Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
The start of the year means that many people — myself included — are vowing to spend more time on health and fitness.
Gym memberships are flying off the shelf, and the latest workout equipment is in high demand. While this is ultimately a good thing, it can also be quite costly. The reality is that you don’t have to break the bank to get in shape.
Here are five ways to save on health and fitness costs.
1. Watch workout videos on YouTube
I knew I was interested in some type of workout video, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what I wanted. I asked several friends which DVD I should purchase, and one of them suggested watching workout videos on YouTube instead. [ continue reading… ]
Now that we’re starting a new year, it’s time to pay attention to the tax updates that are coming in 2014. Your tax planning should take into account two main things.
First, be aware of changes for your 2013 taxes so you file appropriately by April 15, 2014; second, realize that changes taking place in 2014 will affect the way you plan your finances for the coming year.
As you sort through your taxes for the 2013 filing season, and as you plan for the 2014 tax year, the tax preparation company Jackson-Hewitt suggests you keep these four things in mind: [ continue reading… ]
The daisies dapple the fields with their vibrant colors. The robins are busy building their nests, preparing for the new additions to their family. The sun drips yellow gold across the landscape. The days are growing longer, and there’s a freshness and sense of rebirth in the air.
It’s springtime. And everything is bustling and busy.
When this time of year rolls around, we can’t help but get excited. Everything is thawing, changing, and growing. Nature, and even our own human body cycles, are resetting.
As are the housing markets.
Some people start scrambling to get their houses ready to be sold. Others begin the rush to see as many homes as possible, hoping to find their ideal place. Others fight for loans to close on the home of their dreams before the next guy steals it away from them.
Spring is lovely. But, it’s a difficult time to shop for a new home. The market is flooded with people shooting to do the same thing you are: get settled in their new abodes, so they can enjoy the coming summer.
There’s a better way: hit the market before everyone else does.
Holiday gift card sales have reached record highs this year, a trend that retailers are more than happy to accept.
Since the money placed on gift cards doesn’t count towards a company’s bottom line until it’s spent, retailers are focusing on encouraging shoppers to redeem them right away. This is especially true given the fact that many retailers have seen disappointing profits this holiday shopping season. Overall, most major businesses saw sales increase only at the expense of extra-deep discounts that hurt their profit margins.
Although you probably don’t care about helping retailers with their bottom line, you will be interested in getting the most out of your gift.
Here are a few reasons to spend that gift card now.
My wife and I built our home in 2004, at the height of the housing boom. We built as large of a house as we possibly could using creative financing, which included an adjustable rate first mortgage, and an interest-only second mortgage. This wasn’t an ideal situation, but we planned to refinance within a few years.
Unfortunately, our growing credit card debt prohibited us from being able to refinance.
With the pending completion of our debt management program, we’re finally in a position to redo our mortgage. I wanted to wait until March (when the credit card debt was completely gone), but my wife pushed to start the process in December. Though I resisted at first, I’m glad we started earlier.
Here are three reasons I’m happy we refinanced our house when we did. [ continue reading… ]
You have a lot of financial goals for the new year, but you’re not sure how to go about completing them. Do you finish one before the other, or work on them simultaneously?
Like everyone else, many of my New Year’s Resolutions are personal-finance related. I’m hoping this will be the year for me to save up and invest a decent portion of money. But of course, my goals are a little more intricate than just saving and investing into one asset: I have three big investing goals that I want to conquer.
With more than one financial goal to work on, I’ve got two options: finish one before starting the other, or save for all of them simultaneously.
Normally, I’d try to finish one goal before beginning another. This is what I’ve done in the past, and it’s worked quite well. This year, however, I don’t see any one financial goal standing out to me more than the others.
With all my investing goals fighting equally for my attention, I’ve decided to use percentages to reach them. [ continue reading… ]
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