A lot of people love satelite TV, and I can understand why. What I can’t understand, though, is justifying such an expense every month.

I was looking at a row of houses built by Habitat for Humanity and started wondering. I’m not here to make judgment calls about these people’s habits, but I plugged in some numbers you and your friends might want to think twice about.

If you paid an additional $50 toward your mortgage every month, a thirty year mortgage could be paid off in 24 years! (I assumed a 7% interest rate, which is higher than you want for your own home.) 24 years!

Think about what a few extra bucks each month could do to any loan. Interest is a powerful thing, especially when it works to your advantage. Know of any other powerful examples?

(NOTE that some lenders don’t allow prepayments without penalty, so read the fine lines of the contracts you have signed.)

According to The Motley Fool (fool.com) now is historically the best time to invest in the stock market. In their article “Now Is the Best Time of the Year to Invest” they bring up some historical data about the average return of the market during the year.

Average return, November to April: 6.52%.
Average return, May to October: 0.98%.

Yowza.

Surprised?
That’s one of the lesser-reported stock market stats I’ve ever seen.

Of course, you’ve probably heard the old Wall Street adage to “sell in May and go away.” So, there’s some conventional wisdom that the summer has historically poor returns. Many are also aware that October (mother of a pair of Black Mondays, and more than a few other Black Days of the Week) is a scary month.

November, on the other hand, has clearly been a very good month for market returns, perhaps juiced by the weak three months that typically precede it. For 11 of the past 12 Novembers, the market has had positive returns.

There is of course a tendency for many of the articles at the Fool to end in promoting one of their investment advisory groups, and this article is no different. It’s a good read, just skip the last paragraph.

The National Realtors Association keeps an up-to-date database of recommended books on real estate and personal finance. Check out their Weekly Book Scan for some good reads, many of which you may never have heard of before.

Sometimes that is good enough, not always, but sometimes knowing more than everyone else will allow you to advance. Of course it helps to know what everyone else is thinking before you claim to be smarter than them.

I just ran into a site called Buzzdash. They constantly run polls and about all kinds of things. The stock market, business, and finance being one of them. While I wouldn’t be using this information directly to invest, it can possibly help you determine some trends of everyday people.

Personally I will be sticking with Motley Fool’s CAPS, as that holds people accountable for their predictions and any market analysis that they make. Although with the market’s recent turns, I am not so excited to log in and see how my ratings are doing!

Last night, I picked up “The Everything Homebuying Book” at my local library. As a real estate agent, I expected this book to be as dry and mundane as my real estate courses were. But the book was surprisingly to the point with tidbits scattered throughout.

The book covers everything from buying a fixer upper to selecting your town (with consideration to taxes, schools, and community programs) and determining the perfect home and finance strategy. The only thing the book lacked from my opinion was sample paperwork. What does a deed look like? How about a buy/sell agreement or rental contract when I rent out a bedroom?

We have an article on Aridni that might be useful to you, too.

And when you’re thinking of buying a home, this book may be invaluable to you… especially if you can get it for free at your local library, too!

Do you need more help learning how to invest like Warren Buffet? Most people do, with the exception of perhaps only one. Of course that person is Warren Buffet himself!

I ran into this article from the Motley Fool a little while ago called “Buffett’s Words of Wisdom.” It gives out a bit of advice that Warren seems to follow, as well as tips and hints on becoming a better investor yourself.

“I am a better investor because I am a businessman and a better businessman because I am an investor.”

All in all it is a pretty good read, check it out.