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Posted
Apr 24 2008, 06:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
"Frugal Babe" is thinking about quitting her part-time job at the library when her baby is born. That would decrease the family income by $20,000. But through hard work and good planning, she and her husband will continue to run their insurance business, put money in retirement and emergency accounts, pay for health and life insurance, make extra payments on their home, and will set up a college education fund for their child -- all after the baby arrives. "Life is all about choices," she says in this excellent post. "Lucky people tend to make their own luck by the choices they make."
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Posted
Jan 10 2008, 06:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
On Jan. 1 of last year, Single Ma of Single Ma's Fabulous Financials wrote a note to her future self: On Dec. 31, 2007, she would update her progress in six major areas of her life. (So, she's a little late. No biggie.) Here goes: Her extended family members are still crazy, and BabyGirl, who's a teenager, just about drove her to drink. Healthwise, Singla Ma says, "I'm not fat, my clothes shrunk! That's my story and I'm sticking to it." Her career and her finances are doing, well, fabulously. She joined the "six-figure club," exceeded her net worth goals and paid off her debt.
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Posted
Nov 28 2007, 09:01 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller . If I could write just one thing about achieving financial freedom, it would be this: Spend less than you make. Like all habits that lead to financial freedom, spending less than you make is simple to understand, but hard to follow. For some reason, we always want more. At times in my life I've made very little, and other times I've made a lot, but at all times I've wanted just a wee bit more. I find it just as difficult to live below my means today as I did 15 years ago making about one-third of what I make today. The problem isn't about how much we make. We are the problem. This is critical to understand because until you identify the problem, you can't fix it. If you think the problem is your income, you'll spend your energy trying to make more money. While there is obviously nothing wrong with making more money, I speak from experience when I say that making more money will not make spending less than you make any easier. So what will
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Posted
Nov 08 2007, 06:04 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Matt, an active-duty Marine, is a guest poster at Poorer Than You , and he presents his personal-finance advice in military terms . ("Perhaps the best deal about being in Iraq is that my pay is increased by effectively 33% due to my tax-free status, in addition to my 'special incentive' pay that I receive while over here," he writes.) He urges readers to build a reserve and launch an assault on debt. "Gear up with the weapons of personal-finance war: a budget, a disciplined mind-set, and a strong will to win," he says. Every once in a while you may need to "call in supporting fire" and depend on family members for help, but do so on a very limited basis, he advises. Borrowing money from family could become a financial minefield.
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Posted
Oct 29 2007, 01:44 PM
by
Karen Datko
Can you really afford a bigger mortgage? There's a good way to find out. Melissa's very thoughtful post at A Penny Closer describes how to live with the cost of a higher mortgage for six months before actually taking the plunge . She had $600 a month automatically deposited in a high-interest savings account. That amount represents the difference between her current house payment (mortgage, taxes and insurance) and the monthly payment on a new home. "At first, not having that money in the budget was difficult, but we have worked through the aches and pains and are comfortable now," she wrote. The family also finessed its budget to accommodate other expenses it anticipated with a new home -- more spending for things like electricity, water and furniture -- without putting less into debt payment and savings. Now Melissa knows her family can afford a new house , and has a bunch of savings in the bank to make the transition easier.
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Posted
Sep 24 2007, 08:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from partner blog Get Rich Slowly. When I went to the street to get the mail on Saturday, the latest issue of The New Yorker was in the box. Walking up the sidewalk to the house, I idly began to remove the subscription cards. I stopped, though, when I came to a full-page cardstock advertisement. I read the front of the ad. I read the back. At the kitchen table, I carefully removed the ad from the magazine, carried it upstairs, and sat down at my computer. I typed in the listed URL, and for the next two hours, I was at the mercy of the advertiser. What was this ad for? The 2007 MINI Cooper. I hate my current vehicle -- a 2000 Ford Focus. I bought it in a hurry after my 1992 Geo Storm was totaled by a wayward tractor-trailer rig. I've loathed the Focus since Day One.
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