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You’ve read all the financial gurus’ books. You set up a fancy spreadsheet to track your spending. You follow 20 personal finance blogs. You’ve even switched to a cash envelope system. Still, your budget just isn’t panning out.
Sound familiar?
When I first got serious about personal finance, I dedicated myself to following all of Dave Ramsey’s teachings. You know: ditch the credit cards, pay down debt, focus on frugality, and use a cash envelope budgeting system.
Paying off my debt and swearing off credit cards was the easy part, but when it came to budgeting, I failed miserably.
I’ve tried many different budgeting methods over the past seven years, and I’ve discovered there’s no “one size fits all.”
Here are three common budgeting problems you might have (and how to solve them): [ continue reading… ]
The fall is a favorite season to many and it is easy to see why. The weather is nice, the leaves turn beautiful colors, and of course, pumpkin spice lattes. Here’s another reason to love fall – it saves you money. Here are five ways to save money this fall. You don’t want to overlook these tips.
1. Indulge in More Inexpensive Meals
When the weather starts to turn breezy, soup and chili are the perfect comfort foods. Take advantage of your slow cooker and these inexpensive meal choices. Another great thing about making soups and chili is that you can freeze them, prep them ahead of time, and even throw in random leftovers you have rotting, scratch that, waiting for you in the fridge. Today I made Skinny Taste’s chicken taco chili, out of beans, rotisserie chicken, and a half used can of tomato sauce that was on its last leg in the fridge. It took about five minutes to throw everything in the crockpot. [ continue reading… ]
My husband and I are contemplating the possibility of moving. We’re not sure how everything will play out (we’re waiting to see if he got a job he recently applied for), but we’ve talked a little bit about what our housing situation might look like.
One of the things we’ve decided is that we might not care all that much about buying another home because we may be just as happy with renting. While we’ve enjoyed living in our home, the thought of trying to sell it is stressful. We haven’t started the process yet but I’m sure it’ll be difficult to sell our place when mortgage rates shot up so much and no one can afford the same house they were looking for just a few short months ago. If we move, would we enjoy living in a nice rental just as much?
Could Renters Be as Happy as Buyers?
In a study titled, “The American Dream or the American Delusion? The Private and External Benefits of Homeownership for Women,” a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania examined the happiness levels of women renting vs. owning. [ continue reading… ]
As our anniversary date approached, my husband and I started discussing ways to celebrate. Our initial idea would cost over a thousand dollars before even getting to what we’d likely spend on meals, souvenirs, and miscellaneous expenses. Although we had some savings set aside, we decided we didn’t feel comfortable spending that much on something non-essential right now. To keep on track with our financial goals, we came up with a day trip that will only cost us fuel, a few meals, and a few minor admission fees. Will it be just as fun as our first plan? I expect so!
We want special occasions to be, well, special. Sometimes that means spending a little extra money than we would normally, but it’s not always necessary either. If you’re on a tight budget right now or just feel like hoarding your savings for other goals, here are a few tips for planning an affordable but memorable getaway. [ continue reading… ]
A couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting conversation with a young man (20 years old) about his credit situation. He understood the value of good credit and was trying to figure out how he could take the next step in boosting his score. We talked about the moves he made up to this point and what he should do next to diversify his credit and present himself as a better prospect. He wants to buy a home in the future, which is why it’s important to him that he manages his credit now.
As we talked, I was reminded of a recent survey from Credit Karma about the financial mistakes made by young adults as a result of a lack of financial education. My friend’s mistakes weren’t as devastating as what others have done to their situation, and he had been sufficiently conservative with his money to avoid serious debt problems. Others aren’t so lucky, though. According to Credit Karma, some of the major mistakes many young adults (68%) make before turning 30 include:
Overspending on credit cards
An account sent to collections
Defaulting on a loan
Missing payments
According to the survey data, about 75% of the respondents felt like their financial mistakes made before age 30 impacted their quality of life in a negative manner. The mistakes made in your 20s can affect you years down the road. It can even prevent you from moving forward with your life as you would like. [ continue reading… ]
You may not realize it, but in between making corny jokes and yelling about who touched the thermostat, your father taught you a great deal about money.
Dads are usually the financial teacher in the family, but even fathers who never spoke a word about the family budget passed along important money wisdom to their kids. That’s because Dads’ favorite words of wisdom – just like Mom’s – offer great insight into managing your money even if they seemingly have nothing to do with finance.
If you ever heard your father tell you one of these old sayings, you should thank him. That’s because he gave you an excellent financial education without you even knowing it. [ continue reading… ]
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