Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
What would you tell the future you if you had a chance to say anything financially related? Would it be about the steps you are taking now to build a better financial future for yourself? Would you be embarrassed to admit that you aren’t doing enough? I was given the chance to make “a video to my future self” as part of attending the Capital One Banking Reimagined Tour recently, and going through the experience made me excited about saving money again.
This surprised me a little. You see, adding money into savings always gave me a kick because it meant I was getting a step closer to being financially free. I never saw spending less as a sacrifice, because it was clear in my mind that saving simply meant choosing to buy more freedom in the future. I didn’t realize this, but all those financially savvy moves slowly turned into a routine. The desire to spend slowly grew, while the fire to save slowly died. Without realizing it, saving money slowly became a chore. [ continue reading… ]
Most of us fall into two camps when it comes to filing our taxes: those who are super organized and file their tax return as soon as possible, and those who barely manage to scrape their paperwork together by April 15th.
Then again, not everyone who waits for the deadline is disorganized. Some people wait until the last minute because some companies tend to make mistakes and send in corrected forms late in the tax season. Which camp do you fall into? What are the advantages of either tendency (or strategy)?
I’d like to propose that there are more advantages to filing early (yes, even if you owe the IRS money) than filing at the last minute. Here they are: [ continue reading… ]
With interest rates rising and housing supply limited for the time being, many people are rushing to buy a home early this season. If you are one of these people, and unless you have cash ready to pay in full, then know that it’s especially important this time around to get pre-approved before you begin hunting for that dream home. With a competitive seller’s market, getting that proof gives you to a leg up because the seller knows you’re “good for it,” so to speak.
Just because February is almost here doesn’t mean you should already be neglecting to improve your finances. In fact, no matter your resolutions (or if you’ve already abandoned them), it’s always a good idea to work on your finances.
If you’re looking for ways to tweak your budget to better effect this year, then here are some strategies you can follow to spend less and save more:
1. Factor in Infrequent Expenses
One of the biggest pitfalls of budgeting is forgetting about infrequent expenses. I have some expenses that are only paid quarterly, or perhaps once a year. It’s easy to forget to include them in the budget, especially if I come up with the budget during a month when I’m not making the payment. The fix is easy though.
As you tweak your budget this year, spend the extra bit of time to look ahead for infrequent expenses and include them. I like to break mine down into monthly costs so that they are accounted for. I also ensure that the money is already there when they are withdrawn from my account. [ continue reading… ]
People often reminisce about the good ol’ days but those times weren’t always that great. I don’t even remember when I walked into the local bank branch last, but here I was, waiting in line just to let the clerk process a deposit into my daughter’s savings account.
Was the place busy because it was the end of the year? Or is the branch always busy? There was a line for the tellers, every financial consultant was chatting with families, and there were even people waiting at the couches with their free coffee in hand.
Maybe they just needed a place to stay while the rain passed through? This has got to be the reason. After all, you can do pretty much everything online these days without any wait. I certainly wouldn’t have blaze the storm if I took the time to sign all those authorization forms to set up online banking for my daughter’s account.
I’m not really complaining though. I’m just grateful the virtual world allowed me to handle everything electronically and how the innovation propelled my finances higher because making the right moves is so more convenient these days. What do I mean? Let me tell you what I had to do before online banking came along. [ continue reading… ]
It should come as no surprise that losing weight and eating healthier sits at the top of Statistic Brain’s 2017 New Year’s Resolution survey results. Roughly 21.4 percent have made this one of our goals, and if the statistics remain true, about 9.2 percent of us will feel successful at following through come December.
Did you resolve to make your health more of a priority this coming year? How are you doing so far? Maybe you need a little motivation, and I’m here to provide that. While I won’t be holding you accountable to show up at the gym or purging your house of junk food, I can offer this incentive: getting healthier this year could mean more money back in your pocket. Here’s how. [ continue reading… ]
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.)
