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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Ask anyone what the important rules of money are and they’ll likely be able to give you several maxims that at least sound like good advice. Unfortunately, many people are walking around following rules that really don’t apply anymore. The subject of personal finance seems to attract old wives’ tales that masquerade as solid advice. […]
Last month I confessed to an addictive behavior: recreational shopping. I actually wasn’t sure if I could classify it as a full-fledged addiction. Then David commented, “I’m glad Vered got out of her ritual of checking the same website for new arrivals daily, but make no mistake, addiction was the perfect word to describe that […]
Hobbies, by definition, are something we do for enjoyment. They aren’t activities that we absolutely have to do. That means that in a purely financial sense, spending any money on hobbies — especially when you have other financial concerns like paying for food and shelter — is wrong. The reality of the situation, though, is […]
