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Aside from rent, food is one of the biggest expenses in our budgets. From celebratory dinners to hosting guests, a big part of our lives center around eating. Add it all up and the money you spend on food can easily be 20% of your income. That can be as much as the money you spend on rent. Plus, it’s a double whammy that inflation seems to be so much higher on food and rent. We will talk about rent another time, but let’s focus on what we eat today. How exactly do you cut back on food expenses? The obvious answer is cooking more at home, but that’s only half of it. Making homemade meals can still be quite expensive if you’re getting all your groceries at Whole Foods. So, what is the one thing you can do that will cut your food budget in half?
Simply, it’s meal planning.
Many people I know laugh at the idea of meal planning. At one point, I did too. I thought it was such a tedious task that would only save me pennies. But let me be happy to tell you that I was completely wrong. I decided to give meal planning a try and while it’s taken some time to get use to the routine, it’s literally cut my food expenses in half. If you want to save money too, take a look at these tips to help you effectively meal plan: [ continue reading… ]
The holiday shopping season is almost here again, and identity thieves are on the lookout for careless customers who either misplace vulnerable personal information or leave it unattended in a cart.
More than any time of year, this season is a prime time for stolen credit cards and swiped bank information. Why? Because your numbers and sensitive information is being used more than normal.
While you shouldn’t obsess about circumstances you can’t control, most of us have lost a card or an entire wallet at some point in our lives, there are ways you can avoid becoming a victim even if someone attempts to steal your financial information. The most important way you can do this is to be very careful about what information you carry around on a daily basis.
If you looked in your wallet or purse right now, would you find any of these things? [ continue reading… ]
Saving for retirement is important – we all know that. But, according to most nationwide reports and surveys, we still aren’t doing it: the Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that one out of every four Americans currently has less than $1,000 saved for retirement. What will it take to make more of us save for the future?
More financial education?
Eliminating excuses?
Making it easier?
Making it mandatory?
California’s lawmakers have made it mandatory. Businesses with at least five employees who don’t offer their own retirement programs will be required to enroll them in the state’s retirement program. Even though enrollment will be automatic, workers can opt out at any time (basically the reverse scenario of deciding whether to enroll in the first place). California’s plan is turning heads, but the idea isn’t new. Many other nations including Australia and the U.K. have similar programs, a few other U.S. states are already doing it, and many more are watching to see how it plays out. [ continue reading… ]
My son and I had a discussion about school and grades the other day. He’s doing great in school, but sometimes we check in to see how things are going and to talk about his future education goals. It helps him stay motivated, and it’s a good way to set expectations for what financial help he can expect to get to pursue his higher education.
After our conversation, I began to wonder what would likely help my son get the best bang for his education dollar. There is an assumption that it always makes sense to move forward and get a graduate degree, but right now my son is leaning toward engineering. I’m not sure how useful an advanced degree would be, especially since there are plenty of good jobs for those with undergraduate engineering degrees. Plus, spending a couple more years studying means that he’ll be that many years behind on having relevant job experience. Is the trade off really worth it? [ continue reading… ]
One of the more interesting items I’ve read recently was a CNN Money article on how thinking about money can influence you to behave in an unethical manner. The results came from four different studies performed at the University of Utah and Harvard University.
In these studies, researchers found that thinking about money puts people into a different mindset – a mindset that results in a willingness to make morally dubious decisions.
This mindset focuses on maximizing financial gains, and doesn’t pay much attention to moral considerations. If it means that they’ll get more money, many people are willing to lie or cheat, or even steal. [ continue reading… ]
Even though I’m contributing money to an IRA on a monthly basis, and even investing in some dividend stocks in my individual investing account, I’ve always felt like real estate could be a better investment option for retirement income.
The idea started with a family member who’s doing just that: relying on a portfolio of rental properties and one small business for retirement income. This relative also has plenty of money in savings but hardly anything in the stock market.
He’s quickly approaching retirement age now and he doesn’t have a financial care in the world because he doesn’t have to think about where his income will come from. He’s already set for a comfortable life and I want that for my own retirement too.
Does it make sense to heavily rely on rental properties for retirement income?
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