I’ve been hearing “it’s cute that you tell us to have discipline, but I’m going to spend this holiday season.” I’ve also heard “I have the money to spend, but I still want to be savvy with it. How can I get the best out of my money?” Basically that’s saying how can you stretch it and get the most for every dollar you spend. Whichever category you fall into,…
I decreased my food budget by 79% and it didn’t have much to do with couponing. Food can be one of the more expensive categories in your monthly budget. It’s not a fixed expense, the amount is dependent on you. But that’s also the problem, the amount is dependent on you. I review my budget every month to see how well I did with sticking to my estimated amounts. As…
I’ve seen a number of articles announcing that you can now pay for your airline tickets using a payment plan. I’ve been people exclaim “awesome, great idea! I’m definitely going to use this!” My reaction? I cringed. Hard. No seriously, I cringed really hard and thought about the trouble this will bring. These aren’t payment plans in the strictest sense of the word. You’re not taking the amount that…
As The Money Scientist, of course people talk personal and business finance with me all the time. I get to hear people brag about great deals they’ve found. I hear about personal finance stories of triumph and failure, lessons learned. I also hear so many personal finance myths that masquerade as truth. These myths are causing damage. They hinder your wealth building and quest for financial freedom and security. …
Are you familiar with the common phrase when you know better do better? If only it was that easy. Sometimes you know of actions that you should take to better your health, better your career, progress your money or advance your business, but you simply don’t have the funds in order to do it. How can you afford the services and items you want or need? How can you…
Summer is coming to a close. Every year you prepare yourself for cooler temperatures, getting children ready for school, school buses on the road, and to rake leaves and warm the car in the mornings. As you prepare for the changes to your routine you also need to get your money prepared for new expenses and do a financial fitness check up. 1) Check your home. Check the insulation on…
The time for college drop offs and last summer vacations is fast approaching. It can be very tempting and seem almost unavoidable to spend a lot of money on the travel, accommodations or eating when visiting a different city or place. However, instead of thinking of it as the last large expense of the summer and unavoidable or a reason to go all out, let’s talk about how you can…
Here is the U.S., summer is quickly coming to a close. Many great things happen around this time, one of which is Tax Free Weekend. Tax Free Weekend is when the government gives it’s hard working taxpayers a break on necessary items and eliminates sales taxes for a weekend. The first sales tax free weekend was in New York state in 1997. This is done to promote shopping or consumerism…
Technology is advancing at an increasingly fast pace, which causes the turnover for electronics to also increase. New electronics come out every few months and many only last for 2-4 years before you have to replace it. The average lifespan of a smart phone is 18 months. The average lifespan of a desktop computer is 3-5 years. Most laptops are replaced before they become obsolete (better software usually requires a…
Money management requires some discipline. Personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% knowledge, so that behavior needs to include some discipline about spending, saving and tracking your money. This normally includes developing a touch of frugality. Don’t immediately think miserly ways, think ability to make sound economic decisions about money. Think luxury in frugal living, spending more on the things that are important to you and less on the things…
