(This is a guest post by Jon from Money Smart Guides, which encourages people to pay off their debt and invest in their future. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!) Over the course of my 34 year life, I’ve made plenty of boneheaded mistakes, like the time I just … Read more
Posts regularly make the rounds in personal finance blogs about the cost of pets. Pets are expensive. There’s no doubt about that whatsoever. I didn’t grow up with pets. I married a dog person (to the core), so her dogs moved in when she did. Dogs have helped my wife get through some of the … Read more
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression: “You get what you pay for.” Usually there’s a very good reason that something is so inexpensive. It’s essentially disposable, it tastes awful, or will fail exactly at the time when you need it to work. The same can be said for services. A bargain basement wedding photographer might … Read more
Some ways of saving money may be more trouble than they’re worth. There is always a tradeoff between time and money and in the end it’s not always a good idea to squeeze every last cent out of every purchase. There are other ways to save money that are really, really easy, and hardly take … Read more
The following is a guest post from SB as part of a Yakezie blog swap. SB blogs at One Cent at a Time. My guest post on the same topic is up at his blog so, please check it out! I sincerely thank John for allowing me to guest post on his fabulous blog today. … Read more
Odds are excellent that you’ve seen this happen, or had it happen to you. You go to a vending machine (hungry), stare over the array of junky food and candy inside, make a selection, put your money in, and … … the machine jams, or your selection gets wedged in between the coil and the … Read more
Being careless with spending on food can be a budget-buster. If there’s enough cushion in your budget that you can be a bit careless, that’s great, but when a pinch happens, careful grocery purchasing could be the difference between staying out of the hole and getting into one. Cutting the fat out of a grocery … Read more
On the way up to my parents’ house recently, we took some time in the trip to review and discuss our personal finance plan. It wasn’t too complicated: Build up an emergency fund of $5,000. Further accelerate paying down our van loan. Build up savings for the next vehicle, and further accelerate paying down the … Read more