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Posted
May 06 2008, 07:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Having grown up on Long Island, I didn't have many opportunities to watch NASCAR on television, so I never truly understood the intricacies of the sport. Since college, I've come to appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR and the skill it requires. Last weekend I was watching a few laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and I finally understood why NASCAR fans love the sport.
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Posted
Nov 06 2007, 06:41 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post is from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity . There's a ton of talk that we're moving toward a recession. That's right -- a recession. Isn't that horrible? Well, sort of, but what exactly is a recession? A recession, by definition, is when the gross domestic product declines for two or more consecutive quarters. It's a period of economic slowdown when companies earn less and pay less -- and life is generally a little less prosperous. How does that affect you? What should you do to prepare if a recession, specifically a prolonged recession, hits? It's quite simple: You should prepare for the possibility that you could lose your job. In a recession, companies often scale back operations as sales lag, and jobs are often one of the things to hit the chopping block. To prepare for this: Keep your ear to the ground and make sure the first you hear of your job loss isn’t when your boss calls you to the office to deliver the bad news. Pull back your spending and boost your
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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 07:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: debt, spending, credit, savings, giving, Karen Datko, budgeting, credit cards, 401k, economy, frugal
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
While we're all anxiously awaiting the fallout from our nation's financial crisis, here's some sound advice echoed by personal-finance writers around the blogosphere: Now, folks, is the time to get back to basics. If you're not living within your means, start. Get out of debt -- and save. Says Ron Haynes at The Wisdom Journal: "Nothing fancy. No shrewd moves. No collateralized debt obligations, no mortgage-backed securities, no credit default swaps or anything that isn't easily understood by a fifth-grader." In other words, it's time to get your priorities straight. "We may not be able to do much about the three-ring circus in Washington," says "FZ" at Frugal Zeitgeist, "but we can and do all make choices in our own lives that will impact our future financial health." Here are some suggestions:
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Posted
Jul 09 2008, 04:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. Let's get right to the point: Saving for retirement in a Roth 401(k) likely will leave you with less money in retirement than if you had invested in a traditional 401(k). There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, a Roth 401(k) may be the right choice if you make more than $1 million a year or if you make so little that you pay no income tax or very little income tax. But for the majority of us, the Roth 401(k) is better left alone. Here's why.
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Posted
Feb 13 2008, 09:26 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want to drop a bad habit or develop a good one? You need a plan. Specifically, you need a list. Lists make us feel confident and in charge. They make us feel we're already halfway to achieving our goals.
We love our lists. We especially love short lists. "Three easy ways to … (lose weight, stop smoking, become a millionaire)" is a guaranteed attention-getter.
Life is never really that simple, of course. If all it took were three steps, everybody would be thin and rich, with unstained fingers.
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Posted
Nov 21 2007, 07:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller . Congratulations! You've just made a change in your cable service that saves you $8 per month. Or you've sold some clutter on eBay that netted you $50. Where did that extra money go? If you can't answer that question or the money went to buy more clutter, then you, my friend, are a fritterer. Harsh words, to be sure, but some situations call for tough love. It is easy to become a fritterer. Small savings are easy to spend because they don't appear to make a big difference in your finances. Yet, like the power of the pawn , these small savings can make a huge difference given enough time. The consequences of being a fritterer can be even worse for people like me. Why? Because I'm not all that frugal to begin with. I watch my money, but I have no interest in clipping coupons, having a garage sale, or figuring out 37 ways to save money in the (fill in some part of the house here). But I do watch my money closely when it comes to monthly expenses
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Posted
Dec 05 2008, 08:19 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Today is my 51st birthday and it's already looking a lot better than my 50th because this year my building isn't flooded.
At 51, some people are looking forward to retirement. Personally, I expect to have to work for a long time, for several reasons. Having spent 13 years of my adult life either part time or freelance means my Social Security isn't huge. A fair amount of my retirement is based on a 401(k) from my newspapering days, and we all know what's happened to 401(k)s recently.
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Posted
Nov 20 2008, 05:21 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's bad enough that your retirement funds are shrinking at a disturbing rate. Now some employers have stopped matching employee contributions to 401(k)s, and Nickel at Five Cent Nickel suspects more companies in struggling industries will follow their lead.
General Motors, Ford, Frontier Airlines and several other large companies have suspended 401(k) matches, and The Wall Street Journal reports that a growing number of small business are also put matching on hold.
Nickel writes: "Imagine how you'd respond if you received a memo saying that you've been targeted for a salary reduction. A cut in retirement benefits should be interpreted in exactly the same way."
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Posted
Sep 15 2009, 07:26 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.
One of the biggest challenges in almost anything you do is knowing where your blind spots are. In simpler terms, you don't know what you don't know.
So, today I'll point out four money mistakes you might be making that you don't even realize you're making. Hopefully, you're making none of them. If you are making one of these, don't beat yourself up over it. Now you know you're making it and you can take steps to fix it.
Paying too much tax too early. Would you give the government several hundred dollars a month, for no reason, just for the government to write you a check in April? Would you give the government a zero interest loan? Probably not (if you would, feel free to send me money). However, that's exactly what you're doing when you get a tax refund in April.
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Posted
Dec 27 2007, 08:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread. The days of employer/employee loyalty are long gone. No longer do people finish school and work their entire career at the same company, retiring with full pension and benefits for life. In fact, the average person will change not only employers but also careers multiple times before reaching age 50. Combine that information with layoffs and downsizing on the employer side, and "tenure" is a thing of the past. As a competent and dedicated employee, you can use this to your advantage. If you are doing a good job, your employer will want to keep you. And to do so, your company knows it might need to entice you to stay if your skills are marketable and you are in demand.
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