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Posted
Oct 10 2008, 02:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Oh, to live in Alaska, where the annual check all permanent residents get from the state rose to a record high $3,269 this year. Not bad, particularly in a place where people pay no state income or sales tax. (Residents do pay other state and local taxes.) The record high $2,069 dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund was enhanced this year by a one-time $1,200 "resource rebate" to help offset higher heating and other fuel costs. Now, before you think all Alaskans went on a big spending spree when the checks came out last month -- some did, as witnessed by the Anchorage Daily News -- check out a thread at VoxBox, a forum sponsored by the Juneau Empire. It seems that lots of people who registered thoughts there are using the money to pay basic bills. "We will get prepared for winter -- wood is in dire need at our home, at least five cords or more we will be looking for -- stocking up the cupboards for another long winter," wrote "RBDCDD."
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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 07:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
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 15 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We like the new blogger who posts at Sallie's Niece. She "went to school thanks to my Aunt Sallie Mae," her site says. "Now watch me struggle to pay and pay." She owes $72,735 to Sallie Mae, and that's not including a nearly equal amount in private loans. Sometimes it is a struggle. She has done battle with the "Evil Overdraft Monster" and payday loans. Her latest nemesis -- now vanquished after two years -- was the gyros truck outside her workplace. "At five days a week for three months each year, I am just now realizing that I spent $900, a whole emergency fund's worth of George Washingtons, on very thinly cut lamb rolled in pita bread with some tomatoes and onions!" Our foodie heart goes out to you, Sallie's Niece.
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What amount of money would vastly improve the life of blogger "Too Smart"? He says $3,600 would pay off a loan from a friend -- and get him out of the downward spiral of payday-advance loans. In his case, the interest on those loans is 400%. "We float checks every two weeks at three different payroll-advance places. The balance is around $2,000. The interest and fees are approximately $300 each time we flip. That's about $600 a month," he wrote at a new blog called Too Smart to Live Like This. How did a bright guy get himself into this fix?
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Posted
Jun 20 2008, 05:40 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"DogAteMyFinances" didn't report a success story when she recently updated her finances for her reading public. When she started her blog, also called Dog Ate My Finances, she had a net worth of $8,000 and $30,000 of debt, she wrote. Fast forward six months. The net worth is now $3,000 and the debt has grown to $45,000. "That's just embarrassing when you make over 150K," she admitted. But, she's being an adult about it. She's blaming no one but herself. In a reversal of roles, her readers offered sound advice to the personal-finance blogger.
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Posted
Jun 17 2008, 11:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a little snapshot of reality we never thought we'd see: MP Dunleavey owns fewer pairs of jeans than we do. (She has one; we have two.) That factlet about the often loved, sometimes maligned New York Times and MSN Money personal-finance writer was contained in an e-mail interview she did with U.S. News & World Report. We've been among those who have sometimes wondered about MP's spending choices, particularly when she bought a larger house, but that wardrobe confession compelled us to give her another look.
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 02:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Those who are serious about paying down debt have crafted their own little devices and mind games. For instance, we use the money we earn from our pet-sitting business to make extra payments on our mortgage principal. FloridaChic was born with a shopping gene, but she's learned to channel that impulse to pay off credit card debt. She explains her mind game in a post at Debt Smack called "The lazy girl's guide to snowflaking." This blogger might think she's lazy, but she has serious mind control.
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Posted
May 30 2008, 01:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Tell us, Kristy, what do you really think of Dave Ramsey and his debt snowball? "My opinion of Dave Ramsey is that he's horrible with math and probably not so good at psychology, either," Kristy writes at Master Your Card. Wow. Strong words about many people's favorite financial guru. Of the snowball, she says, "I don't think it makes good financial sense to teach people a method that costs them more money just because it may make them feel better." (In some parts, them's probably fightin' words.)
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Posted
May 13 2008, 01:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Choosing to eliminate debt isn't simply a matter of spending less, "Finally Frugal" has found. You may have to deal with a lack of support from loved ones. We're sorry to hear that her family's response to her new goal "was one of ridicule and disbelief." You also have to identify and confront the demons that have made you spend more than you earn. In her case, the demon is envy. In a thoughtful essay, Finally Frugal provides some detailed solutions for overcoming her insecurity.
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Posted
Apr 22 2008, 01:44 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some people are financially sidelined by circumstances beyond their control, while others just poor-mouth -- making excuses for their circumstances with phrases like "The poor man just can't get ahead" or "We struggle just to make ends meet" or "I work hard so I deserve it." "Frugal Dad" calls these folks the "perpetual poor" and explains how you can identify them in this biting and humorous post. For instance, he writes, those who use the "poor man" rant referenced above "can recite the last five winners of American Idle (that's not a typo) from memory, haven't picked up a book since high school," and "never stretched to learn a new skill at work, but complain about being passed over for promotions."
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