Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck

at November 25, 2008 in Carnivals. 0 Comments

I’ve just arrived in Florida for some time with the extended family en route to another large Turkey-day dinner. While here, I was excited to see my post from last week titled Traffic and Spending together on the Ones was named an editor’s pick in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Living Almost Large.

My favorite other article from the carnival is one that makes you laugh while you cry: The 12 Days of Christmas During a Recession. I’ve always enjoyed well-crafted parodies. Hope you like it too.

Also, check out this article about student loans at the Wall Street Journal. Anybody else think that Vegas is the answer to big education debt?

Finally, saving your third helping for lunch Friday is not the missing 11th Saving Strategy. As a reminder, here are numbers one through ten.

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Carnival, US News

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at November 12, 2008 in Carnivals and Media. 1 Comment

Aloha from Hawaii. Just reading through this week’s carnival of personal finance.

You: From Hawaii? Pathetic.

Not arguing. Nonetheless, I was excited to see that my post Toilet Paper as an Economic Indicator was there. Also, an interview I did with Kimberly Palmer at her US News Alpha Consumer blog was posted last night. In it, I speak extensively about writing Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck, the importance of emotional connetion, and ways to enjoy free stuff. It’s a good read - check it out.

"financial education"

Quitting takes a cushion

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at November 3, 2008 in Carnivals. 1 Comment

I’m lucky. I have the greatest job in the world.

You: Seriously?

Okay, I can’t prove it, but that’s how it feels most days. I spend all my waking business time helping people help themselves through financial literacy. It’s truly a great field to be in. So, while I was breezing through this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, I was intrigued by an article titled Now May Be a Good Time to Quit Your Job. After all, I’ve quit jobs before.

What a great read!

You: That’s a pretty enthusiastic response. Are you quitting?

Heck no. But it was a good reminder of why I love what I’m doing and that, if I no longer felt that way, I’d probably stop. Take a look at that article, but remember, as I commented on the post, one’s ability to keep in balance in his/her non-financial life is only made possible by having the savings cushion necessary to take a time-out.

# # #

Today, I have something else I want to share. Although I typically limit my suggested articles to a grand total of one, this week I want to share a second, very short, very poignant posting titled Being poor is a state of mind. This post could have just as easily been titled Being Rich is a State of Mind, and it serves as a good reminder for anyone feeling sorry for themselves because of the recent increased financial pressure we are all feeling.

Of course, if you missed my post Pay less for the same, that too is featured in this week’s carnival, so take a look.

"financial education"

The White Mountains are beautiful - and inexpensive

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at October 20, 2008 in Carnivals. 1 Comment

I hope you had a nice weekend. Aside from sports (Michigan got killed and the Red Sox finally succumbed in Game 7) I had a great weekend. My family and I went to the White Mountains and had a wonderful time. The girls just love the outdoors, especially hiking. Thanks to hotel points, the whole weekend cost less than $100 (including several meals, a bunch of hikes, and a tank of gas) yet we made memories all weekend long. It’s such a treat to see how much a three-year old can look forward to climbing a mountain! Indeed, although we were gone less than 36 hours, it was like a month in the “recharge” department.

Although this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance provides links to dozens of excellent financial planning articles, Don’t get screwed by your landlord. Top Tips is my favorite article. Of course, if you missed my post, Return of premium term life insurance overview, last week, the Carnival provides another great opportunity to understand that product.

"financial education"

Driving home the basics

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at October 16, 2008 in Car and Carnivals. 1 Comment

Continuing on our theme of basics, I read one particularly good article at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance: The article, written by Fiscal Zen, is 25 Savvy Tips for Car Buyers and Owners

As you know, there are always great articles at the Carnival of Personal Finance, this week including my post discussing how The world is not ending: Three days with 3,200 financial planners, but I always try to be realistic with my recommendations, so I only put out one suggested reading from that source each week. Fiscal Zen’s post is perfect because there is something in there for anybody who has or uses a car (which is about 99% of the people I know).

You: Who are the other 1%?

My cousins, who live in NYC. (Thanks for asking.) But for everyone else, there’s bound to be useful information there that will save you money. It’s the kind of stuff that makes it easier to live fiscally responsibly without being cheap. It’s basics. It’s what we all need to get back to. A car is a great way to start the trip.

"financial education"

Why does it always take a crisis?

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at September 29, 2008 in Carnivals. 1 Comment

Human nature is amusing sometimes.

You: Don’t you mean “amazing?”

Not this time. Whether it be the health and safety of an individual or the foreign affairs or financial stature of a global superpower, it always seems to take a crisis for people to really start to care enough to put aside their differences in order to get something meaningful done.

You: And even then it might not happen.

Very true. And of course, the fix is to the last or current crisis, setting the stage for the next one. . .

Anyway, it looks like they (Congress, the President, the Fed, the lobbyists, etc.) are going to work out a deal, but I’ve heard that before. We shall see. I’m just glad I don’t have to work on that today. You probably don’t either - can you imagine a Congressperson reading this instead of working on the deal? Get back to work! I’ll take the ratings hit for the sake of my country.

You: You’re a true patriot.

Ha. Anyway, consider taking a few minutes to read this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Debt Kid. In addition to my article demonstrating how the first time home buyer tax credit that isn’t really a tax credit, there are over 50 additional useful articles. My personal favorite, albeit on the longer side, is Simple Dollar’s 12 biggest personal finance mistakes people make over and over again.

It’s a shame, but it’s true. Better to learn from someone else’s mistakes, don’t you think? Take note future large economies of the world . . .

"financial education"

From the markets to credit reports

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at September 22, 2008 in Carnivals and Debt management. 0 Comments

What a crazy week it was in the market. Yet, as you’ve no doubt heard, the Dow Jones wound up down less than a percentage point last week. Yet with the extreme volatility, there was plenty of pain inflicted along the way.

Personally, I made no trades last week. None. But trading volume was at records. Sure, most of it was by Wall Street types, but it wasn’t exclusively so. In fact, yesterday, while I was reading Friday’s Wall Street Journal -

You: Yesterday was Sunday.

I am aware of that. I have two small kids, remember?

You: Can that be an excuse for everything?

Do you have kids yet?

You: No.

Just wait. Anyway, I was reading an article and it spoke about how one investor had sold a substantial percentage of his stock holdings at the opening on Thursday because he couldn’t stomach the losses. Now, since this article was written on Thursday for Friday publication, what the writer didn’t discuss was the fact that this individual investor locked in his losses. He wasn’t around for Thursday and Friday’s enormous gains which, my guess is, will both be among the top 10 or 20 days of the DECADE. He missed them both because he timed the market. Bad move. (And I’d be saying the same thing if the market went way down Thursday or Friday. True, he would have been luckier, but it would still have been a bad move.)

But that’s enough about the market for today, because that’s all anyone is talking about. Carnivals are more fun, aren’t they? This week’s carnival of personal finance was just posted by Sound Money Matters and featured my answer to the question What should I do with my raise?

The best other article out there for the week - a quick read and a reminder that no good deed goes unpunished - is Taking Charge’s post You are your own best credit repair company which shows (in a cross between a Top 10 list and bad poetry):

You really do need to check your credit report
From all three credit bureaus
Once a year.
You may find errors,
You’ll have to do the research - yet
Even if you’re right
You have to get them to do their job.
They probably won’t
So you’ll have to do it for them.
It will be worth it.

I wish it weren’t so. But it is.

"financial education"

Who wins when your flight is delayed?

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Are You Throwing Money Away? Unused Expenses and Untapped Discounts

at September 15, 2008 in Carnivals and Ranting. 1 Comment

You: The airlines?

No.

You: The passengers?

You’re kidding, right?

You: The bartenders?

Bingo! My 8:50 PM scheduled flight departure Friday evening had an actual “wheels up” time of 12:55 AM. That’s a pretty long delay, even in my extensive travel history. But the good news was that I wasn’t stuck on the plane the whole time.

You: How did you avoid that?

Easy. There was no plane - it was in Ohio.

You: And you weren’t?

Nope. I was in Philadelphia. There’s one good thing about being out of town, I have learned, when it is raining cats and dogs causing your flight to be delayed.

You: One thing, huh? That’s a longer list than I would have expected. What is it?

The local baseball team has a good shot of being rained out.

You: So?

The Red Sox game might be on.

You: Ah.

So a bunch of us baseball fans passed a few hours watching the Red Sox game and came to the conclusion (confirmed by our friendly bartender) that heinous flight delays are a boondoggle for the bartenders, since people just sit around and drink like fish watch baseball.

Speaking of carnivals -

You: What?

Hey, I’m still tired.

You: Is that what you call it?

Yes. Fatigue. So this week’s carnival of personal finance once again includes my article about Where will the next bubble come from?

You: We could use a bubble right about now.

Indeed, a crazy weekend on Wall Street and an interesting opening this morning.

While there are plenty of great articles at the carnival, you know I limit myself to one recommendation for the week (unless you find yourself with a heinous airport delay with plenty of Internet access and no beer baseball, in which case you can check yourself into a mental institution read the whole carnival). Here’s the recommended article of the week:

Take a look at both sides of the equation: 1) What are you paying too much for because you don’t actually need as much as you first thought and 2) What rewards have you earned that you aren’t using? Personally, I’m pretty good at the first type, but this article served as a good reminder to take advantage of what I’ve already “won!”

"financial education"

More ways to save

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at September 12, 2008 in Carnivals and Saving Strategies. 3 Comments

It’s been a very busy week traveling the country teaching Life Lessons of Personal Finance. Just now, I just had the opportunity to read this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance which, as always, has lots of fun postings. While it was great to see that the host, BankerGirl, loved my analogy between football and savings, it’s always a challenge for me to pick just one other article to recommend to you.

But I got it done.

Read Squawkfox’s 50 Ways to Save $1,000 a Year. There’s a lot of great ideas and many of them will allow you to live fiscally responsibily without being cheap. As you know, that’s always an important consideration because they are not the same thing. Just the other day, I listed five ways in which I am fiscally responsible and five other ways I am not cheap. It’s a fun little exercise you might wish to challenge yourself with.

"financial education"

How much is your time worth?

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at September 2, 2008 in Balance and Carnivals. 3 Comments

I think your time is worth a lot. That’s one of the reasons I limit the number of postings each week and the length of each one.

You: Is that the real reason?

It’s one of them. Although, I’ll confess, my time is also worth a lot and not just because I’m busy at work.

You: Two kids, right?

Bingo!

So, along the lines of saving time and the value of doing so, I just reviewed this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by That One Caveman and featuring my article Five ways to be (or not to be) fiscally responsible which shows you how the two are not mutually exclusive, along with clear examples for how I accomplish this in my life.

But this week’s best article from the Carnival of Personal Finance is The Personal Financier’s Outsourcing Our Chores - Do We Overvalue Our Spare Time? It’s a fascinating new take on an old issue and one not often seriously considered. Take a read. It’s quick one that will have you thinking about spending, enjoying, and balancing.