Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Money is such a complicated subject because there are so many emotions around it. Most of the decisions we make concerning it are personal, and therefore affect us in a personal way. The way we view money is influenced by our upbringing, culture, family, friends, and relationships.
Our past directly relates to our money mindset and our ability to conceive what money can and cannot do.
For most of my life, I grew up thinking that money wasn’t very special. I didn’t go as far to say it was the root of all evil, but I did adopt several money mindsets that I’m dealing with today.
For one, I’ve grown accustomed to the starving artist mindset — that any sort of creative work will leave you broke and just barely getting by. Now that I’ve seen that existence for myself, I wonder, was it me, or did I actually set myself up for that life?
I’ve also been uncomfortable around the idea of wealth. In my mind it equates to greed, and privilege. To believe in wealth feels like a rejection of working class roots, and who wants to reject where they came from?
How many times have you heard this? Lots of times, I am willing to bet. Our culture sends us two very conflicting messages about money. The first, a message that tells us money is everything. Celebrity culture, the rich and famous, Wall Street greediness, the twinge of jealousy we feel when we see a house bigger than ours, a car newer than our car.
Then, there’s the completely opposite message, the one that treats wealth – and the wealthy – with suspicion, that works hard to teach us NOT to envy them, to see the limitations that wealth has and the potential trouble it can cause. In some families, it gets to the point of feeling that money is somehow dirty, that it’s not a proper topic for conversation, that flaunting what you’ve got is tacky and that being poor is almost a virtue. [ continue reading… ]
When you live on the other side of the country from your extended family, it’s a special treat when they come to spend a few weeks with you for the first time. Not only do you get to spend quality time together, but you get to show them your neck of the woods and play the role of tour guide for a change. Hosting and introducing the family to your state or region may be fun, but it can also be really expensive — especially if you’re used to living frugally.
If you have out-of-town family visiting this summer, here are some practical ways to address the financial strain it might create without letting it stress you out or take away from enjoying the time you have with your guests. [ continue reading… ]
Encouraged by my dear husband’s post on How to Save Money on Weddings last week, I’m going to dive deeper into wedding invitations and in particular, whether you should buy or create your own. For many of us budget folks, this is one of the easiest ways to save some money but obviously, we need to decide whether we have the time and skill to create a wedding invitation. In addition, ask yourself these questions:
Are you or your fiancée a creative person?
Do you (and your fiancée) usually enjoy hand crafting?
Could your siblings or close friends help?
Do you have a good sense of design, especially creating something from scratch?
Do you have a tight budget on wedding invitations?
If most of your answers to the questions listed above are “yes”, you are a good candidate to create your own wedding invitations, and in the process save about 30% to 40% than ordering from stores. [ continue reading… ]
You’ve always purchased whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. It’s part of your mentality: you “deserve” to have the things you want because you work so hard.
Adding another $100 to your credit card bill thinking you’ll “pay it off” with your next check is perfectly normal. Um, what about the other $10,987 you said that about?
Nothing’s changed, and you’re feeling increasingly worse the deeper you fall into debt. The problem is, the worse you feel, the more you want to spend to make it better.
Trust me. It never works that way.
Instead of making yourself feel better, you’ve bought more guilt, and that’s always expensive.
$12,764 later, you don’t know what else to do with yourself, and it hurts. You can’t stop spending.
Here’s the thing, though. You can, starting the second you change your mind.
You’ve heard the saying, “Change your mind, change your results.” It’s true. When you truly believe you’re above your spending habits, you can control them. They no longer dictate when your money leaves your wallet, since that’s left to your common sense.
Meditation can help you change your mind and facilitate better decisions. [ continue reading… ]
Unless you’re a morning person who gets enough rest, it isn’t natural to jump out of bed firing on all cylinders. Yet research shows that, in the morning hours, our minds are most primed for productivity — whether at home, at the office, or at the home office.
With my schedule changing soon, I find the need to be more productive in the morning. And, as the summer days lengthen, there’s more incentive to maximize the morning so I can enjoy the gorgeous evenings without thinking about work. If, like me, you need some fast and easy tips for better mornings, then start with these.
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