Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
One of the keys to saving money is cultivating the ability to delay gratification. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done for many of us. Putting off pleasure today in anticipation of tomorrow’s needs doesn’t come naturally to many people. However, there are ways to overcome your natural inclinations and develop more thoughtful spending habits. Here are a few you should try.
1. Have a clear vision of yourself in the future. It’s much easier to want to take care of the future you if you have a picture in your head of what you’ll be doing in 5, 10, 15 years, and beyond as well as a firm plan for getting there.
Knowing what you want and how you’ll get it makes the reasons for resisting temptation seem much more clear and real than having just vague ideas. [ continue reading… ]
A financial strategy that works really well is automation. The idea behind automating your finances is that you can set up your finances to mostly manage themselves. This works especially true today because the Internet made everything so much easier to set up automatic payments and transfers.
My finances are mostly automated and I prefer it that way. Not having to think about the mundane tasks makes it easier to ensure that my bills are paid when I’m out of town. It also means that I don’t have to think about setting aside money for my retirement account or for other savings accounts.
If you want to automate your personal finances, carefully consider the situation before moving forward. While automation can be great, it doesn’t always work in your favor. If you aren’t careful, you could end up overdrawing your account. Before you automate, here are a few things you should consider: [ continue reading… ]
Car accidents are never planned, but they are definitely expensive. While it’s obvious that your insurance rates will increase if you are found at fault, there are many other costs to consider too.
My husband just totaled our Toyota Yaris in May. There were a lot of costs that I did not even realize I should’ve planned for. Here are a few costs you should be aware of the next time you are involved in a fender-bender.
1. Chiropractic Care and Healthcare
Car accidents can do a number on your body. Thankfully my husband was not hurt during the crash, but it was still important for him to receive chiropractic care the next day. If your car insurance or health insurance covers this cost, then be thankful you won’t have to worry about co-pays and deductibles. [ continue reading… ]
Extracurricular activities used to be the domain of the child prodigies. Little ones who were training for the Olympics or the children’s orchestra were the only kids you saw going to gymnastics or violin lessons after school. For the rest of the kid population, doing homework and riding bikes was more than enough activity.
Times have certainly changed. Younger and younger children are going from school to music lessons to sports practice to scouts. Not only do all the extra activities take up a lot of time in the car, but they can also be difficult for parents to afford. In addition to the clear registration, activity, and equipment fees, there can also be unexpected fees for things like team photos or group snacks.
Here are four ways to reduce the costs of your children’s extracurricular activities without giving up the fun: [ continue reading… ]
Do you have a large but short-term savings goal? Perhaps, like me, you want to save at least 20% of a future home as a down payment. Maybe you want to purchase another vehicle or recreational toy in cash versus going into debt, or you just want to finally finish a much-needed home improvement project. No matter the reason, one thing these diverse savings goals have in common is that they’re short-term – you’ll want to be able to use the money in say, one to four years.
If you don’t know how much you’ll need to set aside every month to reach your goal or what interest rate you might need to reach it in a certain time frame, use an online amortization table to help you calculate that number. Knowing what you need before looking at your options will allow you to quickly locate the one that best meets your needs. [ continue reading… ]
With the start of the academic year, thousands of high-school graduates are entering college and handling their own finances for the very first time. Some will learn quickly on their own, but many others will struggle and end up with more debt than they know what to do with.
Here are four important tips that every college freshman should know to help keep them from getting into financial trouble:
1. Understand Your Meal Plan
Many larger schools are now offering meal plans that will allow students to purchase food at fast food restaurants or use points based on a la carte purchases. Unfortunately, it can be very easy to use up all of your meal plan points during the first six weeks of school if you don’t keep an eye on how much you’re using and how much you have left.
Instead of using your meal plan to indulge your passion for burritos and pizza from local restaurants, figure out ahead of time how often you can afford to treat yourself each week – and stick to it. Otherwise, it’ll be a long, hungry, and/or expensive slog to get to the spring semester. [ continue reading… ]
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