Browse by Tags
-
Posted
Sep 28 2009, 06:23 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
An anonymous GRS reader submitted a question last week that hits close to home:
I have a family member who this past year has been in serious financial trouble. He is one of the most ambitious and intelligent people I know and I would have never imagined him getting in this kind of trouble. His ambition may have been his downfall as he keeps shooting for the stars and has fallen short on some of his business ideas, which may have put him in a more vulnerable position when the economy turned south.
He is now living in debt and struggling to put food on the table for his wife and four young boys. He has had to live on credit cards for several months and they are all maxed out. I have never seen firsthand anyone in this much trouble.
My question to you is: When faced with job loss and depleted savings, how can you avoid going into credit red? To what lengths would you go to avoid living on credit cards and missing payments on just about everything? In the situation, is credit rating even worth anything?
As I say, this situation hits close to home. Last year, I wrote about my little brother, Tony. (I say "little brother," but he's 36 now.) Tony's family got caught up in the mortgage mess, buying a home in Bend, Ore., at the height of the bubble -- and before their home in Portland, Ore., had sold. Six months earlier and things would have been fine. But things weren't fine. They couldn't sell either house. The market went to hell and they lost both homes to foreclosure.
Read More...
-
Posted
Sep 21 2009, 05:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
The October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports contains an article extolling the virtues of generic store-brand products. While shoppers used to sacrifice quality when choosing generic, that's no longer the case. From the article:
If concern about taste has kept you from trying store-brand foods, hesitate no more. In blind tests, our trained tasters compared a big national brand with a store brand in 29 food categories. Store and national brands tasted about equally good 19 times. Four times, the store brand won; six times, the national brand won.
In other words, store brands offer roughly the same quality as national brands, but at a much-reduced cost. How much reduced? Consumer Reports says the store brands they tested cost on average 27% less than the name-brand equivalents.
How much can you save?
Sometimes theory is one thing and reality another. It's nice that Consumer Reports can score great deals on store brands. But could I? Last week, I walked to two local grocery stores to do my own research. First I looked at Safeway, where Kris and I shop most often. Next, I walked across the street to Fred Meyer, a store we usually try to avoid. (The store is huge and its layout makes little sense to me.)
Read More...
-
Posted
Sep 14 2009, 06:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
It's been a long time since I wrote about the general state of my financial affairs. A few readers have written to express concern that I've lost my way. I haven't. If anything, I'm more devoted to this stuff than ever.
But as I wrote earlier this year, I've entered a different stage of money management. During the first two stages of personal finance (debt elimination and establishing a foundation), things happened quickly. They did not seem quick at the time, but they were.
Now I'm in the third stage of personal finance. Progress is steady, but there's not a lot of scenery. Have no fear: I'm still on the road to financial freedom.
Read More...
-
Posted
Sep 08 2009, 08:28 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Note: Although I try to keep GRS a politics-free zone, today's topic is inherently political. I've stayed as neutral as possible in the article, but I know that there'll be some political discussion in the comments. Please keep conversation civil, as always.
Because I was frustrated with my own ignorance about the U.S. federal budget and our tax system, I recently spent 12 hours researching a variety of tax topics. From my research came two articles: my recent short guide to the federal budget and today's post, which answers some of my personal questions about taxes.
In the earlier post, we tried to take a few small steps toward understanding the federal budget. We looked at where the U.S. government spends its money. But where does it actually find the cash to spend?
Of the $2.333 trillion in U.S. government receipts:
- $1050 billion (45.0%) comes from individual income taxes.
- $939 billion (40.2%) comes from social insurance/retirement receipts.
- $221 billion (9.5%) comes from corporate income taxes.
- $76 billion (3.3%) comes from excise taxes.
- $20 billion (0.9%) comes from estate and gift taxes.
- $28 billion (1.2%) comes from Federal Reserve deposits.
- $16 billion (0.7%) comes from other miscellaneous sources.
As you can see, nearly half of government receipts come from individual income taxes. Naturally, taxes are a hot-button issue. They have been since this nation was founded. (To be fair, though, the driving force then was "taxation without representation." Modern complaints are against taxes in principle, I think.)
During my research, several questions about taxes occurred to me. In today's article, I'll do my best to share the answers I found.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 31 2009, 05:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
I've always been a car guy. It's not because I'm mechanically inclined or that I get into the latest makes and models -- neither of these is anywhere close to the truth -- but because a car has always been my primary mode of transportation.
When I was a boy, my family lived in rural Oregon, six miles from the nearest town. Automobiles were our only real option for getting around. Even when I went away to college, I relied on a car for most of my mobility. And so it's been for 40 years. As I say, I've always been a car guy.
This summer, though, I've had a sort of epiphany, one prompted by your comments and suggestions. I've learned that I can save money and improve my fitness by leaving my car at home -- by exploring alternate modes of transportation.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 24 2009, 07:26 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
In June, a user at Ask MetaFilter wondered: What are the differences between someone who makes $100,000/year and someone who makes $30,000? As you might expect, this question generated a lot of discussion -- all of it interesting.
Many commenters noted that, from their experience, high-income earners generally exhibit several of the following traits:
- They maintain a strong work ethic.
- They don't watch the clock.
- They seek to improve their skills.
- They do quality work.
- They're flexible and adaptable.
- They maintain a good social network.
- They possess self-confidence.
A few commenters noted that there are two other factors that absolutely play a role in how much a person earns.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 17 2009, 06:17 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Money is more about mind than it is about math -- that's a core piece of my financial philosophy.
If you improve your self-esteem, if you improve your mental attitude, if you improve your knowledge, you will improve your finances. To this end, it's important to avoid negative messages about money. But it's difficult to improve your mental attitude when you are besieged by financial trolls.
What are financial trolls? Steve Pavlina writes:
Financial trolls strive to sabotage your financial pursuits. These trolls can be internal or external. They're the people who make comments like, "Wealthy people are so greedy. They only care about themselves and will take advantage of anyone to make money." Financial trolls are also the internal voices that say, "If you make too much money, people will judge you harshly for it. They'll assume that's all you care about."
In order to be successful with money, it's important to learn how to face -- and fight -- these financial trolls. If you can defeat them, you'll have a better chance of meeting your financial goals.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 10 2009, 04:52 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Kris called me at 7 the other night, just as I was sitting down to write the Friday "Ask the Readers" post. I was sorting through the week's questions when the phone rang.
"Are you busy?" she asked. "Can you do me favor?"
"Maybe," I said. "It depends on what it is."
"Ryan's car broke down," Kris said. "He's stranded here at the lab and can't get home. Can you give him a ride across town?"
"Sure," I said. But I did the mental math: The trip would take me a couple of hours. Because I hadn't yet started on the morning's post, I knew I'd be up late.
I drove to Kris' office to pick up Ryan. Ryan's a young man, just out of college. He did some temp work in the construction industry before getting a job as a scientist. He and his girlfriend are getting married in two weeks. They rented a house together and were supposed to have moved out of their apartment by tomorrow. With Ryan's car in the shop, that was going to be difficult.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 03 2009, 05:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Forbes recently published an article about all the ways your laziness is costing you. As a semi-reformed layabout (Kris would say I haven't reformed at all) I read the article with interest. I recognized some of my old money habits -- and some I still have.
Author Daniel Adler writes:
These days countless businesses make hay by taking advantage of our collective indolence -- everything from not bothering to spend 15 minutes surfing the Web for a better rate on a savings account to not taking half as much time to mail a $50 rebate on a new laptop computer.
Here are some of the ways Forbes says laziness can cost you money. (The bullet points are from Forbes, but the rest of the text is from me.)
Read More...
-
Posted
Jul 27 2009, 06:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
Previously in my semi-regular Extreme Personal Finance series, I've highlighted:
Recently, my friend Castle sent me the story of a man who makes these other folks look like spendthrifts.
The man without money
Writing for Details magazine, Christopher Ketcham profiles Daniel Suelo, the man who lives without money. From the article:
Nine years ago, in the autumn of 2000, Suelo decided to stop using money. He just quit it, like a bad drug habit. His dwelling, hidden high in a canyon lined with waterfalls, is an hour by foot from the desert town of Moab, Utah, where people who know him are of two minds: He's either a latter-day prophet or an irredeemable hobo.
Suelo lives in a small cave. Much like those in the freegan movement, he generally consumes wasted food from restaurants, grocery stores, etc. Suelo supplements his diet by foraging for plants, mushrooms -- and fresh road kill.
Read More...
More Posts Next page »
|
