Personal Finance Advice

In the last six months or so I’ve discovered a new hobby: Board games. I’m not talking about games like Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, LIFE and the like that are available at the big box stores. I’ve discovered what are commonly called “Euro-games” because they are designed in Europe by European designers. They aren’t generally available [...]

This is a guest post by Ashley at Money Talks The road to wealth may not be a smooth ride, but the fact remains you are either moving towards wealth, or you are moving towards poverty. Everyone moves along this road in one direction or the other. The path to wealth isn’t overly difficult or [...]

Many people think that becoming wealthy means that they no longer have to budget. The logic goes that if you have enough money, it’s no longer important how much is spent on various categories. When you have extra money, you don’t have to track where it all goes, right? Wrong. Those who want to remain [...]

When I was younger I traveled extensively on very little money. I still travel frequently, but these days I have a little more money and I prefer more comfortable experiences. (It’s just not as comfortable to sleep on the floor or in a tent as it was when I was twenty.) Some of the best [...]

I’ve noticed that when most people think about their finances, they think in terms of their income and expenses. They think about how much they make per week or month and therefore that is how much they have to spend. However, the most financially successful people that I know think of their finances in terms [...]

I have recently read a number of articles about the businesses which are being hit the hardest by the current downturn in US and well as the global economy. This got me thinking about the businesses that should be affected, even though apparently some of them aren’t. Giant Gas Guzzling SUVs: Not only are they [...]

When we shop, most of us are heavily influenced by the purchase price. For example, we see an iPhone in the store and think, “Oh, it’s $300. I have that much in my account, I can afford it.” What we think about less often is the true cost of ownership for that item. The true [...]

I have a friend who recently lost her job. She’s not the only income earner in the household, but she does contribute a good bit to the family’s finances. Fortunately, she has a three month emergency fund saved up. However, her proposed management of that fund leaves me scratching my head. On the day she [...]

Believe it or not, your daily schedule says a lot about your spending habits. Is your schedule packed to the gills with spending opportunities? For example, do you schedule your days around eating out, going to the mall, or going to the movies? Are these the items on your to-do list that are most important? [...]

This is a series of posts about what you will find in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course. This is week three (week one and week two) The lesson for this week was cash flow planning, also known as budgeting. You could see everybody approaching this lesson with trepidation. Not only does it mean more [...]

Regardless of whether you are looking to reduce spending for the purposes of debt reduction, or for saving, the first thing that must be done is to identify where you are spending money unwisely. If you are not ready to be honest about a budget breaker, a vice, or a ‘treat,’ then you are not [...]

Those large expenses that don’t occur monthly are a big reason why some people end up in debt. Even people who are well intentioned and good at avoiding debt in other circumstances are often caught by surprise by these big expenses. Insurance, taxes, and other bills that are paid yearly rather than monthly are all [...]

“More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level – far below the level needed to earn a living wage.” – National Institute for Literacy “Nearly half of America’s adults are poor readers, or ‘functionally illiterate.’ They can’t carry out simple tasks like balancing check books, reading drug labels or writing [...]

It sounds like a no-brainer, but a big part of what keeps us out of debt is simply not spending too much money. Whether it’s on splurge items or our regular budget items like utilities, clothing, etc. we are always careful never to spend more than we have. However, just like everyone else, we tend [...]

In 2008 you worried and logged every cent you made. You made out a budget and tried to stick to it. Every month you failed. Something came up and you overspent. It caused a great deal of tension and maybe even some arguments between you and your beloved spouse. It even made the kids feel [...]

Although my wife and I may not be the most social of couples, our kids more than make up for our willingness to miss parties. My kids have always been popular with their peers and, when they were younger, routinely received one or two birthday party invitations per month. Sometimes, they received invitations from their [...]

Not long ago I wrote about low hanging financial fruit. These are the easy things you can do to save money that don’t require a lot of time, effort, specialized knowledge, or lifestyle alterations. Now I’d like to move on to the high hanging financial fruit. Once you’ve gotten into the habit of saving money [...]

One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is, “How did you learn so much about finance?” The subtext to the question is usually along the lines of, “I know you aren’t a genius or good with numbers, so how come you have a handle on this stuff and I don’t? How come I’m broke [...]

Are you left with more month than paycheck? Are you trying to stick to a budget, but can’t understand where all your discretionary income is going? Do you always end up searching the couch cushion and car seats for extra change to make everyday purchases? My husband and I had all of these problems and [...]

I find budgeting unreliable. Whatever method you use to budget, there is a good chance you are wasting your time, and possibly money. Just to be clear, when I say “budget,” I mean trying to predict how much you will spend in specified categories over a certain period of time and allocating money ahead of [...]