Browse by Tags

Sort by: Date | Rating | Most viewed | Most commented

• On $11 an hour, Jersey man made millions

  Posted Jan 17 2008, 11:29 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: college, savings, financial planning, real estate, rich, donations
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Paul Navone is one of those quiet millionaires next door. His friends had no idea he had money until he started giving it away -- $1 million to a college and another $1 million to a prep school. The 78-year-old retiree never made more than $11 an hour while working in the New Jersey mills, according to a story by Joe Logan in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and to this day Navone buys his clothing at thrift stores, and doesn't have a TV or a phone.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 2,987 comments) 1,331,498 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Pay down debt, reclaim your life in 2008

  Posted Dec 31 2007, 05:32 AM by Donna Freedman
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, credit, savings, Donna Freedman, financial planning, credit cards
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Just before Christmas, an Associated Press article reported that Americans are losing the battle with credit-card debt. We're falling behind on payments, and defaults and delinquencies are increasing rapidly.

  The subprime mortgage mess is partly to blame, economists say. But they also cite "America's long-standing attitude that debt -- even high-interest credit card debt -- is not a big deal."

  Howard Dvorkin, the founder of a Florida credit counseling service, put it this way: "The desire of consumers to want, want, want, spend, spend, spend -- it's the fabric of our nation."

  Dvorkin's words irritated the heck out of me. Unfortunately, they happen to be true.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 349 comments) 230,356 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• The best recession-proof jobs

  Posted Nov 24 2008, 06:57 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: family, Get Rich Slowly, financial planning, love and money, getting started, education, income, economy
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  In "The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets" (which I recently reviewed), author Peter Schiff provides a list of the best jobs to beat the economic collapse he predicts is just around the corner. "I foresee the following as the 10 strongest professions and industries over the coming decade and beyond," he writes.

  His list:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 249 comments) 232,343 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• You can live without borrowing money

  Posted Oct 07 2008, 05:06 PM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: credit, savings, Karen Datko, budgeting, financial planning
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Too much credit and then a shortage thereof might be sinking the economy, but the personal attitude of blogger "NCN" is "Credit? Who needs it." He hasn't borrowed money in any form or fashion for four years -- and that includes using a credit card.

  Remarkably, he's even saving up to buy a house with cash. Is this a radical approach that's impossible for most people, or an idea whose time has come? Either way, he explains how to do it.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 214 comments) 100,519 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• When will things get better? (And how bad are they now?)

  Posted Sep 29 2008, 07:54 AM by Donna Freedman
  Rating:
  Filed under: spending, family, savings, divorce, Donna Freedman, budgeting, financial planning, bills, economy
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  I've been very nervous about money lately. Who hasn't? But my jitters aren't solely the result of the recent Wall Street turmoil and bailout babble. For me, and maybe for you, financial angst has been building for a while. Talk of a bailout is merely the insult that tops a series of injuries.
  

  Here's my list: Last week my bank, Washington Mutual, failed. The apartment building I manage is about to be sold, so my job is up in the air. My monthly health insurance premium rose a startling $119 overnight. I had to write a check for quarterly income taxes. The alimony ends in six months. A credit card statement for almost $3,000 arrived in Friday's mail, and it's due three days before payday. The money left over from my educational grant was 75% lower than I'd expected.
  

  Bills are showing up for my colonoscopy (can't skip this since there's a major family history of colon cancer) plus the three doctor visits and numerous tests it took to deal with a recent, unrelated health problem -- and I have a $1,500 deductible. Underlying it all is the fact that I'm almost 51 years old and I haven't had a "real" job since November 2002.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 126 comments) 51,240 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Yogi Berra's 7 secrets to building wealth

  Posted Jan 02 2008, 05:08 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: retirement, savings, The Dough Roller, tips, financial planning
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

  The simple truths in life are the most profound. Take Warren Buffett, for example. He can summarize all the investing advice anybody would ever need in a single sentence: "We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." And in case you haven't noticed, Wall Street is fearful right now.

  Buffett isn't the only smart guy around. It turns out that famed Yankee catcher Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is pretty smart, too. Let's see what seven secrets he can teach us about money and investing.

  "I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early." You will make mistakes when you're investing. Even Buffett has made mistakes, including (as he acknowledges) his 1993 purchase of Dexter Shoe. I've certainly made mistakes, including the purchase of my first mutual fund, which came with a 5.75% front load and hefty yearly expenses. Ouch! But just like Yogi, get on the investing train early, and you can still reach your destination on time.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 80 comments) 240,906 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• 12 money mistakes people make over and over

  Posted Oct 31 2008, 05:10 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: spending, family, savings, The Simple Dollar, budgeting, financial planning
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar.

  I get tons of e-mail from people describing the personal-finance problems in their lives. Not only that, but as The Simple Dollar has become more popular, I've had more opportunities to talk about personal finance with people face to face.

  What amazes me is that the same problems pop up time and time again. Sure, the specifics of the stories change, as does the severity of the situations, but the same items come up.

  I'm not immune to them, either. At the time of my own financial meltdown, I was guilty of a majority of these things. It was only due to a commitment to fixing my financial situation that I was able to overcome these mistakes and set them right.

  Here they are, the 12 biggest mistakes I hear about time and time again.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 77 comments) 191,915 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• The dirty secrets of debt reduction

  Posted Aug 04 2008, 06:06 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, spending, credit, Get Rich Slowly, financial planning, emergency fund, debt reduction
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  When I was a sophomore in college, I got my first credit card. I thought it was awesome -- it was like free money. Soon I got another credit card, and before long I'd maxed them both out. I entered the work force with a handicap. I had the start of a nasty credit habit.

  My parents had never been good with money, and as a result I had no notion of proper financial skills. I made some bad decisions, which were in turn compounded by some rotten luck. Just five years after graduation, I had about $20,000 in credit card debt. For the next decade I tried to kick the habit. Sometimes I'd make progress, but then I'd find other ways to fall behind.

  Here are some of the mistakes I made along the way and the steps I took to correct them.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 77 comments) 92,332 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Tyler Durden’s guide to personal finance

  Posted Sep 16 2009, 02:09 PM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: spending, family, budgeting, financial planning, getting started
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This guest post comes from Baker at Man vs. Debt.

  I think I'm going to enjoy writing this much more than you enjoy reading it.

  For those of you who aren't familiar with Tyler Durden, he is an essential character in "Fight Club," which is both a novel and movie. While the novel came a few years before, the movie escalated into a cult classic in the years following its DVD release. If you aren't familiar with the character, well ... we should probably part ways here. 

  For those who are still with me, let's get some things out of the way. We aren't going to be talking about masculinity, violence, mental disorders, religion, or even politics. Those themes run rampant through the movie and have been discussed in great length and detail by individuals much smarter and more witty than me.

  Instead, we are going to have fun. We are going to dive into some of Tyler's most famous quotes (from the movie) and attempt to pull any applicable personal-finance wisdom from them. The movie's strong anti-consumerism message will make some of these very easy, while others may seem like more of a stretch. I'll let you decide.

  Here are Tyler's thought on a wide variety of personal-finance themes:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 75 comments) 45,932 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Harness the stunning power of financial regret

  Posted Oct 08 2008, 04:48 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: college, retirement, The Dough Roller, financial planning, education
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.

  Regret over past financial decisions can have a powerful hold on you.

  At 23, you may regret running up $20,000 in credit card debt during college. At 35, you may regret never having gone to college. At 45, you may regret having never started that consulting business you always dreamed of pursing. And at 65, you may regret not having saved more for retirement. In recent days, many financial chickens have come home to roost.

  Regret, financial or otherwise, can have a powerful grip on your life. For most, the question is not whether you have financial regret. The question is how you harness the power of that regret to make sound financial decisions today that you will not regret tomorrow.

  Here are some ideas to help you do just that:   Read More...

  Discuss ( 70 comments) 45,132 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this