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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
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
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"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
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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 10 2008, 05:41 AM
by
Karen Datko
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.
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 02:53 PM
by
Karen Datko
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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
Jun 02 2008, 05:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. I pulled out my camera gear last night. It's been two years since I used it regularly. Before I started Get Rich Slowly, I seriously considered trying to become a professional photographer. But for a long time now, my camera stuff has been gathering dust in the corner of my office. I can't even remember the last time I used it. It's fun to look at all my equipment again. It's fun to handle it, to imagine the possibilities. I'm eager to get outside and make some images. As I sorted through my bodies and lenses, though, I had to shake my head.
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Posted
May 30 2008, 01:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
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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 18 2008, 08:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Recent research at the Stanford Graduate School of Business suggests that shopping can lead to more shopping. When such savvy marketing researchers as Uzma Khan of Stanford, Ravi Dhar of Yale, and Joel Huber of Duke noticed that shopping sometimes proceeded unchecked even in their own private domains, they decided to get to the bottom of things. Setting up a series of tests of purchasing behavior, they found that for most people buying that fateful first -- and often innocent -- item seems to open the purchasing floodgates. This realization, they say, has important implications for how stores are laid out as well as for understanding individual behavior. These researchers indicate that shopping is a two-stage process.
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Posted
May 13 2008, 01:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
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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
May 09 2008, 06:52 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. When I first went through my financial meltdown, I was almost obsessive about my various accounts. I checked my credit card and bank balances daily, kept careful notes on every penny I spent, and planned and plotted every single expense. The giant budgets and debt snowballs and investing plans I created were amazing in their detail. I spent hours with Excel, calculating my financial life and seeing the implications of every little move I might make. Over time, though, something fascinating happened.
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