Budgeting
« Previous EntriesAn Interesting Question: What if EVERYONE Was Financially Savvy?
Monday, August 25th, 2008From Liz Pulliam Weston:
We personal-finance types constantly nag readers about spending too much and saving too little.
But what would happen if everybody suddenly took our advice? What if every household in America:
• Paid off credit cards in full every month and carried no high-rate debt?
• Had an emergency fund equal to at least three months’ [...]
Why My Wife and I Have Money
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008Last weekend, during our trip to San Antonio, my wife and I took a short drive up to San Marcos to check out their massive outlet mall. It is unbelievable how big their outlet center is. To top it off, last weekend was our tax-free back-to-school shopping weekend so LOTS of people were [...]
Better Than A Raise
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008Everybody loves raises. In fact, it might be safe to say that everybody craves raises. When annual review time approaches most people get serious, determined, anxious, afraid, defensive, aggressive, or a whole host of other emotions. Many times this isn’t just in reaction to the idea of being evaluated or criticized – [...]
Extreme (Maybe Even Dumb) Ways to Save Money
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Kimberly Palmer over at U.S. News & World Report has written an article titled 9 Extreme Ways to Save. I’m sorry but some of these ideas I would never do. For instance:
Bake cookies in my car. I would rather not bake cookies or wait until winter and the oven’s heat could help [...]
Question of the Day - Kid’s Shoes
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008Here’s something that’s been on my mind since it’s nearly time for kids to go back to school:
How much do you spend on your kids’ shoes? Do you make them contribute their own money towards the purchase?
Shopping for tennis shoes has become a real burden for me. It seems like the prices keep [...]
Question From a Reader: How Do You Know When Enough is Enough?
Monday, August 4th, 2008A couple of weeks ago I received this email from a reader named Katy:
Hi there,
So I have a question that’s been eating at me. When it comes to savings how do you know when enough is enough? How can you figure out when to relax?
Right now I’m in the process of saving as much as [...]
Laura Rowley’s Four Habits of Financially Peaceful People
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Reader Dave sent me a link to Laura Rowley’s Four Habits of Financially Peaceful People.
The Habits (along with my thoughts on each one):
1. They know exactly where their money goes. I’ll admit that I pay less attention to this now than I used to. But, if my finances were really tight [...]
How Cheaply Can You Brown Bag Your Lunch?
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008Today’s Wall Street Journal had an article ($) comparing the cost of taking your lunch to work or eating out. Here’s their comparison:
Homemade Lunch:
1/4 pound of turkey - $1.99
1/8 pound of swiss cheese - $1.00
2 slices of whole-wheat bread - $0.28
Tomato - $0.38
Lettuce - $0.20
Chips - $0.30
20 oz. Soda - $1.09
TOTAL - $5.24
Lunch from [...]
The Consumerist’s Ben Popken on NPR’s “All Things Considered”
Friday, July 11th, 2008Yesterday, Ben Popken from the Consumerist was on NPR’s “All Things Considered” talking about how the products we purchase at the grocery store are shrinking and yet we’re paying the same amount! You can listen to the interview here.
One thing that they didn’t talk about was just HOW EXPENSIVE these size reductions turn out [...]
Maybe Sometimes It’s Not Possible to Save Money
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008An AFM reader left this comment on my post, You Can Build Wealth Even if You Don’t Make A Lot of Money:
I live in the midwest, in a small town with a lower-than-national-average unemployment rate and a lower-than-national-average education rate (not many degree holders here). Our town has a population of just over 4,000 mostly [...]