Improving one’s personal finances takes some changes. The easiest ones to make are the ones that don’t seem like sacrifice, or aren’t too big a sacrifice. In our efforts to build up our savings again, we’ll try changing our milk habits. Switching from lactose-free milk in the carton to powdered milk may be a change … Read more
Last year was tougher than usual for us financially. There were a number of different factors that came together to draw down our savings substantially and caused us to get a bit too close to needing to tap into less liquid assets for current expenses. Some factors were not our doing, but others were, and … Read more
It’s 2013. We’ve successfully gotten past the Mayans, and media exposure from the Fiscal Cliff hasn’t claimed any lives that we know of. Go us. January 1st is a time for new year’s resolutions, starting afresh, all that good stuff. Here are a couple of simple suggestions for your finances as we enter the new … Read more
The Empowered Dollar had an enviable problem. She had enough cushion in savings for repayment of student loans. In the end, she decided to split the difference between paying off her student loans and depleting her savings. She “couldn’t bear to part with all” of her savings. For my two cents this was a very … Read more
This year has been a little tighter than usual for us financially for a number of reasons. Things aren’t at the point of desperation by any means, but we have had to answer some financial wake-up calls throughout the year. Not a full-out, kidney-stone-level emergency room visit, but more like acid indigestion. This appears in … Read more
My friend J Money heartily disagrees that budgets are boring. I think that budgeting can be made palatable, but fun? If anyone can hit on the magic formula that makes budgeting fun, they’ll be very rich indeed. A blogging colleague was asking around on Facebook about budgeting presentations that weren’t “boring and irrelevant for 18-22 … Read more
(This post was originally published on November 15th, 2012.) As we approach the end of the year, many of us have activities and events planned with friends and family. It’s a time set aside for getting together, looking back at how the year has passed and looking ahead to what’s to come. Traditionally it’s also … Read more
Last weekend was another gig with the ten-piece band I play with. And another charity auction with bargains to be had. After the full-contact silent auction had come and gone, I was the proud owner of a brand-new Keurig Elite for $80. I was nearly 100% sure that this model went for over $100. It … Read more