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Posted
Jan 12 2009, 12:19 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What did Paul Williams of Crackerjack Greenback do to keep from crying after he was laid off? He prayed and then told family and close friends. "Those two actions will give you the energy you need to keep going forward," he wrote.
Being upfront with those close to you about your unemployed state is essential for your mental well-being, many bloggers advise. On the other hand, screaming at your boss may give you some momentary satisfaction, but don't do it. "Now is not the time to burn bridges," says an excellent post at Destroy Debt called "What to do if you get laid off."
(Maintaining composure may be all the more difficult if you're laid off by mass e-mail or IM, or read about it at your boss's blog -- all true stories, according to Linton Weeks' post at NPR. So much for the human touch.)
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Posted
May 14 2008, 08:19 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Wouldn't we all love to have this dilemma? Inspired by a letter to the editor at Money magazine, "Flexo" at Consumerism Commentary wonders when it's appropriate to tell your boyfriend/girlfriend that you're wealthy. The letter writer apparently had been burned by some guy looking for a sugar momma. Flexo says, "It's probably not appropriate if you're on the first few dates, but if you're starting to pick out rings or talk about living together, I don't see how these decisions can be made without full financial disclosure."
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Posted
Feb 08 2008, 05:04 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. Readers often leave comments at The Simple Dollar complaining that they make frugal choices, but their spouses see their savings not as a long-term financial benefit but as more money to spend right now. Thus, their frugal ways go without a long-term reward. They're careful about spending their money, but their bank account balances don't grow. I'm lucky. My wife is very frugal, and we share the same philosophy. In fact, she's probably more frugal than I am. Her only weakness is books, but she participates in PaperBackSwap to keep the cost low. She's in line with my goals: freedom from debt, saving for major purchases so we don't have more debt. Our goal as a family is to eliminate all of our debt by my 40th birthday. Unfortunately, many people aren't in such a lucky situation. They may be in sync with their spouses in a number of ways, but in terms of personal spending, they're in different worlds. Naturally, the frugal spouse is going to be frustrated, watching his or her efforts dissipate in a spending binge. On the other hand, the spending spouse probably feels frustration too, because his or her partner won't "live a little."
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Posted
Jan 17 2008, 07:04 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Filed under: college, debt, marriage, The Dough Roller, student loans, children, getting started, stocks, mutual funds, frugal, cars
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. The best thing about being 40 is having survived your 20s and 30s. And at 40, I'm considered an old-timer in the personal-finance blogging community. Reflecting back on the past 20 years, I realize that I've learned a thing or two that I wish (oh, how I wish) I had known when I was 20. Here they are, in no particular order: School loans are like a bad date -- easy to get, but hard to get rid of. At 40, I still have more than $20,000 in school loans. Education is important, but I spent far more money during school than I needed to spend. Compounding, like the 1970s Big Red Machine, is pure magic. Assuming you retire at 65 and earn a 10% return on your investments, $1 invested when you're 20 will be worth 2.5 times more than $1 invested when you're 30, 6.5 times more than $1 invested when you're 40, and 18 times more than $1 invested when you're 50.
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Posted
Jul 27 2008, 12:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The headline on JW's post at We Need To Be Debt Free says it all: "What's the use?" He's been working hard to aggressively pay off about $41,000 in non-mortgage debt, and then his wife revealed at a marriage-counseling session that she's been hiding -- and using -- two credit cards. "When she mentioned it, I felt completely broadsided. It was like being run over by a truck," he wrote. The damage to his debt-reduction plans? Just over $4,300.
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Posted
Dec 26 2007, 05:35 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. It's been said that money is the No. 1 cause of divorce. Or to say it another way: Marriage is about love, divorce is about money. To that we may add that money is the No. 1 cause of turmoil in a marriage. Strife over money can last years in a marriage if not properly addressed and, short of divorce, can drive a wedge between a husband and wife. This doesn't have to be, and so here are eight tips on fighting with your spouse over money. Honestly examine your own attitudes about money. We all have different views and attitudes about money -- how it should be spent, saved, given and so on. Before raising a difficult money issue with your spouse, honestly re-examine your approach and feelings about the issue. You may just find that you need to change as much as or more than your spouse. And if not, it will better prepare you for an open-minded discussion when you do raise the issue.
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Posted
Dec 26 2007, 05:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Abby Freedman, a freelance writer and daughter of Smart Spending blogger Donna Freedman. An MSN article about portion sizes got me thinking about the economics of eating. Food is, arguably, one of the most expensive aspects of modern life, whether you make your meals at home or eat out. We order our days around meal breaks. We deny ourselves some foods and force others down our throats -- when was the last time someone willingly ate a rice cake? Finally, we pay tons of money to gyms so that we can work off all that food. I don't have diet foods or delivered meals worked into my spending plan. But I do have to fit into a wedding gown in 5½ months. So I decided to try a little experiment with portion size, and see if I couldn't make food a bit more affordable at the same time.
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Posted
Apr 09 2008, 05:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When we read about Amy's plans for her wedding at My Daily Dollars, we wanted to be invited. This excellent post explains how you can celebrate in an incredible setting with fabulous food for less than $5,000. First of all, decide what your wedding means to you. "When I imagined my wedding day, what always got me the most excited was the fact that it will be one of the few times in my life that many of the people I love will be in one place at the same time," Amy writes. "Once I had that in mind, other things started to fall into place." Base the theme on the location, not the other way around. It takes a lot of money to transform a boring social hall into a special place. Her wedding and a "scrumptious picnic reception" will be at a lodge in the state park where she and her fiance had one of their first dates. She adds, "I'm planning for a hike down to the river in my wedding dress."
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Posted
Sep 12 2008, 01:36 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme is about to cut his already spartan monthly living expenses in half. How? He and his wife are moving into an RV. This blog is called Early Retirement Extreme for a reason. Jacob, a guy in his early 30s, spent five years saving and investing 70% of his income on his way to a goal of quitting the rat race, and now he's going to save even more.
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Posted
Feb 03 2009, 01:52 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
Baby boomers have been receiving a lot of criticism in recent months for their collective contributions to our country's economic problems.
First, we are blamed for an extreme amount of debt-driven consumption that inflated highly leveraged real estate and credit bubbles. Second, we are now being blamed for an excess of saving when many so-called economic experts are calling for increased consumer spending. In general, boomers are probably guilty on both counts.
I have a suggestion.
Instead of wasting energy hurling insults at financially irresponsible baby boomers, why don't we make a list of all the money mistakes that were made by the boomer generation? The younger folks can read the list and then pledge "never again." I hereby volunteer to start the list of boomer mistakes. Here we go:
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