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Posted
Sep 23 2008, 05:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Vh" at Funny about Money and other bloggers focused a critical eye on their finances after another blogger raised a serious issue: If you were to cut back, which regular bills could you stop paying? This exercise would force you to make some tough decisions, too. But isn't it better to do it now than when you really have to? The first to go on vh's list would be a catch-all category that includes newspapers, magazines, clothes and miscellaneous junk, followed by the yard man, and life and long-term-care insurance. In fact, in a worst-case scenario, this Phoenix resident figures she could pare nonfood expenses down to $857 a month. (She owns her house.)
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Posted
Sep 05 2008, 01:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Like lots of people, "The Debt Defier" and his clan jumped on the Netflix bandwagon when it first showed up. They happily ordered movie after movie, turning every weekend night into movie night. Then real life caught up, and they moved on to other things. Finally, DD reviewed their Netflix account, which cost them $4.95 a month. "Since January 2007 we had only returned/rented 10 movies," he wrote in a post at The Happy Rock. "Ten movies in 20 months. Ten movies for $100 -- $10 a movie. We were probably Netflix's favorite customers." It was time to cut the cord.
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Posted
Aug 13 2008, 10:50 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Kimberly Palmer at U.S. News & World Report went to the Web to find extreme savings ideas, and she came up with some doozies. At the top of her list: Baking Bites' instructions for baking cookies on the dashboard of your hot car. Our pick for most extreme is moving in with the parental units, no matter how old you are.
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Posted
Aug 11 2008, 05:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What do you have to show for your last few pay raises (assuming you've been getting some)? Not sure, eh? Todd at Harvesting Dollars has a plan for getting real value from those raises while amassing retirement savings and preventing the insidious, invisible creep of lifestyle inflation. He calls it the Save Your Raise finance game.
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Posted
Jul 30 2008, 01:36 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Jesse at You Need a Budget is a personal-finance blogger -- not a marriage counselor. But he has some exceptional advice for couples who don't see eye to eye about money in a post called "The one secret to money in marriage." Actually, his headline is an understatement because his post has lots of fine advice. For instance, ask yourself this question from Jesse: "What do you hear when your spouse tells you 'money is tight.' Do you hear blame or shared concern?"
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Posted
Jul 24 2008, 11:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Every little bit helps if you're trying to stretch your money, and it's even better if you can accomplish savings with little effort. For instance: How long will it take you to put a dry towel in the dryer with a load of wet wash? Jeffrey Strain at Saving Advice says you can reduce your drying time by 10% by implementing this little trick. It's from his excellent post called "25 ways to improve your financial situation in under 10 minutes."
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 11:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We like the new blogger who posts at Sallie's Niece. She "went to school thanks to my Aunt Sallie Mae," her site says. "Now watch me struggle to pay and pay." She owes $72,735 to Sallie Mae, and that's not including a nearly equal amount in private loans. Sometimes it is a struggle. She has done battle with the "Evil Overdraft Monster" and payday loans. Her latest nemesis -- now vanquished after two years -- was the gyros truck outside her workplace. "At five days a week for three months each year, I am just now realizing that I spent $900, a whole emergency fund's worth of George Washingtons, on very thinly cut lamb rolled in pita bread with some tomatoes and onions!" Our foodie heart goes out to you, Sallie's Niece.
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Posted
Jul 07 2008, 09:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Recession. Not a recession. Whatever label you put on the economy, "people are hurting financially," "Frugal Dad" says. He provides 75 tips for cutting back to help your budget withstand the impact of $4-plus gas, higher food prices and our other economic ills. We love compilations like this because you can print them out and put them on the fridge. Frugal Dad covers a lot of ground here, and has some ideas we hadn't considered. He cuts bottled juice with water to make it last twice as long. To save money but salvage his social life, he meets friends after the dinner hour. Eating out, after all, can be a mighty budget buster.
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Posted
Jul 01 2008, 04:54 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a clever budgeting aid from Chris at Cheaperversion: Create a do-not-buy list. "The purpose of a do-not-buy list is to banish the idea of purchasing unneeded items from your monthly budget," Chris writes. Although Chris doesn't spell them out, there seem to be some unwritten rules here: Your list has to contain stuff you really want, but you're also allowed to buy cheaper or better-for-you alternatives, or the same product in smaller amounts. For instance, the top two items on Chris' list are 24-packs of beer (a 12-pack is on his weekend to-buy list) and "high-calorie" cookies (we're assuming cookies "lite" are OK).
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Posted
Jun 20 2008, 05:40 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"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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