Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
My wife and I have weird work lives. I only have mandatory work from March through August, while my wife works from September through November and January through March. We only overlap for one month out of the year. My wife has begun her first real down period while I’m still in season. One week was enough for her to start thinking of ways to fill her down time, while I need to start thinking about what I’m going to do when September rolls around.
For Her
I always used to look forward to breaks from school or work, but I’d get bored after a few days or a week. I’d need to find something to keep myself occupied until I returned to normalcy. This is how my wife feels right now. She was looking forward to a few months off after a four month nursing assignment. Now, she’s trying to find something to make her time worthwhile until we return home and she gets another assignment. [ continue reading… ]
As the housing market strengthens ever so slowly, house flipping is once again gaining popularity. If you’re considering a house flip, you’ll first want to decide which type of flip is right for you.
Some people enjoy the thrill of a risky, but potentially high-yielding, investment that requires very little hands-on, while others enjoy the process of improving a house with their own hands.
Whatever your reasons or motivations for considering this type of venture, it’s important to be informed so you don’t end up with a house you can’t sell, or worse yet, can’t pay for.
Choose the Right Type of Flip
There are three basic ways to flip houses, each of which comes with its own set of advantages and potential downfalls. The three common types of house flips are fixer-uppers, bank foreclosures, and new constructions. [ continue reading… ]
Music is a universal language, and I enjoy listening to almost any genre. Whether it’s on my iPod, my phone, or my computer, I always have music on hand.
In the past, I used iTunes to find the best new music available. With new songs frequently costing $1.29 each, however, I had to find a better way. I turned to Spotify and have been extremely happy with the decision. Though I started off with the free version of Spotify, I recently decided to upgrade to Spotify Premium. Here’s why I think it’s worth it.
The Benefits of Spotify Premium
If you purchase music each month, Spotify is an excellent service. When I signed up for Spotify Premium, I got the first month for free. After my first month is over, I’ll have to pay $9.99 per month. [ continue reading… ]
Unless Congress acts, and the President signs off on it, interest rates on federally subsidized student loans are set to rise to 6.8% on July 1, 2013. That’s double the current rate of 3.4%.
For graduates repaying their loans, that could mean a significant increase in monthly payments. If your budget is already stretched, and you don’t have room to pay more on student loans, that could be a real problem.
Update: Thanks to everybody who responded, we picked a winner for the debt scholarship. For those interested to know who it was, please scroll to the bottom of the article. And for those here for the first time, this was the original article highlighting the two finalist’s get out of debt stories.
Many of you emailed me wanting to know more about the Debt Movement after I talked briefly about the initiative here, and I directed you to the actual site to learn more. But now that the 90 day challenge is over, we can really use your help!
As a sponsor for the Debt Movement, MoneyNing is going to help one participant pay off $1,000 in debt! There are over 1,000 initial applicants and we’ve narrowed it down to 2 candidates, and we need your help to pick the one most deserving of our debt scholarship. Please either leave a comment below with your thoughts, or simply contact me to do the same. We will pick the winner on the 17th, and update this page accordingly!
Lilly and Ruben’s debt journeys are familiar to all of us. These are ordinary folks who just fell deeper into debt without even realizing the damages they are doing to their finances. Luckily, they participated in the movement and are now well on their way to financial freedom. Here are their stories: [ continue reading… ]
The rising prices in the housing market within the last year (in some cases as high as 10%) are a good sign for the economy, as well as for homeowners and investors hoping to make a profit. Since the bottom fell out of the housing market and decreased home values as much as 30%, home owners, realtors, and investors have been slowly recovering their losses. With these changes, the practice of house flipping is increasing the most it has since the 2003-2006 boom.
However, some experts are urging caution to potential speculators, otherwise known as “house flippers.” They predict that a full recovery of the housing industry is several years away, with the road still bound to be bumpy and unpredictable. The potential for house flippers to make a profit is increasing with the prices of homes, but so is the potential for them to go under. Other factors in the current economy, such as the low supply of new housing and low demand due to the ruined credit of hopeful homeowners, could be creating a “bubble” of false improvement that may burst if just one factor changes. [ continue reading… ]
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