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• Beware the monthly payment math trick

  Posted Jul 15 2008, 04:03 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, spending, credit, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  If you've ever tried to buy a car or a house, you've probably faced the monthly payment math trick. It's a psychological trick salespeople use to get you to buy something you couldn't afford or to pay an amount you weren't originally comfortable with.

  A salesperson will try to convince you to purchase something based on the monthly payment you'll have to make. It frames the purchase in a way that lets you begin integrating the purchase into your life, before you've actually made it, and may even make it more likely you'll make the purchase.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 32 comments) 19,924 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Curb spending by writing goals on credit cards

  Posted Jun 10 2008, 05:41 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: debt, spending, credit, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  Some of my friends put a rubber band around one wrist if they're supposed to remember something, like getting milk on the way home. Some of my friends send themselves e-mail or schedule events in Outlook. Some of my friends draw treasure maps and hide them behind paintings in their attics. (OK. No, they don't. That was from "The Goonies.")

  The point is, we all have little hacks we use to remind ourselves about things we are supposed or not supposed to do.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 3 comments) 1,954 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Act your financial age

  Posted May 13 2008, 06:52 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: spending, credit, saving, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  When I was young, I used to write a fake company name on all sorts of papers to make it look like my company stationery, as if I were a big-swinging successful entrepreneur like Andrew Carnegie.

  We'd play football in the streets and pretend to be Joe Montana throwing yet another touchdown pass to Jerry Rice. We'd tackle each other in the field and pretend we were LT (no, not Ladainian Tomlinson -- the real LT, Mr. Lawrence Taylor) getting Joe Theisman, minus the snapping leg.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 4 comments) 3,746 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• How online bill paying adds months to your life

  Posted Apr 29 2008, 05:33 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: banking, spending, credit, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  Back in the days of personal checks and monthly bills, "doing the bills" was an arduous task that took hours and hours. Back in the days of check registers and balancing a checkbook, doing the bills was like accounting lite.

  With the advent of online checking and electronic bill-payment systems, there isn't any logical reason why you should be spending an hour or two each month dealing with bills. By setting up your bill-payment details and conducting your transactions entirely online, you can add months to your life.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 2 comments) 950 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this