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Posted
Sep 30 2009, 10:03 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Has a charity ever pushed and annoyed you to the point that you've cut them off?
When do you draw the line at giving? When they've hired a telemarketing company that pesters you, or if they send you too much mail?
"FMF" of Free Money Finance raised the question in a recent post called "Off my giving list." He stopped giving to a group he had generously supported because a telemarketer who called his house wouldn't take no for an answer.
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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.
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Posted
Sep 25 2009, 01:52 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Chalk up another casualty of the recession: workers' health.
A new study released this week found that, despite all the concern over health care costs, the health of people with jobs is declining.
"Workers are putting in longer hours, afraid of losing their jobs. With less time to exercise, more than a third of employees report that work drains them of energy, leaving nothing for their personal lives,'' writes Cindy Krischer Goodman, who does the Work/Life Balancing Act column and blog for The Miami Herald.
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Posted
Sep 23 2009, 02:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you were born before 1955, you're part of a group that's enjoyed remarkable prosperity. Born later and you're among those who are losing ground at an accelerating pace.
USA Today analyzed U.S. Census data to track just how far incomes have fallen since 2000. The story said:
Household income for people in their peak earning years -- between ages 45 and 54 -- plunged $7,700 to $64,349 from 2000 through 2008, after adjusting for inflation. People in their 20s and 30s suffered similar drops. Older people enjoyed all the gains.
Why is this happening?
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Posted
Sep 23 2009, 07:19 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Nora Dunn at partner blog Wise Bread.
How many friendships have you lost (or almost lost) because of money? If money matters are a touchy subject to begin with, then how are we expected to navigate the murky waters of borrowing from friends?
We've all been there (on either side of the spectrum) before: A buddy asks you to spot him $20, but never seems to have the cash available to pay you back, or he continues to forget when he sees you. And when, months later, he buys a fourth round of beer in front of you without handing over the $20 that has been slowly eroding away at your sanity, you pop.
Your buddy has probably forgotten that he even owed you anything and immediately hands you the cash, but the damage has been done. Your friendship now faces trust and communication issues that may or may not be overcome.
Now, $20 is a fairly easy loan amount to forgive or forget about. But what if that $20 is $200, or even $2,000 or beyond? What tension will exist in the friendship as a result of an outstanding loan?
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Posted
Sep 17 2009, 11:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ashley Baxter has good cause to be worried about her friend. The woman has gone on a major plastic spending spree since she became unemployed five months ago.
We'd heard that such people exist but hadn't run across a case quite like this. It's one thing to maintain your normal standard of living for appearance's sake when you're jobless. That's bad. But this seems worse. Along with the $40 lunches, $300 eyelash extensions and extremely expensive handbags, the friend is now committed to an extra $300 in monthly payments on debt that she didn't have when she was working, Ashley writes at SpendOnLife.
Those aren't living expenses, folks. Is a credit card intervention in order?
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Posted
Sep 15 2009, 12:20 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The French president has suggested that economic indicators such as gross domestic product take into account some of a nation's more intangible assets: happiness, leisure time, availability of health care.
France looks pretty good by some of those indicators -- great food, beautiful buildings and countryside, a 35-hour work week and five weeks' paid vacation. Alas, using intangible features such as happiness to calculate economic statistics is probably not practical.
But we think Nicolas Sarkozy has a great point when it comes down to measuring our own personal gross domestic product. Are the things that make us happy really how much we own and how much we produce, or do other intangibles matter more? Does having a granite countertop really make people happier?
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Posted
Sep 14 2009, 02:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
How tacky is this -- or is it? You're invited to a wedding and reception, and you're expected to pay for your meal.
We've never encountered this, and neither has Mike at Clever Dude, although he considered it briefly before he got hitched. However, a friend of his was invited to a wedding for which she was asked to pay for the meal and also bring a gift.
Not cool, Mike said: "The wedding is for YOU (bride and groom). The reception is for US (friends and family)."
He added, "If I'm going to plop down $50 to $150 on a present, the least I should expect in return is a decent meal."
It's tradition, sure enough. But in these economic times, can't we all tweak our expectations a bit?
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Posted
Sep 14 2009, 09:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
Ever think about what you'd do if you could turn back the clock and be 20 again? Though I wouldn't especially want to live my life over, there are a number of money moves -- and decisions that had more influence on lifelong personal finance than I could have guessed at the time -- that I'd either not do at all or that, given a peek forward 40 years, I'd do differently.
For example:
I would have taken advanced degrees in disciplines whose graduates make decent pay. Can't say I regret having prepared for an academic career. It has allowed me to earn an adequate (not generous) living after spending way too much time as a lady of leisure.
However, I'd never recommend to a young person who wants a life in academe that she or he pursue a doctorate in the humanities. University faculty in business, engineering and law earn more than those in other disciplines. A Ph.D. in accounting can start at the assistant-professor level with a six-figure salary, and believe you me, that is one hell of a lot more than you earn teaching history or English.
Mind-numbing major? Puh-leeze! What could be more mind-numbing than postmodern theory? Oh yeah: postmodern feminist theory! Give me a bag of beans to count, any day.
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Posted
Aug 20 2009, 05:31 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Stories like this one in The Washington Post are sad and somewhat puzzling. The Post interviewed people who hid their job loss from neighbors and friends -- for instance, leaving the house in their work clothes each weekday morning and hanging out somewhere all day.
Why do people behave that way, particularly in this economy? Are they embarrassed? Do they think their layoff reflects poorly on them -- that they'd still have a job if they'd been a little bit smarter, worked longer hours, or laughed a little harder at the boss's jokes?
This quote in the story from Clinton Cole, who hid his joblessness for a couple months, is particularly telling:
There was fear that other kids wouldn't play with your kids. You won't be invited to parties or (you'll) be ostracized. Or that others would distance themselves from you because you might need help they won't be able to provide. All those thoughts race through your mind.
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