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Posted
Nov 14 2007, 11:01 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A month ago today, I became debt-free – made the last payment to a relative who had lent me some money. This loan had allowed me to throw a big chunk of cash against credit card debt accrued during divorce proceedings. (Lawyers bill by the hour, you know.) Once the credit card was paid in full, I started repaying the family loan. As money came in through diligence or chance, I’d let it build to $300 and then write a check. I'm not sure why $300 became the magic number; it just sounded good. Now I'm debt-free: no student loans (I'm blessed with a scholarship), no car payment (please let it last another six or seven years), no credit card debt (and there won't be any more). It feels about how you'd think it would: pretty darned great. 'A perpetual grin' This relative wasn’t dunning me. But it bothered me to owe money. Some people count sheep; at night I would lie in bed counting ways to stretch available funds to reach the next $300. Reading some postings from a Smart Spending message board
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Posted
Dec 07 2007, 09:30 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When I wrote "Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year" in January, I promised to check in at the end of 2007 to let readers know how I was doing.
I could never have imagined how that article would change my life. It led to additional assignments for MSN Money, and eventually to hosting this blog, for which I earn a part-time salary.
My life changed. My lifestyle didn't.
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Posted
May 06 2008, 07:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Having grown up on Long Island, I didn't have many opportunities to watch NASCAR on television, so I never truly understood the intricacies of the sport. Since college, I've come to appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR and the skill it requires. Last weekend I was watching a few laps of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and I finally understood why NASCAR fans love the sport.
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 02:08 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice.
Poke around the blogosphere and personal-finance punditocracy and you will find lots of positive references to Roth IRAs and virtually no nice things said about its dull older brother, the traditional IRA. If you didn't know any better (and why would you?) you might assume that the younger and hipper Roth IRA was the way to go. After all, it is the cool new thing and the latest in retirement savings technology.
Here's a rundown of the differences and why you are likely to want to go with the unhip kind after all.
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Posted
Jan 22 2009, 05:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Debbie Dragon at partner blog Wise Bread.
Many families make a sacrifice by having one parent stay at home to raise their children. If the stay-at-home parent remains at home and unemployed for the majority of his or her working years, what happens when the stay-at-home parent reaches retirement age?
Without employment, a stay-at-home parent isn't going to have an employer-sponsored retirement plan to help him or her out during the golden years. To open an individual retirement account, the IRS requires that you earn an income, so that's out, too. Even if you're not generating an income, you need to establish retirement savings, but with the limitations on IRAs, what are your options?
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Posted
Mar 10 2008, 09:26 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Frugal epiphanies don't always have the magnitude of a subprime mortgage crisis. Mine came last week through a package of naan at a neighborhood market.
At the time I was getting over a stomach bug, and suddenly flatbread sounded like a nice accompaniment for the chicken soup on which I'd been cautiously dining. The price was $2.19 for a bag of five.
My first instinct was, "No. You don't need to spend the money. You've got crackers at home." My second thought was, "Do I really want these? If so, then I'll buy them."
I'm now able to report that toasted naan is a nice change of pace from saltines.
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Posted
Nov 19 2008, 07:58 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Two thousand dollars fell into my lap recently. A publisher that five years ago used one of my articles in a high school literature book wanted to renegotiate the contract because the textbook is being updated.
I was shocked, and delighted. And conflicted: What should I do with the money? Read More...
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Posted
May 05 2008, 04:08 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. "Saving is the key to wealth," I wrote recently while trumpeting the extraordinary power of compound interest. "If you do not spend less than you earn, and if you do not save the difference, you cannot build the wealth you desire." The younger you are when you begin saving, the more time compounding has to work in your favor, and the wealthier you can become. "The next best thing to starting early," I wrote, "is starting now." Other options A few readers noted that while the mathematics of compounding makes sense, it's not motivational for those too old to take advantage of its full force. "This is pretty depressing for those of us who spent our 20s with practically no income thanks to universities," wrote one reader. Her sentiments were echoed by several others.
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Posted
Mar 23 2009, 04:15 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
This month's statement from Fidelity shows another $10,000 loss in my big IRA, despite my financial advisers' having moved as much as possible into conservative investments, gold and cash.
At the age of 63 -- damn! soon to be 64! -- I'm watching my retirement investments melt away. That IRA has dropped in value from a high of $326,000 to $193,000. Total savings have dropped from more than $600,000 to less than $420,000. Meanwhile, we owe $100,000 more than the investment house is presently worth, and I took out a second on my own house to renovate said investment.
I'm wondering if it's time to do something completely, utterly, totally contrarian. Hang on to your hats, folks, because this is one scary idea:
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 05:44 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Financial news can be dangerous to the health of your investment portfolio. I spent some time recently reading articles about the stock market. What I found was mostly hysterical hype ("Gasp! Dow Jones Industrials tumble 400 points!"). All the financial stories seemed to be written as if our investment horizons were days, not years. No wonder people panic when the stock market hits a rocky patch. But do daily market movements -- even 400-point drops -- really matter? How important is up-to-date financial news to the average investor?
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