We eat lunch every day. If you are the type of person who buys lunch daily, you are kissing $1,000 or more good-bye every year. (For some of us, it’s more like $2,000, $3,000, or even $4,000 a year!)
What a fantastic waste of money. This isn’t to say that you can’t eat out periodically, but as we constantly talk about here: Frugal is the new in.
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Have you ever wondered why so few of us succeed? We always hear about those people that came up with a simple idea and made millions but most of us react with “Oh well, all the simple ideas are gone by now.”
What’s ironic is that usually every few months, we hear about another idea that seems brilliant and ridiculously simple. Why does this happen? Why do we keep limiting ourselves?
Perhaps one of the fundamental problems most of us have is thinking that many things are impossible to accomplish. We like to stay in our little comfort zone, and even though we know it’s not the best for us, we are afraid to step outside.
Compare this with Josh Silver’s quest to help 1 billion poor people see better with $1 glasses. Now this guy has a vision. Can you imagine how many people told him through the years that it’s impossible? No, no and no, they say but yet he plows through and insists to continue.
Today, he’s already distributed 30,000 pairs of self-adjustable glasses without the need of a optometrist. There are still challenges to mass produce these “But I am entirely confident that we can do that” is his answer to all the critics.
It’s all our attitude and mindset.
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Support groups are a proven way for people to eliminate harmful habits and make positive changes such as eating healthy and exercising. The secret to why this works is the powerful influence of a social network – especially one that shares common traits. Studies show that, just as bad habits spread in social networks, healthy habits do, too. In fact, they could even be considered contagious!
This principle can apply to finances, as well. While we see plenty of health-related support groups, there aren’t many financial accountability groups. My theory is that this has a lot to do with the money talk taboo — people either consider it improper or uncomfortable to talk openly about their finances (sometimes, even with their spouses!).
Just as accountability groups have made it easier for people with “shameful” habits to take the first step to recovery —admitting there’s a problem — those of us with financial skeletons in the closet have the best chance of finding the strength and motivation to make necessary changes with the help of a friend.
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My husband asked for a divorce recently. Once I move beyond the initial emotional shock of the situation, I began thinking about the financial ramifications of our marriage ending. One of the items to consider is what to do with joint bank accounts.
Every expert I’ve talked to about divorce and finances agrees that it’s best to separate finances as quickly as possible. This includes closing joint bank accounts and opening different accounts. I didn’t want to give up the main account, though.
Most of my finances are automated, and many of the automatic bills, from insurance premiums to my student loan payments, come out of the account that my soon-to-be-ex husband and I used to share. The last thing I wanted was to set up new payment information for all of those accounts.
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Sometimes, throwing a kid’s birthday party can be a real pain. You have to prepare a bunch of food for your guests, entertain a house full of kids, and pull it all together with a little style.
It can be expensive and stressful — but it doesn’t have to be!
Here are five tips for throwing an awesome kids birthday party on the cheap:
You’re constantly falling off the bandwagon when it comes to reaching your financial goals. They seem so big that you’ll never reach them, and you just can’t remain focused.
Sound familiar?
Over the past couple months, I haven’t been my usual highly-motivated self. Instead of working ahead and paying attention to my bottom line, I’ve been slacking. Recently, I realized why.
These last two months of chaos have lacked structured goals, so I’m essentially wandering aimlessly in the dark. The good news? My two months of zero progress have reinforced my belief that setting financial goals is vital to success.
If you’re new to setting financial goals, here are three tips that will help: [ continue reading… ]
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