Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
I wrote about how contentment is the ultimate financial principle that everyone should have earlier in the year. Being content with your situation, the stuff you already own, and the career you already have are amazing skills to practice but do not confuse contentment with complacency.
Being content with what you have doesn’t mean you can simply sit back and wait for life to happen to you. There’s a difference between feeling satisfied and happy with what you have and simply giving up. [ continue reading… ]
“Turn your passion into a job, and the money will follow.”
“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
These sayings sound nice, but unfortunately, they hold little truth for most people. Turning your favorite hobby into a money-maker might seem like a good plan – but it can be a horrible mistake. Here’s why:
Your Passion Fizzles When It’s Work
When you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to fantasize about doing it every day and watching the money roll in. It will bring meaning to your life, right?
Some people prefer to spend time in the great outdoors camping, hiking, and communing with nature while others find it more relaxing to stay at a 5-star hotel in the heart of a bustling city with plenty of venues and nightlife.
While certain outdoor-oriented vacations can be pricey (a week-long guided tour through Yellowstone National Park, for example), most are more budget-friendly than city vacations. This doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to save money while enjoying city life; it just tends to be pricier. Whether you purposely seek out a city vacation or just end up there, here are some simple tips on ways to save money and still enjoy your time. [ continue reading… ]
My wife and I racked up over $109,000 of credit card debt during the first thirteen years of marriage. I place much of the blame for that on myself, as I hid the totality of our debt from her. After she had gone to bed, I spent nights applying for credit cards with low promotional interest rates and shifting balances from one account to another to reduce our payments. Whenever we ran out of money, I would use credit cards to supplement our income. She knew we had credit card debt, but she didn’t know the hole was that deep. We didn’t talk about finances and we never had a budget.
I committed financial infidelity.
When it all came crashing down, I was afraid she was going to leave me. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had walked out the door. Thankfully, she didn’t, and we spent nearly five years paying off that credit card debt.
There are many ways in which someone can be financially unfaithful, here are a few of the most common: [ continue reading… ]
The idea behind DIY is that you can save money on various projects and tasks if you take care of it on your own, without paying someone else to do it.
While this can be an effective way to save a little money on everything from home improvement to yard care to car care, the reality is that sometimes it’s just not a good idea to do it on your own.
Before you DIY, ask yourself the following questions:
Do I Have the Right Skills?
In some cases, it’s possible to learn the right DIY skills with a little help from the book or the Internet. There are many things, like cleaning, changing the oil, and simple home renovation projects that can be learned. You won’t mess something up in a major way if you learn something new before tackling the DIY project.
However, some specialized projects require you to have particular skills and expertise. Plumbing and electrical come to mind. Even pouring concrete can, to some degree, require specialization, depending on what you are attempting to do. [ continue reading… ]
Being frugal is generally praised. Your grandparents tell you how smart it is to be frugal. Your uncle boasts about how his refrigerator is older than you are. You read that if you save $5 each day for a year, you’ll have tens of thousands extra at the time you retire.
Now, I’m really frugal so please don’t look at this post as being an attack on the lifestyle. I drive the same make/model of car I drove 10 years ago although this one is a whopping one year newer. My laptop is so old it’s embarrassing to pull open in Starbucks (though it looks on at Dunkin’). And I sometimes pretend a month is actually five or six weeks when it comes to replacing my monthly contact lenses. So again, this post is not an attack on the lifestyle.
I would say though that some of the things we do fall into the ‘too frugal’ category. Right now in my life, I’m correcting course a little bit. If you’d like to as well, keep reading. [ continue reading… ]
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