I know this is off topic but I thought I’d start off 2009 with a fun post to get the new year off to a festive start. The above video is a very creative mash-up put together by DJ Earworm of San Fransciso of the top 25 Pop hits of 2008 according to the Billboard music chart. For more from DJ Earworm, visit his website at djearworm.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @djearworm. Enjoy.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone much health and happiness during this holiday season and a successful 2009!! I especially want to thank all the members of Entrecard that have taken the time to drop their card here during the past year. It is very much appreciated. Thanks again everyone.

For those of you with stock market investments, this year probably can’t end soon enough. The declines this year have been historic and severe. The outlook for 2009 isn’t much better with the economy expected to continue to contract and unemployment to increase. This presents obvious investment challenges in searching for high return but also a degree of safety and security.

The recent sharp declines in stock prices have been wide spread, affecting even the bluest of blue chip companies. An interesting side effect of these declines has been the sharp rise in dividend yields. With the uncertain economic future ahead in 2009, investing for dividends could prove to be a winning play in recessionary times. Below are some suggestions for everyone to check out:

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With the start of December, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize my top Entrecard “droppers” and include a link to each one of their blogs as an expression of thanks. For the month of November, nine of my ten top droppers hit the maximum 31 drops which is a new record. I especially want to recognize Random Ramblings for being a top dropper for six consecutive months (Thank you Polly!) I want to express my appreciation to everyone in the above list. The numbers this month were big and very close. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to stop by Money Maker Times to drop their card each day.
I can promise everyone that I take dropping very seriously and will reciprocate in all cases. Thanks again and GO ENTRECARD!

With the last warm days of summer already fading from memory, it’s time to start preparing for winter’s chill. With the cold weather comes spending more money on energy. The following are my top seven money saving tips to help keep more money in your pocket as we navigate these recessionary times this winter.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

By installing and using a programmable thermostat, you no longer will be wasting energy heating your house while you’re away. Most models allow you to preset times to raise and lower the temperature to match your schedule. You can set your heating system to come on right before you get up in the morning and turn down the heat after you leave for work. You can also set it to have things nice and toasty when you return at night.

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As always this time each month, I like to take a moment to recognize the wonderful Entrecard community and the ten bloggers who have dropped their card the most during the past thirty days. I’m particularly happy to report that the top five droppers did so all 31 days during the month of October which is a new record. A big thank you to Random Ramblings and Thailand Land of Smiles for being repeat top droppers for the second consecutive month. I want to especially thank Random Ramblings for being a top dropper for five months in a row.
I love being part of the Entrecard community and interacting with a great group of people from all over the world. Thank you again everyone. I can promise everyone that I take dropping very seriously and will reciprocate in all cases. Thanks again and GO ENTRECARD!

With the stock market conditions as bad as they’ve been in a number of years and an impending recession on the horizon, these are times to tighten your budgetary belt. It is also a time to start thinking about investing in the stock of good and solid companies at deeply depressed prices. It is those times when everyone is running for the exits that the smart investor goes against the grain and goes shopping for stocks. So many great companies have just been slaughtered recently, it’s hard to pick just five. With that said, here are five stocks that are on my buy list:

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Something I like to do each month is to recognize my top Entrecard “droppers” and include a link to each one of their blogs as an expression of gratitude. For the month of September, I especially want to recognize Random Ramblings and Thailand Land of Smiles for sharing the top spot this month. Thank you both for your 30 drops each during September. It’s very much appreciated. I also want to express my appreciation to everyone in the above list. The numbers this month were very close and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to stop by Money Maker Times to drop their card each day.
I can promise everyone that I take dropping very seriously and will reciprocate in all cases. Thanks again and GO ENTRECARD!

For all you iPhone users out there, I’d like to share one of my most favorite free apps for keeping and organizing all sorts of lists. Zenbe Lists is a free and easy-to-use iPhone app designed to let you create multiple lists of items or tasks and automatically sync it to a free web based account. This feature allows you to share lists online with other users you specify. The sync feature also provides the benefit of an online back-up of any lists you create on your iPhone using the free Zenbe iPhone client. Simply search “Zenbe” in the App Store on iTunes to download.

As mentioned above, the sharing options makes Zenbe Lists great for people who need to access and edit common lists. That means anyone who has access to a particular list can edit, add or delete items and the changes are Immediately visible to all assigned users. This eliminates any confusion over who has the latest version, common problem with paper lists.

Sharing can also be done via email. A simple tap of the “share” button in the Zenbe Lists client on your iPhone creates an email message that contains a link of the list your want to share. Anyone with an iPhone with Zenbe Lists installed can then open the list by clicking on the link and save a copy of the list in their Zenbe Lists.

If you don’t need advanced task management or list creation features, Zenbe Lists provides a simple and straight forward option for managing multiple to-do lists. But it’s the iPhone app’s online syncing and sharing that is the killer feature.  The best part is that it’s free which makes it a cool tool for keeping your grocery and to-do lists synced between multiple devies and availbale on the web without dealing with all those paper scraps.

This time each month, I like to take this time to thank the top ten Entrecard droppers on Money Maker Times for the month. I especially want to recognize Random Ramblings for taking the top spot for a second month in a row with 31 drops. Thank you very much for your consistency and frequency of dropping your Entrecard. It’s very much appreciated.
I can promise everyone that I take dropping very seriously and will reciprocate in all cases. Thanks again and GO ENTRECARD!