Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
There’s a scene in one of my favorite movies where the lead character steps into a batting cage, then take fastballs to the chest to toughen up. He takes them all, screaming and grunting with the thud of each ball against his body.
With the completion of our debt management program (DMP) through which my wife and I destroyed $109,000 of credit card debt, that’s exactly how I feel right now. Whatever life has to throw at us, we can handle it. With hard work and determination, we can overcome any challenge and achieve any goal.
This is good. Because we’re not done yet.
We have one line of credit managed by a creditor that wouldn’t work with our program, as well as two store credit cards that we intended to take care of ourselves. It took every ounce of effort we had to stay on course with our program, so we used the last 55 months to concentrate on those debts.
Now that the program is complete, it’s time to concentrate on the remaining lines of credit. [ continue reading… ]
The latest survey indicates one third of those surveyed found that retirement expenses are higher than they thought they would be.
That’s a fairly alarming number when you stop to think about it – especially when you consider that the EBRI reports that these results are based on data before the inflation run up of the past year. [ continue reading… ]
The average commute time for Americans is 27.6 minutes one way in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. While that number likely went down during the pandemic, many companies are starting to require workers to go back to the workplace. Anecdotally, just about everyone I know aside from one couple has already gone back to office life most days of every work week. And the only reason the lucky couple is still working from home is that the space their department works in is being renovated, so it’s just a matter of time before they are asked to go back too.
Sigh.
27.6 minutes one way is 55.2 minutes a day. That’s four and a half hours of commute time in a week. And that’s the average. In Los Angeles where I live, it’s more common for the commute time to be up to an hour each day and even longer when you factor in traffic. All of this time spent in the car is wasted time, especially if you listen to talk radio that you aren’t particularly fond of. So what should we do? Why not make it more profitable for your brain, budget, and body? [ continue reading… ]
Investing in the stock market can be life changing. Even simply contributing up to the employer match in your 401(k) can drastically change the lifestyle you can afford to enjoy during retirement. But just because investing can drastically improve your finances, you can really screw up your financial life if you don’t get some basics right. That’s why it’s so intimidating for many to get started. It’s not so much that it’s mentally taxing to invest in the stock market or that the basics are hard to learn. It’s the emotional aspect of investing that so many people find hard to control. If you are someone who’s intimidated by the power of investing, this post is for you. This post will give you the confidence to begin investing right away.
Set a Goal
It’s important to give yourself a reason to invest. Pick one of two ways to frame your investing goal. The first option is to frame it in a way of looking at what you’ll get by investing: a new Corvette, for example. The second way is to consider what you will lose if you don’t invest. For example, you may not be able to retire early, spend more time with the grandkids, or travel much…
Use whichever method works best for you, but set a goal. A goal will give you hope, hope brings action, and action brings achievement. [ continue reading… ]
I grew up in the 80s, and I can count on one hand the number of mothers I knew who stayed home with their kids, even part time. Now that I’m a mother myself, it seems as though the majority of the families I know have at least one parent who stays home at least part time.
The difference? According to a Pew Research Center report, the reason for the increase in stay-at-home parents is the rising cost of childcare. Weekly costs for daycare and other types of childcare have risen 70% since 1986, the first year these numbers were tracked.
Anecdotally, I know of zero parents with a daycare bill that’s lower than their mortgage bill. Crazy right?! It’s an incredibly frustrating Catch-22, especially for working mothers, since taking time away from a career can hurt your lifelong income but continuing to work can cost more than you bring in.
So how can you mitigate these overwhelming costs without completely restructuring your life? Here are four options for minimizing your childcare bill without having to change jobs or schedules. [ continue reading… ]
Gratitude often comes up when we talk about living a better life.
In fact, many of us know that an “attitude of gratitude” can reduce stress and allow us to feel better about life in general. It can also help our relationships with those around us.
But did you know that gratitude can also help our finances?
That’s right. Being thankful can help you improve your financial situation too. [ continue reading… ]
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