Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
“I’m comfortable with my level of debt,” said a long-time friend of mine not too long ago. He was explaining why he isn’t making an effort to aggressively pay down his credit card debt.
He makes a decent living, and most of his credit card debt is the result of youthful financial indiscretions. Since he can afford it, and he likes his current lifestyle, he sees no reason to sacrifice to pay it down faster. In other words, he’s comfortable.
In fact, in every other area of his financial life, he’s doing what we think would be the “right” thing. He’s contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan (complete with match!). He has an emergency fund with four months’ worth of expenses, and he usually spends within his means.
He even pays substantially more than the minimum payment on all of his credit cards. He’s just not interested in turbo-charging his debt pay down because he likes to indulge in traveling and eating out.
So he’s content with his level of debt (which doesn’t threaten to overwhelm his finances), and he’s cool with taking four or five years to pay it off. How do you feel about your debt? Are you comfortable with how your finances look? Here’s how to understand your acceptable level of debt. [ continue reading… ]
There are two primary reasons to visit your local dealership: either to buy a new car, or have your current car serviced. Do you dread the latter?
A few years ago my answer would have been “Yes”. Visits to the service department used to make me nervous. Each time I took the car in for a basic oil change or routine maintenance, the customer service rep would come back with a laundry list of repairs that needed to be done.
Sometimes, the figures on the page would be in the high hundreds. And I don’t know about you, but I have a ton of other items on my list that I would rather spend my money on.
One day, I grew tired of the anxiety attacks, and frequent drains on my wallet, and decided to see if I could solve my high auto repair bill once-and-for-all. Here are five actions I took to get my car repair bills under control: [ continue reading… ]
My husband finally has a “real” job. He’s no longer an adjunct; he has a full-time job at a school that seems to like that he prioritizes students and learning. With that full-time job comes benefits — and it’s amazing how much they’re affecting our financial life.
As we enjoy the benefits of having benefits, it really brings home the reasons that many people choose to stick with “real” jobs, even though they hate them. (Luckily, my husband enjoys the college professor lifestyle, and teaching, so we get to have benefits and a job he likes.)
You’ve spent the past few years cleaning up your credit and stashing away enough cash to qualify for your dream home.
And now, the time has come to seal the deal. But there’s only one problem: you only accounted for the monthly principal, interest, and property taxes, and overlooked a slew of other costs. Unfortunately, you’re forced to walk away and find more cost-efficient options.
This isn’t all that uncommon; many prospective homeowners are unprepared for the costs that come up at the closing table. Here are seven hidden costs you should be aware of before buying your first house. [ continue reading… ]
I’ve talked before about earning side money by reselling used children’s items. After visiting a local thrift store, I thought it would be fun to give a better example of how much money can be made doing this. (Not to spoil the mystery — but I didn’t make a lot.)
First off, shopping at thrift stores is unpredictable. This past trip, I found a Juicy Couture baby dress right next to a faded and stained baby shirt from Walmart; both were the same price. Sometimes you find gold, and sometimes you don’t find anything.
During this shopping trip, I looked through the racks for about 30 minutes and spent $12 on the items listed below. (Goodwill stores in California seem to be priced much higher than in other areas.) When I got home, it took another 20-30 minutes to list all of the items on Ebay using the Ebay app. The total time invested in my side project was less than an hour.
Below is a list of my profits. This doesn’t list what I sold the item for — but how much I made after subtracting the cost of the item, as well as the Ebay, Paypal, and shipping fees. For example, I received $16.99 for the Janie and Jack airplane sweater, and after subtracting all of the costs, my profit was $7.67. [ continue reading… ]
Market analysts have discovered something surprising about human nature. When choosing a product we don’t know much about, we automatically assume the highest-priced item is also the highest quality. This carries over into our sensory perceptions, as well: consumers who eat more expensive pizza or drink more expensive wine claim these products taste better than their lower-priced varieties.
But is it really true? Does a higher price indicate higher quality?
Well, yes and no. By determining when this perception is correct — and when it’s simply a response to effective marketing — you can not only save yourself money, but choose quality products without hesitation.
Here’s how to figure out if an item is worth the cost:
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.)
