your site, and their built in SEO tool overrides, instead of works with, your All In One SEO plugin. In hindsight, I’d advise you to pass on Headway and go for Thesis Theme.

As for the PT Money customizations, I still have some kinks to work out (e.g. width, column placement, individual page customizations). But the theme is getting close to what I want. Hopefully you’ve found that the functionality and readability have improved. I’ll promise to keep working to make it an enjoyable experience while you’re here.

What Do You Think? I’d love to get your thoughts: good or bad. Is the site easier to read and navigate? Does anything annoy you or seem amateurish?

The Best of PT Money 2009

PT — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:49:33 +0000

2010 is upon us. It’s time to look back on the year that was and appreciate some of the better efforts here on this blog. I’ve definitely had some hits and misses with this year’s blog schedule and choice of topics. Some things worked. Some didn’t.

But I’m still enjoying it. And you guys haven’t abandoned me yet. So I’ll declare 2009 a success, and I’ll keep putting together at least three articles a week here on the blog and interacting with you guys through comments and emails.

My Favorite Blog Posts

There were 201 posts written for this blog in 2009. Here are a few of my favorites:

My Favorite Guest Post

I appreciate all the guest contributors to the site. I want to highlight one guest post that I thought was particularly special with the arrival of little Miss PT:

Kids Can Teach You To Be Frugal

Best Contribution from a Reader

Long-time reader, David, chimed in with his analysis of the cost-effectiveness of renting a car. It made for a solid discussion as evidenced by the number of comments.

Your Next Road Trip: Is it Better to Rent a Car or Take Your Own?

Thank You

Many friends, family members, and readers have inspired blog posts here on PT Money. I want to say thanks for keeping me in mind when that blog post idea or money question pops into your head. It’s those comments, emails, and text messages that provide some of the best blog material here. Your contributions make this a better place for everyone. So thanks for that and please do keep it coming.

—

In the coming days I plan to do a review of how I did with my 2009 personal, blogging, and financial goals, as well as challenge you to set goals for yourself for 2010. Stay tuned. 2010 is going to be great.

Fantasy Football: 2009 Personal Finance League Results

PT — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:20:25 +0000

After taking 1st place in the 2008 fantasy football league amongst personal finance bloggers, I was feeling pretty good about my chances of a repeat in 2009. Well, the final point was calculated last night on the 2009 season and PT’s Prime Timers didn’t make it happen. I lost in the finals to the Cash Money All-Stars, the talent filled juggernaut owned by Patrick from Cash Money Life.

But all is not lost.

Side Bet for Charity

Although our league is a free league and there is no official prize for the winner, at the beginning of the season Patrick offered to donate $100 to the charity of choice for the winner of the league (and if he won, he promised to donate to a charity of his readers’ choice).

Last week, since I found myself pitted against Patrick in the finals, I offered to match his donation. That means $200 will go to charity once his reader’s make their choice.

Latest from Cash Money Life

Patrick has an excellent blog over at Cash Money Life, focusing on personal finance and careers. I’d encourage you to head over and check it out. Here are some of my favorite articles from Cash Money Life:

The Rest of the PF Blogger League

Here’s the rest of the gang, in order of final standings, including a recent post from their blogs:

No Debt Plan – Radically Change Your Life in 4 Steps
Fighting Frugalistas (Being Frugal) – Passing Down the Frugal Gene
CFL Allstars (Four Pillars) – 5 Ways to Make or Lose Money with Investment Properties
Pandas (Green Panda Treehouse) – Which Charity Do You Support?
Farve DollarFootlong (Bible Money Matters) – 10 Year-End Tax Deductions and Credits
Debt Kid (Debt Kid) – Wedding Planning 101 Series
The Ditka’s (Good Financial Cents) – Top 135+ Personal Finance Posts of 2009
remodelers (Remodeling This Life) – A Year of Progress

Great season, everyone! I’m taking back my crown in 2010.

Carnivals from last week included the Carnival of Debt Reduction, the Money Hacks Carnival, and the Carnival of Personal Finance.

Merry Christmas!

PT — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:45:18 +0000

Just a quick note to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you are enjoying the holidays with friends and family. We’re having a great time seeing little Miss PT enjoy her very first Christmas. She’s loving all the family time and attention. I’m sure she’ll figure out these “present” things soon too. Enjoy the weekend. I’ll be back next week. Oh, and be careful if you go sledding.

Writing My First E-book: Saving to Give

PT — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:07:24 +0000

This week I’m busy writing my first e-book. I’m really excited about finishing it soon and sharing it with you guys. It’s going to focus around the idea of saving more of your income, so that you can do more giving. The working title is:

Saving to Give: Learn the 4 steps to improve your finances so you can improve the lives of others.

It will be geared toward those of us with an income and a desire to make a positive impact on the world. The book will hopefully be a quick, easy read full of specific action steps you can follow to help you save more and give more. It will also be free.

Get an advanced copy of Saving to Give. I recently soft-launched the PT Money Newsletter. I’m not done setting it all up, but it will one day include exclusive content and giveaways, video tutorials, access to other projects, and more. If you join the free newsletter now, you’ll be the first to check out the e-book, which I’m hoping to launch within a week.

What are your thoughts about the e-book idea? Do you have any interest in reading it? What do you think of the title? The cover art? I’d love to get your feedback this week as I’m finalizing the draft.

Carnivals from last week…

debt redux, taxes, twenties, hacks, pecuniary, frugality, economy

Personal Updates and Links: New Insurance for this Bada$$ Blogger

PT — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:45:35 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my personal updates as well as some of the more interesting things going on around the interwebs. I’ll take today’s post to get you up to speed.

Recent Local Blogger Meetup

I recently had the opportunity to meet another personal finance blogger that lives in my area. Jason from One Money Design and I met at our local library to discuss blogging, finance, life, and generally just get to know each other. I had a great time and enjoyed getting to meet someone from the online world in “real” life. You can learn more about Jason by visiting his blog (www.onemoneydesign.com), signing up for his free updates, and by following him on twitter (@onemoneydesign).

New Auto Insurance Policy

While I was doing some searching for life insurance (Yes, I’m still in the process of getting life insurance. Almost done though. I promise.), I stumbled upon a nice auto insurance deal from a professional organization that I’m a member of. I ran a quote with GEICO and was pleasantly surprised. I’m going to sound like a commercial here, but “I saved a bunch of money by switching to GEICO.” A word of caution to those who may be considering a similar move: be sure you compare the old policy and the new one side-by-side to ensure you’re getting the same coverage. My new policy has the same coverage AND it’s around $200 less per six months.

Visit GEICO Car Insurance to get a free auto insurance quote today! Find out how much you could save.

Blog Updates (if you care)

You may have noticed the subtle branding changes I’ve made to the blog. I’m moving away from the “Prime Time Money” name and simply going with “PT Money”. With the url being ptmoney.com, I just thought it made sense to make things concise and just go with the one name. But just because the name is changing, it doesn’t mean the focus is now all on me, PT. The goal will still be to provide you with content that’s of interest to you, first and foremost. Contact me if you’d like to discuss a particular topic, or if you have a story to share.

I’m happy to report that the side-income that I’m able to produce from the site has really been strong lately. In a future post I’d like to share how I make a bit of extra money from the blog. I occasionally let myself think of one day making a full-time living from this site, but realistically that’s still a few years away. David from Money Under 30 recently shared his story of becoming a full-time blogger. A great read if you’re into that kind of thing.

In other news…I’m a bad@ss. Well, at least my blog is. The fine folks at this Australian Credit Card website listed PT Money as on of the Top 25 Badass Personal Finance Blogs. Very cool list of friends, as well as some pretty sweet caricatures of some of us. Check out my bling, yo.

Does it look like me?

Father’s Day Giveaway: $25 T.J. Maxx and Marshalls Gift Cards

PT — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:48:08 +0000

I’ve got a quick giveaway for my loyal readers. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls are doing a Father’s Day promotion and have each agreed to giveaway a $25 gift card to Prime Time Money readers. Here’s more about these stores in case you’re wondering who the heck they are:

If you enjoy spending time on the green, T.J. Maxx has great brand-name golf gear and accessories that will help you stay in the game and looking his best. From golf clubs to golf bags to classic golf shirts, T.J. Maxx has got the golfing enthusiast covered. If your ideal Father’s Day gift something for summer grilling, Marshalls has top-of-the-line grill gear, sauces, seasonings and more to keep family cook-outs delicious and affordable. And if you’re looking for something more professional, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx feature dress shirts and ties.

Generally speaking, these are discount department stores. I really like them and shop there occassionally. Check out my previously posted review of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls shopping experience. In unexplained news, did you know: T.J. Maxx is called T.K. Maxx here in Ireland. Weird, huh?

Okay, enough chatter. To win a $25 card simply leave a comment telling me which store you’d like to get the card for. I’ll select the two winners from the comments. That’s it. Please be in the U.S. and please leave your comment by midnight CST tonight (the 17th). Thanks!

QuickHits: Two Year Anniversary Edition

PT — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:31:04 +0000

Two Years of Prime Time Money

It’s been two years since I kicked things off here at Prime Time Money. I didn’t really find my blogging stride till early 2008, but technically I started this blog on April 18th, 2007. If you dare, you can venture back into the archives to see how far we’ve come.

I don’t have anything special planned for the anniversary. However, I did update the front page of the website to include a nice featured post gallery (thanks to featuredcontentgallery.com). I think it turned out nice. Hopefully it will encourage those that are new to the site to stick around and read more.

How to Share Articles with Others

Speaking of new people. If you’ve ever thought of sharing the content here with friends or family, I want to remind you of the many ways to do so. Each post contains a “share this” icon on the bottom which gives you the ability to share the blog post by email, text message, Facebook , Twitter, and several other ways. You can also print the article using the “print this” icon.

Sharing the content here with others is the biggest compliment you can give me. I’ll try and do my part by continuing to provide posts that are worth sharing.