money

Nicolas Cage is a Shopaholic

Posted November 6, 2009 10:08 AM

There's a reason why Nicolas Cage played the voice of a Guinea Pig in last summer's G-Force. As it turns out, Nic was out of money.

It's not like he fell from the graces of Hollywood. He made four movies in 2009, and he's got another five lined up for 2010. Sure, you haven't actually gone to a Nic Cage movie since National Treasure, but he still commands a multi-million dollar payout.

After the IRS charged Mr. Cage for some $6 million dollars in unpaid income tax, The Daily Beast uncovered that he filed a $20 million dollar lawsuit against Samuel Levin, his former business manager for what Nicolas Cage argues as "profiting while he went down the path to financial ruin." Based on the talk around town, the Cage's money troubles are limited to poor financial advice.

Where did Nicolas Cage's money go?

It all starts with a crazy Christmas party at the Cage estate in 2003. Everyone was there. There was a 20 ft. tall tent with a buffet table made out of ice. A production crew shot off fake snow and lighting specialists set up a display of Cage's favorite cars as if they'd been touched by the hand of God. The party was so off the hook that Cage's people found a stray pony galloping around the grounds the following morning (turns out the partying pony was a gift from one of Cage's guests - and there wasn't a place to put it yet).

Nowadays, you won't find anymore holier-than-thou lighting displays from Nicolas Cage. The decorators are gone and the personal chef is cooking for someone else.

You see, Cage likes to buy stuff. Mansions. Jets. Yachts. Growing up with money meant he could never have enough. A man can only have so many cars, and for Nicholas Cage, too many cars topped out at the 50 mark (only because he had to lay off his full-time mechanic). In fact, Cage had so many cars he decorated his Bel Air mansion by enshrining a 1955 Jaguar D-Type in his billiard room with car-dealership showroom lighting. Nicolas also had a sense of flair for eclectic decorating by throwing an expensive motorcycle or two in the foyer for good measure.

As the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola with practically unlimited access to wealth, this list of extravagant spending doesn't end with practical means. Nicolas Cage has two New Orleans mansions, two Bahamanian islands and a $500,000 Lamborghini once owned by the Shah of Iran.

He's known to own a zoo of animals including exotic birds, a pet octopus and two King albino Cobras, which he kept the "antidote serum" on the wall for the freakishly likely chance he got mauled by two of the most dangerous snakes in the world. His most famous animal acquisition was when he beat down Leonardo DiCaprio in a heated auction for a dino skull that cost $276,000.

Cage's purchases weren't all nuttier than a squirrel turd. He did donate $1 million to the Red Cross for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and another $2 million to Amnesty International. Furthermore, Cage made many sound investments through buying and selling vintage cars and real estate - until he borrowed heavily against his house right as the housing bubble burst.

It just goes to show you nobody can spend money willy-nilly these days. Even if you're a movie star, you need to spend within your means. As for Cage, he'll have to make a few more stinkers, but when he gets his act together for National Treasure 3, I'll reluctantly stand in line for it.

Buy American?...Now More Than Ever!

Posted October 26, 2008 1:19 PM

I began watching Ford's stock before all of this downward spiraling hullabaloo. I saw it as it dipped below five dollars and I said, "Almost time to buy." On Friday it dipped below $2.00. If I had any doubts about picking up this stock at such a bargain, I was inspired by a recent article written by Warren Buffet in "The New York Times." The title of his article was "Buy American. I Am." I've been thinking more and more about the importance of buying not just American stocks, but American products as well. If I'm facing facts, American automakers haven't given us too many great products the past couple of decades, and foreign automakers have rightfully blown past us. That's all likely going to change and change soon. Ford has three new electric cars on the horizon, and Chevy has the Volt due out in 2010, which I blogged about recently. One of the things that Buffet reminded us of in his article was his famously coined phrase (which makes a ton of sense right now),

Buffet says: "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."

While Buffet tells us that he cannot predict what the market will do in the short term - and of course, if he can't you know I can't. He feels that in the next 5 to 10 to 20 years you will see most companies setting new profit records. And while my opinions are my own and any suggestions I make should not lead anyone to make any financial decisions, I like what opportunities are out there for us to seize. I'll leave you with one more Buffetism:

"I'll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: "Put your mouth where your money was." Today my money and my mouth both say equities."

Neel Kashkari, Uh...A Little Help Please

Posted October 9, 2008 6:05 PM

Was I the only one who blew out my mouthful of Cheerios when I heard that Neel Kashkari, a former Goldman Sachs executive and merely 35 years old, was to be in charge of the 700 billion dollar bailout? I'm sure this Kashkari is a bright young lad. He graduated from Wharton - the same place as Trump - so I'm sure he knows a few things about dollars and cents. He also helped to develop technology for NASA space science missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the replacement program for the Hubble telescope. I get it. Smart young guy, right? Well, one of the problems I have is that I flew by 35 nearly 4 years ago. Your math is correct. I'm almost 39 years old. I know how immature I am! C'mon, I'm older than this guy and I still watch Spongebob Squarepants, and most of the time without my daughter in the room! Seriously, I still laugh uncontrollably when I break wind and I'm older than this guy! Doesn't age bring wisdom? Doesn't he need to respect me because I'm his elder? Now the entire future of the housing market and the U.S. economy is on his shoulders?

Not only was Kashkari born after World War II, he was born after the Vietnam War. He was born right before Ford was president. That wasn't that long ago. That means he was playing kickball when Reagan was President, and was still a teenager when Clinton took office. Holy crap, man! I hope this guy is a prodigy and is off the charts. I hope he's not like young upstart Paul DePodesta who ran the Dodgers into the ground based on his "Moneyball" bible. By the way, DePodesta is now a front office assistant for the San Diego Padres. Not that I'm making any judgmental comparisons.

Sigh...well, Kashkari looks like a boxer to me. He looks like a guy who has had his nose broken a few times, and his shiny bald head makes him look more like an MMA fighter than a nerdy bookworm, so perhaps that is a good omen. Perhaps he'll fight for us, find a solution for us and take us back to a place where we don't crap our pants at the fear of the ATM printing out those three terrifying words, "You're broke sucka!"

Will History Repeat?

Posted September 30, 2008 8:34 AM

There are so many opinions out there on the impending collapse, doom and financial failure that it makes you want to pull the covers over your head, drink cocoa and watch "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" over and over and over. We're exhausted, confused, overstimulated by switching to Fox, CNN and NBC so as to miss commercials (which are mostly timed - damn them) that our heads are spinning. We've talked to family members, thought about stashing cash, tried to buy some silver and gold and bury it in the yard and had countless other Armageddon thoughts of fire and destruction.

We're tired, hungry and poor. We're disappointed in both parties and somehow with all that's happened in the past week who really cares about the debates? Wait...I do, but that's just me. I love a good train wreck as much as the next rubber-necker. All I can suggest is that we take a look at history for a moment. Every 10 years or so, it's something like this that threatens our very way of life in this country. Remember the savings and loan scandals? Remember the gas crisis and the schmucks who were trying to sell Mr. Middleclass a share in an oil well? There is always a scheme, and when there is a scheme, we're always there to sniff around and if we like the scent jump in and try to get a piece. We were misled. We figured stated income loans and free money was the new way of the future. We were wrong. Painfully wrong. We were misled...but we still jumped in which means we were guilty too. Now we're paying for it. I don't know if this bailout is the right move, I really don't. It's a hair too complicated for me to understand all of its nuances.

This much I know though...stop charging crap on your cards. Payoff as much debt as you can. Tighten the belt. Our Paris Hilton days of spending are behind us for now...that is until the next ponzi scheme comes around and we forget about all of this and jump in again. Someday, hopefully, we'll get it right and realize the only way to really make it is to roll up our sleeves, buy what we can afford and work to earn that Jaguar. (Note: Buy the Jag used. You can find S-Type Jags from 2003 all day long for about $12k. See? I just saved you $30,000!)

Guyville Goes Green

Posted August 22, 2008 9:06 AM

Sure we're a gifts for guys site. But just because we're the leader in personalized gifts for men doesn't mean we can't be concerned, in fact, very concerned for our environment and our unborn grand children's planet. We've been up on all of the bio-fuels, hydrogen solutions and green technology that the scientists of the world have been working fast and furiously on. One newer technology that is only right now beginning to get notoriety as a real possible solution to the world's cleaner burning alternative fuel source is algae.

In fact if you watch the above video from algae to oil producer, Origin Oil, and even though it clearly isn't the highest quality video you'll ever see, you will distinctly hear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger say, "I've heard about that" and "I think we should work on that right away." The Governor then introduced Origin Oil CEO, Riggs Eckelberry to top energy and environmental adviser Terry Tamminen and Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Linda Adams. I am an investor in this awesome and innovative company and I think Origin Oil (symbol: OOIL.OB) is poised to do great things for this country and the world. Algae is not only much cleaner burning then the dinosaur bones we're burning now, but given the right conditions you can harvest algae every 24 hours. Plus if you think about it, what do you think the petroleum we get from the ground is really made from? T-Rex bones? Maybe a fraction. Old leaves, dirt and moisture mixed in with it? Yup! And, gee...what do you think that is? Say...sounds like algae to me. Only when you control the growth and take out the gnarly black stuff, it's a whole lot cleaner.

Let's face it. We all wanted to get in on Microsoft at the beginning, because hindsight is 20/20 and very few of us got that opportunity. Origin Oil is at .42 cents per share today and the Governor thinks we should get to working on it "right away." I'm no prophet, and my humble opinions are my own...but I heard what the man said...that video didn't lie.

Shopping Myths Debunked

Posted August 7, 2008 5:59 AM

We could go on forever with a shopping myths list of things that confuse good shoppers like yourself, especially in the gifts for men world, but we'll narrow it down to just three for the sake of time.

Myth #1: Personalized gifts for guys are really expensive! Well, that's simply not true. In our country's sharp economic downturn, we like to brag that we have a ton of guy gifts for under $20, and they're personalized too, which gives it that posh extra touch.

Myth #2: Beer tastes the same no matter what you drink it from...Well, c'mon now, sophisticate your palate for crying out loud! You drink a cold Bud from a can fresh out of the fridge, and sure it might taste pretty good, but you pull a personalized Mug from out of your freezer and pour the other half of that Bud into that frosty mug of frozen goodness, and see if you don't say, "Hey, damn, Guyville Guy is onto something."

Myth #3: Does Personalization of a gift really matter? Yes it does! Absolutely and positively. We are in a time when what really makes us strong is our individuality. There is something posh and elegant about a monogrammed shirt, or handkerchief and that started ions ago. We're just taking it to an entirely different level now.

We hope this helped cleared up some myths about shopping and personalization. If you want to see how vast our ideas of personalization of gifts for guys goes, please visit our Gifts For Men by Guyville, where you can shop hundreds of gifts and you'll immediately understand why we are the leader in personalized gifts for men.

Four Figure Bottles of Wine!

Posted August 2, 2008 6:20 AM

Recently the Wall Street Journal Online had an interesting article about the astronomical prices of a newly released 2005 Chateau Latour. They noted that you could buy roughly 170 shares of General Motors stock for the same price as a single bottle of this wine. Of course, why would you want to do that? But seriously, $1,950 for a bottle of 2005 wine? Isn't the idea that the older the wine, the more expensive it gets? 2005 wasn't that long ago. I know this because my 2005 Subaru still has that new car smell, and only has 32,000 miles on it. Incidentally my Subie is worth far less than a case of this stuff! We are a gifts for guys blog, yet we're afraid to even taste the wine, much less recommend it.

Well, we also understand that during this strong economic downturn, that there are still enough people out there for which money is no object. For those who have mad funds, it simply becomes a supply and demand issue. On top of that, we applaud anyone who has the chutzpa to charge nearly $2,000 for a bottle of wine. I liken that to the guy who charged my daughter $12 for a cotton candy at the circus last weekend. Hell, at least they went for the throat! I nearly choked as I forked over the money. If you're thinking about charging a grand for a bottle of wine, why not make it two grand? Makes sense to me. If you're going to charge five bucks for a cotton candy that cost a quarter to make, let's make it an even twelve dollars. Why not? Heck, I told the guy he should just charge an even twenty and cut out the eight dollars in pesky change.

At the very least, if one is going to charge that much for a single bottle of wine, we'd like to suggest you visit our Guyville gifts for men Store and keep that bottle safe with our Personalized Sedona Leather Connoisseur Wine Carrier. That will really sell the "holy cow that must be an expensive bottle" tale. PS...it will work for a ten dollar bottle too!

Southwest Airlines - Making Money

Posted July 25, 2008 8:03 AM

The Los Angeles Times reported that despite massive financial losses and flight cancellations suffered by most major airline carriers, profits are actually up for the bargain carrier. The brain trust at Southwest came up with the idea to hedge their bets with rising fuel costs last year. So while they locked in their fuel rates at a mere $2.19 per gallon, the rest of the industry is choking on $3.51 per gallon. The result has Southwest reporting a jump in 15% profits in second-quarter earnings. While its competition is in "reeling" mode, Southwest is enjoying its opportunity to knock American Airlines off its number 1 perch at LAX.

While Southwest enjoys its rise in the airline game, we like to think we have the edge over the competition in our game - the personalized gifts for men industry. Check it out for yourself and treat the men in your family to some guy gifts they'll love at our Gifts For Men by Guyville.

"The Rules" of Purchasing gifts for men

Posted June 22, 2008 8:31 AM

Yes, there are rules for buying gifts for men, and thankfully it's far easier to buy gifts for him than buying gifts for her. We'd also like to toss in a few gift buying "don'ts" for him as well. Plus we're going to save you a few bucks in the process.

Don't buy him a boat. Remember the old adage, "The happiest day of your life is the day you buy your boat. Your second happiest day is the day you sold it." DO buy him Personalized Brass Luggage Tags so he'll be sure not to lose his bags when visiting his best friend who has a boat.

Don't buy him a golf cart! He'll be tempted to, "see what this baby can do" as he takes it blazing at 9 miles per hour down the freeway. Do buy him a Personalized Nappa Leather Golf Accessory Bag. First of all, it's really plush and great looking, second, it will give the illusion that he actually knows what he's doing out there on the course.

Don't buy him a Rolex watch. Sure they're cool, but you'll have to leverage your first born to get into one of them. Do, however, buy him a Personalized Leather Watch Case. He's probably gonna buy the watch for himself anyway, at least now it will be properly taken care of.

If you need more great gifts for him ideas, please visit our Gifts For Men by Guyville, where everything is personalized just for him.

Last Minute Guy Gifts

Posted December 19, 2007 10:29 AM

It's coming down to the wire now with only a few days left to pick up some gifts. Whether it's been a tough time figuring what to buy or you're just running up on gift giving a little late, you don't need to worry. There is an easy gift to give that can't go wrong. Gift cards. You can pick up gift cards and certificates for just about any business, but Amazon.com is by far the most versatile with gifts from hundreds of stores and new and used options for just about every one. That means great deals and great selection all at the same place. You can even have them emailed to the recipient.

Tips on Holiday Tipping

Posted December 6, 2007 12:42 PM

Yes, the holidays are a time of giving. Yes, giving is a nice thing to do. And yes, I do give. But me being nice and giving has nothing to do with the fact that I should. A tip is a little something extra on top what is already there, not a filler for a gap left by hourly wages. Those jack off business owners need to realize that tips are given for a job well done, not because you want it or need it. If everyone gave tips then the standards would lower and then people would be trying to get you to give even higher tips. Now how the heck does that sound like a good idea?

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Holiday Buysexuals

Posted November 26, 2007 9:42 AM

Here it is, all of the livestock *cough ahem!* people that were all frisky and so excited to flock to the shops and stores now get to sit on the computer and do it all over again. Today is Cyber Monday, a day designated to every person that wasn't smart enough to shop the sales online this last Friday. It's not like they need to be told what to buy (why does advertising really work?) or what to do, cattle simply don't have the capacity to understand anything beyond grazing and purging. But really it's not so bad that people are shopping online, rather that some were doing it in stores on Friday. They had to work hard for it to earn an ominous label like Black Friday.

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A New Low From Higher Intelligence

Posted October 26, 2007 12:35 PM

Guys have brains. Guys also have heads, shoulders, knees, and toes. Most do at least. Some guys have those but don't have other things, like say eyesight or hearing. One thing that those guys do have though are tongues with taste buds and don't think that our friends marketing and advertising haven't noticed. Coca-cola definitely knows there's money to be made and boy howdy did they perform brilliantly.

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Me? You? Him? Who?

Posted October 3, 2007 9:15 AM

New Yooohk f**kin New Yooohk. Mayor Bloomberg, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $11.5 billion, was recently a victim of identity theft, yea big whoop. So apparently this guy, a Mr. Odalis Bostic, deposited two forged checks into accounts for a fraudulent company that he created. Totaling $420,000 between two checks at $190,000 and $230,000, you'd would think rich bastard Bloomberg wouldn't even notice it was gone.

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Apples Don't Grow In The Amazon

Posted September 25, 2007 9:31 AM

Sick of paying $1.29 a song? Tired of the monopoly Apple has on online music purchasing? Well guys, be weary no more! Amazon.com just released its public beta version for music downloads that offers DRM-free music at competitive prices ranging from $.89 to $.99, though about half of them are solid at $.89, and for $8.99 you guys can get any of the top 100 albums. All in all there are over two million songs from more than 180,000 artists and 20,000 labels. Yea sweet deal, and finally some competition for Apple.

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Marketing Did What With Our Money?

Posted September 13, 2007 9:44 AM

In this wide wide world of products, there will inevitably be something working to get them sold, namely advertising. But like every business, evolution has to occur and advertising works to keep the products on the front line and noticeable to the consumers. Keeping this in mind, it might be understandable for some odd ways of advertisement to spring up now and again, but sometimes not so much. We have two such campaigns that definitely fall under the latter.

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Home Prices Up or Down?

Posted January 19, 2007 7:26 AM

It doesn't really matter what the home prices are today or what you think they might do in a month or six months. History tells us for more than a hundred years that the cycles are mostly up and when they set new highs, the bar starts there and increases in an upward trend with very few occasions of it falling for any length of time. The Wall Street Journal's Campion Walsh wrote an article on January 11th claiming that home prices are seen as rising in '07. What that means for those waiting to get into the game is that unless you're actually waiting for a natural disaster to level the exact four square block that you've had your eye on, there's no better chance to own a piece of the American dream than today. Five years from now the prices you're looking at this very moment will likely be so low, you'll kick yourself for not having bought.

Technorati Tags: home prices, investments, money advice, real estate bubble

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Penny Stocks - Friend or Foe?

Posted January 17, 2007 6:22 AM

First of all let me give you the standard disclaimer: Invest at your own risk, based on your own due diligence. My comments are purely my opinion and may change at any time based on market and other conditions. You are 100% responsible for your own decisions. Now, let's talk a bit about penny stocks. As reported at fool.com, penny stocks have enormous potential. As part of a test they typed "penny stocks" into Google, and the search engine spit out "about 1,210,000" hits. They did the same thing with the more time tested "dividend-paying stocks" and only got 173,000 hits. It tells us that the interest is strong, yet if you check with your financial investors, they will likely steer you far away from them. They can be volatile and if you invest in a penny stock that is in the dollar or dollars range, they can always go back down to pennies.

Technorati Tags: guy gifts, money advice, penny stocks, investments, valentine's day

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Money Advice - Get Off The Dime

Posted January 8, 2007 11:00 AM

This is a call to action for all of you guys out there that are not part of the two percent of the millionaires that make up the population of this country. It's time to take action, gentlemen. You're married now. You have a child or children and you're working for your money and your money is not working for you. What exactly are you waiting for? What have you put in place for your future? If "I don't know" and "Nuthin" are your answers to these questions, then the best advice we can give you is, the time is now. I was in a dead end job for over six years. I was too scared to quit and too frustrated to stay. Sound advice came to me in the form of a book, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow.

Technorati Tags: cool gifts, guy gifts, money advice, books on money

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Where to Invest Your Money

Posted November 27, 2006 8:53 AM

The trends have been going on since before you were born. When the real estate market is in the tank, the stock market is strong. When stocks stink the real estate market takes off. It’s no coincidence that the same thing is going on right now. How can this fluke occur over and over again? It’s not a fluke, actually, investors need a place to put their money and smart investors aren’t likely to try to create trends all by themselves, rather, they’ll study the trends and like the sheep that we are, will follow whatever market is hot. For the past five years real estate was the place to put your dough.

Technorati Tags: investing, money, real estate, rich dad poor dad, stocks, robert kiyosaki

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Separate Checkbooks for Lasting Marriage

Posted November 8, 2006 7:05 PM

What are the secrets to lasting marriage? We've all been there before. We have all spent countless hours and thousands of dollars looking for that perfect marriage solution to our crisis, and it always seems to be the same problem over and over again! Money! We don't have enough of it, can't make enough of it or can't retain enough of it to keep ourselves out of the hole.

Technorati Tags: marriage, marriage solutions, personal finance, couples therapy

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Insure the Goose or the Egg?

Posted September 16, 2006 4:53 PM

Here’s a simple question. It’s not a trick. If you owned a goose that laid golden eggs, would you insure the eggs or the goose? If you said the goose, then you’re obviously an intelligent thinker who understands the future value of an asset. If you said the eggs, however, you’re actually in the vast majority of people. Most people answer the question by saying the goose, but in the real world, people are insuring their eggs and not the goose.

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