As gas prices soar, we hear more and more chatter about it. News, neighbors, friends, coworkers — nearly everyone has something to say about it. In the midst of the hype, I find comfort in considering the following facts. With gas priced at $3.85, the expense still constitutes 5.18% of our expenses. Even if the [...]
Up until last year, I had abstracted much of my finances. For example, I was opted-in for auto-pay with all of my credit cards, my mortgage, my student loans. This configuration enabled me to take a set-and-forget approach. I also adopted the habit of paying non-recurring items like groceries, gas, and eating out using debit [...]
A common instruction set for reducing credit card debt is to stop using the cards begin overpaying the minimum payment We were deep in credit card debt, with minimum payments totaling over $600. Step #1 is easier said than done. We’ve cut our balances down by more than half by overpaying the minimum balance. While [...]
How many of us know exactly how much money we need each month to get by? As a member of a family who has gone through a successful personal finance renaissance I can tell you that figuring this number is a notable achievement. And there are a few reasons for this: Allows You To Create [...]
We’ll be celebrating our third anniversary in our house this June. We financed our home with a traditional 30 year mortgage at 6% and then refinanced within a year to obtain 5% rate on an FHA loan. So we have a little over 28 years left if we continue to repay as scheduled. Meanwhile, after refining and scrutinizing our budget, [...]
Budgets can be boring. If I had to guess I would say it might be the number one preventative reason why some steer clear of the subject of personal finance. If you don’t have a personal budget, the idea of creating can be incredibly unattractive. I know this. I’ve only had a budget for a [...]
I drove home yesterday with a paycheck in my pocket. As I was driving I began to recall how different my mindstate was a year ago. Back then I would have been overwhelmed by the thrill of receiving a lump sum of money. I would have been proud of myself for having earned it and [...]
Although the idea may seem unbelievable, we were able to save on taxes associated with being a homeowner. We moved into our first home fairly recently and, up until the end of last year, we were unaware that we were eligible for a Homestead Exclusion. Every year our county sends out a notice to homeowners [...]
We shopped around for property insurance when we first purchased our home, and ended up going with GEICO/Travelers since we already had an auto insurance policy with them, and they offered a discount for having multiple policies. I can’t recall if they were actually the least expensive, but I remember feeling comfortable going with them. [...]
A few months ago I created a budget on a spreadsheet. After listing all of our expenses, I decided to go through the list to see where we might save money. One of the areas where I was able to realize savings was within our mortgage payment. During this process I found it helpful to [...]