Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
It’s hard to believe when I actually think about how long the site’s been around but MoneyNing.com has been dishing out financial advice for almost 14 years now. In a few short weeks, that’s 168 months of savings for those who followed us from the beginning.
You know, try to live below your means, build an emergency fund to weather possible storms, and invest the rest. I know some of the advice seems pretty obvious sometimes. I mean, who doesn’t know that cutting out your cable and joining a service like Netflix is going to save you money by now? But then again, how many of you actually take the time to implement what we preach here on a weekly basis?
I was just talking to my friend about his Netflix account he signed up for about 10 years ago. He was thanking me because I was the one who got him to cut cable and switch to streaming instead back when doing so wasn’t as accepted as it is today. His cable bill was about $120 a month back then. By saving $110 a month and $1,320 a year, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that he’s saved $13,200 already.
I told him there’s no need to thank me because I had pretty much similar savings too. That’s over $25,000 between the pair of us. Wow. Did you follow our advice to cut out cable when we first told you about Netflix? If not, is the sports channel or whatever show you can’t give up worth $13,200 to you?
I thought it would be fun to see just how much the savings were if you followed us and made some other simple changes to your services. So let’s see… [ continue reading… ]
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average retirement age in the U.S. was 67.2 in 2020. That’s up from 65 for men and 63 for women in 2016.
What’s interesting is that a recent T. Rowe Price survey found that 43% of millennials expect to retire by 55. This is much higher than Gen Xers at 35% and 17% for baby boomers.
Is it because young Americans don’t fully understand the financial realities of retirement compared to their middle age counterparts? While this theory has some merit, I’d like to look at it from another perspective.
The thought of retiring at the age of 67 doesn’t really appeal to me. But up until not too long ago, I didn’t really think that I had any other option. My opinion changed as I got older though. [ continue reading… ]
You’ve finally decided that she’s “the one,” and you’re ready to pop the question. There’s only one problem: you don’t have enough cash to buy the engagement ring.
You’re in a bind. Should you finance an expensive ring that she’ll love, save money and postpone your engagement, or buy a smaller ring that you can afford?
There are pros and cons to all three of these options. Let’s take a look.
Finance a Ring
Sometimes love makes us do crazy things. And, since the average price of an engagement ring hovers right around $5,500, financing may seem like a good option. The pro is obviously getting your girl a ring that will bring her to tears (in a good way). It comes at a high cost, however. [ continue reading… ]
When it comes to grocery shopping, it seems like there are only two camps: the extreme couponing types who devote hours upon hours to cut their grocery bill to the absolute bone, and those who just want to get in and out of the grocery store quickly, never mind the savings.
Count me in the latter group. Although I’m generally pretty frugal, grocery stores send out so many coupons with varying expiration dates that it just seems like an organizing nightmare. For frugal shoppers who don’t have time to make grocery-buying a part-time job, it may seem like there are no options for cutting costs that aren’t unrealistic.
Luckily, it IS possible to save money on your grocery budget without turning into a coupon commando. Here are 12 ways to cut your grocery bill without making yourself crazy: [ continue reading… ]
For most of my life, my mother has been the sole breadwinner in our household. My dad has health issues and stopped working when I was a teenager.
Seeing my mom work hard and pay for everything on her own was simultaneously inspiring and frustrating. I admired her hard work and her ability to bring home the bacon, but I had often wondered if this what she signed up for? The baby boomer generation grew up with shifting gender and career dynamics.
Women were getting out of the kitchen and into the workplace. The feminist movement also brought out the idea of equal rights and equal pay. Because of these various factors, more and more women are becoming breadwinners.
And here I am finding myself as a part of this select group. I’m sure others would agree, but being a female breadwinner isn’t something you choose, rather it’s something that happens because of career choices, illness, or life events — and because you fall in love with someone based on who they are, not their income potential. [ continue reading… ]
Debt is literally a four letter word; it just also happens to mean you owe money.
Many Americans have a dream they’ll never realize: living without debt. Yet, the dream is possible for nearly everyone – just be prepared for the sea change of behavior required to make it happen. If you are unprepared, your ship will never make it to the safe harbor of paradise, and you will crash upon the jagged rocks of financial ruin.
Follow these simple steps to make your dreams of a safe financial future come true, and steer clear of financial ruin.
Make Up Your Mind
Many people fall into debt because they grow complacent, spending above and beyond their means, living from paycheck to paycheck with barely enough to make the bills. They don’t have enough to pay for dinner out on Friday, the new clothes that go with it, or the movie after.
Yet they do it anyway, and on the credit card the spending goes. The honest, painful truth is that if you don’t have the money for those things, you shouldn’t be doing them. Learning to be satisfied with your limitations is difficult. You want to be accepted by your personal crowd, but if your crowd’s habits are decaying your bank balance one bad habit at a time, you have to ask yourself if the consequences are really worth it.
Once you decide that the lush greens of financial security offer an abundance that the Jones can’t match, then the seas get glassy and the waters are far easier to ease through. [ continue reading… ]
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