Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Recently, TD Bank released the results of research that indicate that fewer people have savings accounts. What’s interesting about the results, however, is that this doesn’t mean people aren’t saving money — especially millennials.
Instead, it appears that many consumers are changing where they keep their money, moving it out of savings accounts. According to TD Bank, 70% of adults had savings accounts in 2014, compared with 83% in 2013. However, 59% of millennials say that they have savings to draw on, and 54% of gen-Xers said the same thing.
This trend toward finding other places to keep money is likely to grow over time. Even I don’t keep very much money in my own savings account.
Credit card rewards and promotions can be very tempting. We live in a world of instant gratification and a credit card allows us to purchase anything we want right now.
With cashback rewards, airline points, and free bonuses, these are the reasons many of us sign up for multiple cards to earn these benefits. But then you end up having a bunch of credit cards taking up space in your wallet.
What do you do when you no longer need a particular credit card? You can simply call up the credit card company and cancel it whenever you want, right? Wrong.
If you do it incorrectly, canceling a credit card can have a negative impact on your credit score. If you’re planning to cancel a card soon, take a look at these tips so you can preserve your credit score.
My wife and I stay on track with our finances through constant communication. We go over our budget twice a week to ensure we’re in sync with every aspect of our finances including:
Income amounts to be received in the current two week budget period
Bills due during the current two week budget period
Amount to be put into savings
Spending plan for discretionary funds
We are both fully aware of how much money we have at all times, and what it’s going to be used for. Unfortunately there’s one thing that’s very difficult to do within the parameters of our system.
California Housing Financing Agency (CalHFA) wants to spread the word out on its new assistance program to help first time homebuyers. I’m compensated for this piece, though the opinions are completely mine.
Living in Southern California, I am under no illusion that the cost of owning a home here is anywhere close to average house prices of our country. My cousin is actually considering his first home purchase, so I’m using this opportunity to evaluate whether the CalPLUS Conventional Loan with ZIP Extra through CalHFA could be a right option for him. With this loan, you get a standard 30 year fixed loan but the kicker is a zero interest loan payment program called ZIP Extra (Zero Interest Program) to help with the downpayment. [ continue reading… ]
I’m one of the most boring investors ever. My Roth IRA is composed of index exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and I automatically invest a set amount each month and let it grow. I don’t fiddle with it; I just let it ride.
Turns out, indexing in your retirement portfolio is probably one of the best things you can do for your long-term savings attempt.
I shook my head in shame when I saw the charge on my credit card statement. This was the third month I had been charged $14.99 for a credit monitoring service that I didn’t mean to keep past a free trial period. I knew it was exactly what the company who created the service hoped would happen.
Services that operate through recurring charges thrive on people who don’t review their bills regularly, or those who get deterred when faced with a small obstacle for cancelling.
Here are some of the business practices that such services use, so you can stop paying for recurring charges.
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