Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
My husband and I bought a 5-year-old vehicle 7 years ago, a particular make and model with high ratings for both reliability and owner satisfaction that holds its value well. The car has been incredibly dependable — even through a cross-country move a few years back.
Recently, however, we’ve noticed an uptick in our vehicle maintenance and repair costs so we have started thinking about selling or trading it in before the transport eats up more money than it’s worth.
With the aim of matching a newer vehicle price as close to the sale price of this one as possible—who wants a car loan? We’ve been car payment-free for over three years and loving it!—I’ve been looking for any bit of advice for squeezing every cent-worth of value out of it. Here’s what I found: [ continue reading… ]
One of the ways to save money is to buy in bulk, as purchasing multiples of an item when it’s on sale is one way to lower your expenses over time. It’s obvious right? If you have a coupon, or if you have the chance to buy more than one of something at a discount now, your per-unit cost will be lower.
Yet, even though buying in bulk can save you money over time, it’s important to realize that sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Here are some things to keep in mind as you buy in bulk: [ continue reading… ]
When my husband and I were first looking for a venue for our wedding, his family was very persistent that we marry in the local country club where his brother and sister were married to their spouses.
When I sat down with the wedding coordinator, my husband, and our families, the number came out to around $10-15K with the choice of a pasta bar for food. His family told me how affordable that was, while I was on the edge of crying because my entire wedding budget was only $8,000.
Wedding venues can eat up a huge part of your overall wedding budget. So if you’re in a similar situation that I was in, here are the tricks I used to save money on a wedding venue.
When my in-laws moved to a different state, the real challenge came when we cleaned out their garage and started minimizing stuff for the move. “Where do you want me to start,” I asked my mother-in-law while looking at her very packed garage.
She thought for a while and spent a good ten minutes telling what not to touch. I couldn’t touch those vintage items because she was going to get appraised. I couldn’t touch those boxes because my father-in-law needed to do through them. Opening up a cedar chest sent her into a huge sidetrack of memories as she looked at her grandmother’s wedding items. She could surely never part with those.
It’s been a few months since that day, and even though my in-laws made the move, the garage still looks the same. They were able to keep their items stored in the garage while renting out the rooms in the home.
Does this scene sound familiar to you? If you’ve ever tried to help someone with a lot of stuff (aka a hoarder), then you know how hard it is to actually get anything done. Everything they own has potential value or sentiment, yet no progress is ever truly made on what items get sold or donated.
If you’re guilty of this, or know someone who is, here are some easy steps to take to overcome your hoarding habits.
I have no plans of allowing my son to have a cell phone until he’s old enough to drive. I just don’t. Part of my aversion toward children, tweens and young teens carrying cell phones stems from my years of teaching and the fact that I would really like to avoid adding another distraction to my child’s academic life.
I also worry about the financial aspect of cell phone usage. Small children are lacking in both an income and an understanding that easy-to-make phone calls and text messages cost money.
Still, I know that things may change in the next few years, and it’s certainly possible that I will want to give my peanut a cell phone sometime before 2026. So here are some things to consider as you are fielding your child’s daily pleas for a cell phone: [ continue reading… ]
Many of us could use the advice of a financial advisor when it comes to areas like investing, consolidating debt, and planning for retirement. Some of us need more than financial knowledge or advice that only addresses the number side of the equation though. We also need help addressing our emotional relationship with money. This task isn’t as well-suited for a financial planner as it is for a financial therapist.
Financial therapy is a rather new field, as the Financial Therapy Association has only been around since 2010. The concept of therapy isn’t new at all though. Just as someone might need a therapist’s help to deal with thought patterns and emotions surrounding their relationships with family, spouses, or friends, we all have a very real relationship with money that might need similar attention.
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, it might be time to see a financial therapist:
Free signup to get a free ebook on How to Save Money on Everything! Constantly expanding, it will be the biggest money saving ebook available, and it's FREE! →
(I hate spam and promise that your information will never be shared.)
