Archive for December, 2007
Do You Need a Money Diet for the New Year?
Most people set goals and resolutions to improve their lives in some way at the start of a New Year. One of the most popular resolutions, of course, is to lose weight- but with the increasing number of American’s in excessive debt, it would do us all some good if we made some financial plans [...]
Why Some Millionaires Don’t Even Have Enough For Retirement
Most people retire with less than a year’s worth of income in their savings accounts and investments. They never get around to planning for their later years, spend all that they make and think nothing of it until age 65 comes around. Senior citizens have to try to make due on their meager Social Security [...]
The Most Affordable Places to Live (And Still Have a Great Lifestyle)
Depending on where you live in the country, a one bedroom apartment might cost you $300 a month to live in, or $1,100 a month to live in. Movie tickets might cost you $4.50 in rural America, or easily twice that in some of the larger theaters on the west coast. A $100,000 home out [...]
A Frugal Cure to the Common Cold
It’s the middle of winter. We’re in the peak season for the cold and flu. Unless we live in complete isolation from the rest of humanity, we’re at risk of infection. Nobody likes getting sick, whether it be missing school or work, the nasal congestion, the fever or the sore throat. As I write this [...]
Get Paid to Get a Tattoo (And Sell Yourself Out to Corporate America in the Process)
If you’re young, broke, and desperately need money, what do you do? Conventional wisdom would indicate that going out and getting a job would be the smart thing to do, but instead some people are taking drastic measures by selling advertising real estate on their skin! People are connecting with advertisers and having temporary tattoos [...]
Donate Shares of Stock and Get Double Tax Savings!
December is the single biggest month for charities and other non-profit organizations. People are looking for ways to lower some of their taxes and the spirit of Christmas is upon us—and that means donations, lots of them. Some charities estimate that they make 20% of their annual income in the month of December alone. If [...]
Prevent Identity Theft with One-Time Use Virtual Credit Cards
When it comes to shopping online, you can never be too careful when it comes to security. There are criminals out there that would pay good money for your personal information and your bank/credit card account numbers. They use trojan-horse viruses and phishing scams in attempts to steal this personal information. Most of us know [...]
How to Get Over a Holiday Debt Hangover
Most people in the United States have very little savings, so when Christmas time comes they use their credit card to purchase all of their presents. They easily spend anywhere from a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars on presents thinking it perfectly natural and not do not consider the financial consequences of all [...]
25 Realistic Ways to Spend Less and Save Money in College.
If there’s ever one point in one’s life where they learn the most about money, it certainly has to be college. Most college students have and earn next to nothing, so they have to make the most of what they have. They wisely take tips from upperclassmen who have figured out all of the great [...]
Four Ways to Give Yourself a Raise
A good share of us think we’re underpaid. We think our salary isn’t high enough, that we don’t have a good enough benefits package and that we just don’t get enough time off. Many of us gripe about it but never end up doing anything about it because we think our efforts to get a [...]
Become a “Secret Santa” This Christmas
Imagine that it’s Christmas eve and you’re down on your luck. You might have recently lost your job or had some other huge financial emergency and there just wasn’t enough money to go aroundfor presents this year. You’re at a store trying to figure out what you can get for the kids so they at [...]
Four Common Mistakes People Make When They Try to Budget For The First Time
In a few days, Christmas will be passed and we will be looking forward to the new year. Many of us will make a stark realization that we probably spent more on decorations, presents, and other items that bring Christmas cheer than we probably should have. We find that we aren’t quite were we had [...]
Movies–Rent Vs. Own: Which Is Better?
I recently took a trip to the local Century movie theater to see a film called “Dan in Real Life.” After paying for the tickets, a beverage for each of us and a large bag of popcorn, the total bill ended up being $27.00, and I live in rural South Dakota! It might not be [...]
Credit Cards: The Silent Killer of Financial Freedom
A lot of us keep credit cards in our wallets, use them to pay everyday expenses as well as larger purchases and don’t think much about them. Some off us pay our balances off each month, take home the rewards and go on with life, but many people don’t. When they don’t have the cash, [...]
How I Learned To Stop Being So Greedy and Become a Giver
Most people that know me or know of me to be a pretty good steward and handler of money. I have no debt, a decent nest egg and am well on my way to retirement, but something was missing. There are several aspects to proper stewardship, and there was one of them I was failing [...]
How Shopping Carts are Stealing Money From Your Wallet
There are a lot of scams, rip-offs, and other bad deals out there that most of us know to avoid and stay away from. We know to stay away from almost all extended warranties because they’re just not good deals. We know to not buy a used car without having it inspected otherwise you’re just [...]
The More You Buy, The More You Save
This is an often used line in marketing- and it works. How often do you find yourself buying three shirts when you only intended to buy one because the price per shirt was less when you got three of them? Individually, the shirts might cost $15 each; but when you get 3 they’re only $12 [...]
Don’t Buy a Warranty on Your Next HDTV Purchase
The prices of high definition televisions (HDTVs) are falling through the floor and increasingly becoming a staple in the typical American home. Many people who were stuck with standard definition cable before can now get hd-cable services like Time Warner Digital and Time Warner HDTV. You can now purchase a high-quality 32” HDTV for just $500 (or less if [...]
Cavalcade of Risk – December 18th, 2007
Welcome to the December 18th, 2007 edition of the Cavalcade of Risk. The topic of risk often takes a backseat when talking about finance, but it’s extremely important to adjust whatever financial action you’re taking for risk. A bet on black in Vegas will yield a 100% rate of return on your money, but most [...]
How to Raise Money for a Mission Trip or Other Philanthropic Adventure
Having the opportunity to be a missionary or serve those who are less fortunate in another part of the world can be one of the most rewarding things one can do with some of the time in their lives. It doesn’t mean you have to travel to Africa for years on end, it could be [...]
How to Use 25% Less Gasoline With The Vehicle You Already Own
Increased gasoline prices are here and they’re here to stay. It’s been over 3 years since we’ve seen prices that are consistently under $2.00 a gallon, and they don’t seem to be headed down anytime soon. Instead of griping about the high cost of gasoline, we should instead adopt a positive attitude and look at [...]
Five Signs That You Shouldn’t Be Buying a House
Why is it that so many people buy homes and then get foreclosed on them just a few months later? Nobody buys a house with the intentions of losing it back to the bank just a few months later, but it happens a lot more often than you would think. The reality is that many [...]
Get Better Wedding Gifts with WedCred.com
Buying a wedding gift that will be remembered and cherished rather than returned to Bed, Bath and Beyond for store credit is a difficult thing to do. Buying presents for Christmas and Birthdays is hard enough, but when anywhere from 50 to 150 people are buying gifts for just two people, it’s almost impossible to [...]
Don’t Be Up a Creek Without A Paddle. Buy Flood Insurance.
What would you do if you came home from a trip to find your entire home sitting in a pool of 3 foot of water? Would you have the money to pay for it? Would you lose some of your most prized possessions? If you live in a flood plain, it’s just not a chance [...]
You Can’t Afford NOT To Have Health Insurance
If you’ve decided to become self employed, recently lost your job, are in between jobs, or are working for an employer who doesn’t offer health insurance, you are not alone. In fact, there are nearly 50 million Americans who do not have health insurance because they feel they cannot afford it. Can you afford NOT [...]
Financial Freedom: 7 Benefits of Getting Out of Debt
Did you know there was a time in American history when people didn’t borrow money to buy their homes? Did you know that budgeting, saving up and paying cash for things used to be the rule rather than the exception? Did you know that as each generation comes along in the United States, it takes [...]
Investments With Artificial Intelligence
Seems everything these days has some form of “artificial intelligence”. Childrens toys, computers, cars… but investments? Life cycle funds are mutual funds that offer investors a quick way to create a diversified portfolio. Life cycle funds already contain a mix of stocks, bonds, and various assets- so when you contribute to a life cycle fund [...]
I agree. If a local business is the one offering the sale price I will buy it from them. ...
We are retired and live on a grocery budget of $200 a month for 2 people in the Midwest. That ...