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Posted
Sep 17 2008, 10:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ron Haynes at The Wisdom Journal is almost ready to bet the farm that you aren't doing everything you could to better manage your money. Doing our best to make every penny count could provide a greater sense of security as we collectively ride an economic roller coaster. So we took him up on the challenge and reviewed his "50 frugal things you aren't doing." He's right. We're not doing all we can.
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Posted
Apr 21 2008, 06:36 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. Stories about national economic woe abound. I've had conversations with a few of my friends about the mortgage mess, about recession and a possible bear market, and about the nature of poverty. The economy is sour in the United States (and elsewhere in the world), and this frightens many people.
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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
Aug 27 2008, 05:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. You've decided to invest in your future. You've picked the perfect mutual fund. You're ready to go. Now what? How do you actually go about buying shares of a mutual fund? The good news is that buying shares is quick and easy. If you've never invested in a mutual fund outside of your employer's 401(k), the process can seem overwhelming. But the truth is that for DIY investors there are only two options to consider, and both options are inexpensive. I'll cover them both in this article.
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Posted
Mar 18 2009, 02:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Another blogger has joined the tiny chorus of personal-finance writers outraged about what The New York Times calls the "newest frontier" in debt collecting -- going after debts of the dead.
Why the outrage? These bill collectors are asking surviving family members to pay when they're often under no legal obligation to do so.
"Is this the height of tackiness or what?" said Andrea of Fools and Sages in a post called "From dead to worse."
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Posted
Feb 20 2008, 05:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Shana at Smart Easy Money knows it can be tiresome -- even patronizing -- to say something like "If I knew at your age what I know now." But Shana, at the ripe old age of 37, manages to explain 10 financial lessons she wishes she'd known in her 20s with humor and good grace. Lesson One: "Save early and often." Shana regrets that she didn't contribute to a 401(k) until she was 29, and then put in only 4%. She adds: "Well, I did have a 401(k) for about 15 minutes when I was 23, but I'd only contributed about $20. By the time I paid the fees for cashing it out (when I left the job), it was only about $3."
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Posted
Jan 09 2008, 05:34 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Have you seen this episode of "The Office"? Michael, worried about his money (or lack thereof), tells officemates he's declaring bankruptcy. Oscar schools Michael on money, using a three-column spreadsheet to illustrate Michael's spending. One column is for necessities, one is for wants, and the third and largest is what he has spent on things he doesn't need. We can learn a lot from this, writes RacerX of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money. "In other words," RacerX writes, "a trip to Europe is a desire, contributing to my IRA so I don't eat dog food when I am 70 is a want, much less making sure I have my own shelter (a need)."
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Posted
Mar 27 2009, 06:37 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Picking your first mutual fund is kind of like a first date -- scary at first, but later you wonder what all the fuss was about. And with the recent market volatility, investing in the stock market can be downright horrifying.
A couple years ago, a close relative spent some time with my family and me. We'll call her Susie (not her real name). Susie was 31, had one daughter (cute as can be), and had no retirement savings (not so cute). Her employer not only offered a 401(k), but also matched 100% of all contributions up to 6% of Susie's pay.
We got to talking about why she'd never starting saving for retirement, and her answer was illuminating -- she was intimidated.
Sure, there were times when money was tight, but one of the biggest hurdles for her was not knowing what to invest in. We spent about 30 minutes looking over her investment options, and I'm happy to report that she enrolled in her company's Fidelity 401(k) plan and began contributing 7% of her gross pay.
If you or somebody you know is in a situation similar to Susie's, this article is for you.
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Posted
Jan 24 2008, 01:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Jeremy at Generation X Finance writes that the 401(k) debit card is "probably one of the worst ideas ever." This increasingly popular card allows you to tap your retirement account for any kind of purchase, including your silliest impulse buys. "That's right," Jeremy writes. "Now people can go shopping for that big-screen HDTV and instead of using a credit card or money they have in the bank, they can just swipe their 401(k) debit card and use those funds."
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Posted
Aug 06 2008, 06:23 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life. We live with them all the time -- those money leaks that burn holes in our pockets ever so slowly. Often, we find ourselves spending a little bit here and there, and before we know it, we're scratching our heads wondering where our money went. But it could be worse: Our credit card bills can grow to the point when they can be unmanageable, a situation we should all try to avoid before debt becomes too overwhelming to handle. At my household, we're trying much harder to be economical as we face financial uncertainties over the next few years. Both my husband and I are now self-employed and facing a short-term income shortfall until we get our business ventures off the ground. This has prompted us to work on optimizing our family budget much more carefully and to keep a closer eye on those extra costs that add up. In doing so, I've realized something -- that money leaks don't just lead to growing debt. It has dawned on me that even if we can seemingly afford these small outlays -- what's an extra $2 for a pack of gum and a bottle of Calistoga? -- the money we spend actually has an opportunity cost, which in itself can be quite huge.
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