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Posted
May 08 2008, 05:21 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread. I think most of us have been asked to lend money to someone we know. No matter how close you are with the potential borrower, there are certain situations when you just have to say no. Here are some of the times I think you should absolutely keep your money for the sake of your relationship with the other person and the well-being of both parties.
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Posted
Dec 19 2007, 12:21 PM
by
Karen Datko
Single Ma at Single Ma's Fabulous Financials likes to instruct by example, which we think is a great way to teach. (She also urges readers on a daily basis to "as always, be fabulous," which we consider great advice.) Sometimes she uses a not-so-financially-savvy relative in her examples. Thus, Single Ma tells how she was struck speechless when a cousin explained why she bought a new car.
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Posted
Dec 18 2007, 06:08 PM
by
Karen Datko
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An article in Money Magazine has made a certain Miller couple the poster parents for overspending on children (and using a home-equity line of credit while doing it). Of course, this fascinating piece became grist for the personal-finance blogger mill, as well it should. "When you put your children's desires above your family's needs, your priorities are just wrong," writes Lynnae at beingfrugal. Her 5-year-old won't get the Wii he wants for Christmas because she and her husband can't afford it without going into 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 19 2007, 05:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly . My wife and I did more yard work today; it never ends. We wheeled out the chipper and continued to grind away at the branches and leaves. We spread the resulting mulch at the base of our blueberries and grapes. After about 90 minutes of work, disaster struck. My wife was pouring a tub of oak leaves and acorns into the hopper when the chipper ground to a halt. I crossed my fingers that there would be a quick fix, but no such luck. I am not a handy man. My father was good at diagnosing and fixing mechanical problems, but I mostly just get frustrated. Still, I've learned that it's worth my while to toy with things before taking something in for repair. I figured it would cost me at least $100 to have the chipper repaired, so it was probably worth at least an hour or two of my time. I steeled myself for the task and dove in. After disconnecting the spark plug, I began opening the various access points, looking for possible jams
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Posted
Nov 12 2007, 01:05 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Do you really enjoy vacuuming and dusting your McMansion? How many times has your expensive boat left its slip? Was your $40,000 wedding worth every drunken second cousin at the open bar? Come on, 'fess up, people, and save the rest of us from repeating your mistakes. In an animated post, " Un-Joneses of the world, speak up! " blogger Meredith H. Kaiser at SavingAdvice.com urges readers to start a national movement to end the Joneses' influence in our lives by telling the truth about expensive blunders. Highly amusing at times, the post is also seriously on target. Under a section called "Having children -- Think IF not WHEN," she writes that some parents have confessed to Kaiser and her husband, who are childless by choice, that they would not have children if they could go back in time. "Please, if you feel this way, share it," she writes. "Not in front of your children, of course, and not with anyone who would betray your confidence. But, I think many people need to have permission to
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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
Nov 02 2007, 02:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
The Dough Roller 's financial assets weren't inherited. What he got from his upbringing was an appreciation for a dollar and what life is like without a sufficient supply of them. His candid account his stepfather's bad financial decisions (DR lived with his mother and stepfather) and their impact on the family contains many stark lessons about money and life . We'll share this detail from his post: The death of his father in a car crash entitled DR to Social Security benefits, which were used to pay his stepfather's bills and avoid bankruptcy. The post ends with DR's summary of insights he gained. Among them: "We are the sum of our circumstances multiplied by our choices. Each of our circumstances differs but they almost always involve struggles. From those struggles, we can learn and we can choose."
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Posted
Oct 25 2007, 07:41 AM
by
Karen Datko
Clever Dude explores how the concept of opportunity cost applies to daily living and concludes that life is not just about the bottom line . He explains a decision (he acknowledges was "lambasted" by some readers "as a frivolous waste of money") to buy his wife, Stacie, a new MINI Cooper after considering other options, like saving or investing the money, donating it or paying down other debt. "Opportunity cost is also more than just calculating numbers," he writes. In the end, what was most important was providing Stacie with dependable transportation in a car that makes her smile.
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Posted
Oct 09 2007, 02:55 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Getting hitched to Mrs. Dough 19 years ago was the best money move The Dough Roller ever made, he reports in " My best and worst financial decisions ." Why? In the early days, she kept a lid on spending when Dough, a graduate student, was using the ATM "like it was a slot machine." Then, when it was his turn to work and hers to go back to school, she put him in charge of their finances and he learned the value of a buck.
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