John Mullanphy- First millionaire of American West’s

Immigrants have always desired to become a part of the great American dream. The concept was true even as early as 1793. John Mullanphy(1758-18330) arrived at Philadelphia in 1793 at the age of thirty-five. He had emigrated from France and had an experience of eight years of service with the Irish Brigade.

When North America was getting developed, he traveled across the Atlantic, armed with a strong inner drive to succeed, a soaring ambition to follow, an acute business sense, coupled with soldering experience and the rich French culture. With such a great blend of qualities, he was somewhat ordained to evolve as the first millionaire of the American West.

He primarily settled at Baltimore and later moved to Frankfurt with his wife, Elizabeth and a young kid. Within a very short span of time, Mulanphy’s trading center emerged as the social hub of Kentucky district. In 1804, he moved to St. Louis. This was the year that this former French settlement got officially transformed into an American village.

In order to further his business interests, he moved to Natchez and then again to Baltimore. Mullanphy began to invest in real estate, and his fortunes began to soar, taking his social prestige simultaneously along with it.

Mullanphy’s friends’ circle comprised of the future president of America, Andrew Jackson and his parents. His assistance in defending Baltimore at the battle of New Orleans, acted as an important strategy in his business career. Mullanphy had lent out cotton bales to Jackson for fortifying the rampart, covering a distance of three miles down stream. He had the business acumen to buy the cotton reserve prior to the war and then he shipped them to the Liverpool’s Cotton Exchange amassing seven times profit. This in fact built the foundation of his entrepreneurial empire.

John made St. Louis, located on the Mississippi river his permanent home. Dramatically enough, it also emerged as an important inland port, and a meeting point of immigrants of different cultures who arrived at the American land. John Mullanphy died at the age of seventy-five. The immense fortunes acquired by him were donated in charity during his last years. He also offered land and money for the establishment of churches, schools, hospitals and orphanages.

Money and social power was accompanied by prestige and power. He had one of his daughters married to a general and another to the cousin of Mark Twain. But he was much disappointed to find his son Brian refuse to tread the ready path of success laid out before him.

Written by Admin on June 1st, 2009 with no comments.
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Banking on Savings – Working Around Your Bank’s Fees

Believe it or not, your bank may not have your best interests at heart. A bank is a business, just like any other. They are in business to make money for their shareholders. Those who do not understand banking may not realize how a bank makes money. There are three main ways.

• Interest paid on loans and credit cards
• Investment income
• Customer fees

All banks charge fees of some kind. The most common ones take the form of fees for carrying credit cards, monthly maintenance fees assessed to checking and savings accounts, overdraft fees that are assessed when a checking account customer bounces a check or otherwise overdrafts their account, and penalty fees which are assessed for early withdrawals from time deposit accounts like CDs and IRAs.

Fortunately control of these fees is within your reach. Most banks offer some way to avoid the monthly maintenance fees on checking and savings accounts. This usually involves maintaining a minimum balance of some kind in the account. Sometimes simply having your payroll directly deposited into the account is enough to waive the fees. When choosing a bank, be sure to closely examine the fees and stipulations of the accounts they offer and choose one that you know you can meet the requirements of.

Overdraft fees can be avoided by careful money management. If your bank supplied you a debit card that can be used for purchases, track those purchases the same way you would a paper check by writing it in your register and deducting it from your balance. This seems obvious, but customer failure to correctly track debit card spending is the number one reason for account overdrafts, according to sources at Bank of America.

Penalty fees can be avoided by leaving investments alone unless absolutely necessary. Prepare for the eventuality of needing CD funds in an emergency by establishing a CD laddering system that consists of multiple small CD investments as opposed to one big one. Leave IRAs alone unless there is no other way out of the situation that you need funds for. That money is for your retirement and should be dipped into as a last resort only.

Bank fees can be a thorn in many consumers’ sides, but with a little money management skills, you can turn it around and make the bank pay you instead of the other way around. That’s the way it should be.

Written by srini on June 1st, 2009 with no comments.
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Saving Money at the Movies

A family trip to the movie theater can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it can also be very expensive. When you combine the cost of tickets, popcorn and snacks, drinks, and video games for the kids (every kid wants to play as they pass the arcade in the theater), a family of four can easily spend over a hundred dollars to see a movie. It had better be a really good movie for that price.

There are a number of ways to cut down on the price you pay at the movies. Some portions of the cost can be saved on, others can be eliminated completely. The first thing to go should be the video games. Either visit a theater that lacks an arcade or just tell the kids no. They’re already being treated to a movie; they don’t need to play games too.

Ticket prices can often be saved on by choosing an earlier time. Most theaters offer special discounts on tickets for movie showings before six pm.

Saving on popcorn, drinks and snacks is a little trickier. You basically have three choices in this area. You can skip the snacks and sodas altogether, you can buy less of them and share among everyone, or you can “smuggle” in your own. The latter choice violates the policies of “no outside food or drinks” that all theaters post. They post these because the majority of the theater’s income comes from the concession stands. If you’re not bringing in alcohol, however, most theaters let you slide. It’s a rare occurrence that someone gets kicked out of a movie because they brought in their on Coke or a bag of M&M’s.

Discount theaters are also an option. Most cities have theaters that charge a reduced ticket price. It takes a little longer for the movies to get to these theaters, but if you can wait a couple of extra weeks, you can see the movie for about a buck or so in most of these theaters. The arcade and snack rules can be employed here as well, saving you more.

The final method of saving money on movies is to just not go. Most movies can be enjoyed just as well at home on DVD video as they can in the theater. In fact, the prevalence of DVD and home theater systems may eventually make traditional theater-going obsolete. Rent a DVD for a few bucks, pop it in, and the whole family can enjoy.

Written by srini on June 1st, 2009 with no comments.
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