Let’s assume that you are frustrated with the way you are currently handling your money. have a debit card with > $20 balance. have an inkling that you’d like to change your ways. You might fit assumption (1) if you feel like you: spend too much money on x don’t save enough don’t invest enough [...]
When it comes to food, what do you buy? The answer might not be so simple at first. But many of us actually buy the same items over and over. In order to get some quick wins, I suggest listing what you consider the top ten items you buy on a recurring basis. You might [...]
I’ve recently taken a different approach to writing about my experiences with finance recently. With my recent posts how to payoff your credit card debt and how to save money on food I wrote down what I consider to be the bare bones framework that I used. Although there are a number of comparison sites, [...]
So you want to save money on food? Not a bad idea, especially since you will likely be paying for food for the rest of your life. The first step is to ensure that you have an accurate baseline of what you spend now on food. This is probably the hardest part and the least [...]
We have two boys who are growing fast. One is 8 years old and the other is 5. When it comes to activities, we do a lot together as a family. And in doing this, we naturally impose on them the requirement to roll with the punches. If we are doing something they don’t necessarily [...]
At least on some key things. While reading the Q+A from the Secret History Of The Credit Card I came upon the following question posed to Elizabeth Warren. Isn’t it really simplistic to say that credit cards, … if you will, … [are] pushing the bankruptcy rate higher and higher? Isn’t it America’s lifestyle? Isn’t [...]
Our first home loan was an FHA mortgage at 6.00%. About a year later, rates dropped to 5% and we took advantage of an FHA Streamline refinance, with which ultimately: … saved $151.33 per month on our core loan payment and will save $36,061.80 overall. Rates are lower again. Saw 4.25% last week. On the [...]
At what age does it make sense to create a budget? This raises a couple of questions: Can you create a budget without having expenses? For example, an eight year old. Can you create a budget without income?
I remember when I was a kid how much simpler the concept of money was. With no expenses to speak of, it was easy to make decisions about where to allocate my earnings. No credit cards, no credit lines, no liabilities, no food bills. My accounting pattern was generally simple: when I earned money I [...]
If you found a hundred dollar bill, what would you do with it? Would you spend it differently if you received it as a tip, a bonus, or a gift? Would you spend it wisely or frivolously? If you were given ten one hundred dollar bills, would you follow a similar spending/saving pattern with it? [...]