Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
It’s exhilarating when you finally catch on to the power and freedom that comes from saving money to pay for things rather than using credit cards and loans. But, unless you’re a professional, it can also be overwhelming as you try to keep multiple objects airborne without dropping one (or all) of them.
Sure, you no longer question whether to save a certain percentage of your income every month, but a new question emerges: which goals should I direct the savings to? Just thinking about all the ways you need and want to use your hard-earned savings can quickly lead to discouragement. How will your savings ever stretch far enough to accomplish everything?
The best way to tackle these feelings is to start making lists, evaluating things, and, yes — crunching the numbers. It is possible and realistic to juggle multiple savings goals at once. You just need a plan. [ continue reading… ]
We often think of spring and summer when we think of home buying and selling. Additionally, we assume that selling a home is hard in the winter because of the thin market and fewer buyers.
Research goes against the idea that winter is a bad time to sell, however. A report from Redfin from a couple of years ago found that homes listed during winter months are about 9% more likely to sell, and then sell for about 1.2% more. Not only that, but they sell about one week faster.
Here are some of the reasons Greg Jaeger, vice president at USAA Bank, believes that selling your home during the winter can make sense: [ continue reading… ]
The beginning of a new year is a time many people use to take a fresh look at their physical health, evaluate how well they kept to their fitness goals last year, and either renew them or take a different approach. The same process should apply to financial health.
Looking at the good, bad, and everything in between on our financial ‘report cards’ can provide useful insights about what we’ve got right and what we need to work on. While most people have a fairly good grasp on what constitutes physical wellness, there are few consensus of the definition of financial well being.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report defining financial well being as: “a state of being wherein a person can fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations, can feel secure in their financial future, and is able to make choices that allow them to enjoy life.” The Bureau settled on this definition after collecting research from both consumer surveys and financial experts, but it didn’t end there. They also took it one step further and released a testing tool composed of 10 key questions based on this definition. [ continue reading… ]
We all end up in situations where we have unexpected expenses. This subject is especially poignant for me this year because my husband asked for a divorce back in May, and that resulted in some major costs that I wasn’t expecting.
I was fortunate in many ways, considering the situation. My ex wasn’t interested in fighting over resources. Instead, he just wanted things to move as smoothly as possible. All he wanted was some help setting up his own living situation and asked nothing beyond that. I ended up moving across the country, which was the biggest expense and one I was able to handle.
As I thought about how I made it through the divorce with my finances intact, I realized that I used three different strategies to handle my unexpected expenses. Let me share them with you today and hopefully it’ll help you: [ continue reading… ]
My method for setting resolutions has changed over the years.
At first, I used to make lists of things I wanted to accomplish throughout the year. Then, as I realized I could rarely get through my laundry list, I began narrowing things down. I’d pickone big goal to work on for the whole year in different areas of my life, which worked really well.
I liked setting one big financial goal (such as working up to maxing out my Roth IRA or refinancing the house) for each area of my life and then spending the whole year working on it.
Last year, I didn’t set any New Year’s resolutions. Reeling from my divorce and my second cross-country move in as many years, I used the year to explore and figure out what I wanted from life. I wanted to try new things, and evaluate what to keep and what to shed.
In personal finance, there are two key tenets to building wealth: spending less and earning more. In theory these concepts may seem rudimentary but in reality they can be complex things to maneuver. If they were easy, many of us would be in a better position financially and there would be less problems related to money.
So how can you implement these concepts into your life and save and earn more money? Use these six money moves to get started.
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