From beefing up your emergency fund, cutting costs from your budget or starting your own home-based business. These articles will show you how to save money or make money by taking a creative approach with your finances.
In addition, these posts highlight why saving money – cash is the most important aspect of getting out of and staying out of debt.
On a day to day basis, most of us tend to believe we control our destiny. The jobs or careers we pursue. The relationships we seek, how we raise our children. And of course, managing your money, and learning how to improve your finances. When we think about improving our finances, we tend to think […]
For many years I watched my dad spend hours in the evening after he got home from work preparing the taxes. I can still picture it. The dim light coming from the basement. The table, covered with IRS forms, instruction booklets, envelops and a stack of receipts. A calculator, paper clips and what looked […]
The art of being a cheapskate isn’t about giving everything up. It’s about managing your money in a different way. A means of doing the things you want at the expense of those things that are less important. Here’s a perspective on how I manage my budget to achieve cheapskate status. The Dreaded “B” […]
It’s been eight months since cutting cable to save money. That’s right, no more Fox News, no TNT, History channel or HBO. Actually, it was DirecTV, so I guess you could say I cut the satellite signal to eliminate premium TV services. (Cutting cable, cutting DirecTV to save money – same difference right?) Initially, […]
It’s not really well known where the term “Cash is King” came from. If you Google it most of the references you will find will be in relation to running a business or investing. From my own personal finance experience, I have found the cash is king concept an important perspective. I guess I […]
My dad was an engineer for over 40 years. And like most engineers, his perspective when it came to building, fixing, or maintaining anything was to do it himself. Growing up, I watched him maintain the family vehicles, everything from minor maintenance to major repair work. He understood how to make a car last […]
Are you struggling with a mound of debt? Are you trying to save money? Sick of living paycheck to paycheck? If you’re finding that taking control of your finances is a challenge, it may be that you need to start letting go of the past. What if it was possible to take control of your finances […]
Are you wondering why you need an emergency fund? I am sure you’ve heard it many times before, it’s considered one of the most important aspects of successful money management. An emergency fund is where you stash cash so you’re prepared for those unexpected emergencies that life throws at you every now and then. […]
So what are the benefits if you save money and pay off debt? Being debt-free and cash-rich is just a start. Learn about the other 11 reasons below. Typically a discussion about personal finance goes something like this… Saving money will help you become financially secure. Having debt costs you more money. Paying off […]
Most often when we think about setting financial goals we think of the most fundamental aspects of our finances. Areas we manage and feel we can control on a regular basis. For example, we set financial goals around budgets, to lower monthly expenses. Saving money, to put more money in our bank account. Paying […]
If you’re looking to make some quick cash to speed up the payoff of some of your debt, or you’re trying to establish an emergency fund. Or maybe you just want to beef up your savings account because you like having more money. Flipping a product or item – buying low and selling high may […]
What do debt management planning and lower back pain have in common? Let me explain. I can still remember that day. It was 7:30 am in the morning and I was brushing my teeth before I went into work. As I bent over the bathroom sink I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. […]
Search the Internet, read a book, brainstorm with a friend and you can easily come up with 100 new ways to save cash. Finding ways to save money is easy. The real challenge is taking all those great ideas and actually making them a lifestyle habit. New ways to save cash often require time […]
Let me guess, you’ve been watching real estate house flipping shows on cable TV? I bet they’re like the ones I used to watch before I flipped houses. They make it look so easy to do, and they always make a profit. Do they? Now you’re curious if the reality of flipping a house […]
I started my first home-based business over 15 years ago. I was looking for an opportunity to try something new on my own. In addition to making some extra money, I also saw it as an opportunity to broaden my horizons a bit and test my skills at running my own business. What I […]
Wisconsin is a special place for Mother Nature. She provides us with four wonderful seasons throughout the year. Wisconsinites are fortunate to be able to experience the fresh new start of spring, the long warm days of summer, and beautiful colors of fall. Even winter has its own standard for beauty like freshly fallen […]
I recently watched the HBO documentary Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis. The documentary discusses the events surrounding the cause of the 2008 crisis. And the sequence of events that the government took to prevent an economic collapse. It’s a great documentary that provides new information and sheds light on the event. […]
As with most Americans, a new year brings new resolutions. One of the most common resolutions every year surrounds the topic of personal finance. Recent surveys suggest that 34% of the New Year resolutions made will be about the desire to spend less money and save more. Changing our spending habits in the New […]
Creating a budget for Christmas and understanding how much to spend on gifts will help you avoid holiday debt hangover in January. I used to think of myself as the greatest Santa Claus ever. I spared no expense when it came to gift-giving during Christmas. In high school, I gave my girlfriend a brand […]
Of all the areas associated with personal finance, my greatest weakness has always been around the subject of frugality. I don’t mean the task of budgeting – how much money I should or shouldn’t spend to manage my budget. Rather the perspective of saving money by clipping coupons or searching for 2-for-1 deals in the […]
The average car loan payment in the U.S. is $450/month. It may seem like an impossible feat, but if you want to stop making car payments you need to learn how to pay cash for a used car. Buying with cash and buying used is the only way to make sense of a car […]
There are literally hundreds of ways that you can create your own side hustle to generate more income, but have you ever thought you could make money online by renting the things you already own? Have you heard of peer-to-peer renting with Fat Llama? Renting things you already own could […]
A little over 80% of Americans this year will receive a tax refund. If you’re one of those individuals, receiving a tax refund can be a little bit like Christmas, your birthday, or if you’re really lucky an unexpected bonus at work. Once you receive your IRS payout the obvious next question is where […]
I have always believed that the key to reaching any goal is to be able to remain focused, consistent and motivated. Know where this is more important than when you are working to pay off debt and save cash. The Snowball Method for debt elimination, the Cash Ladder, establishing a budget are all important […]
Cash is king, and know where is it more important than when you start your journey to becoming debt free. In fact, if you’re in debt and cashless, I would argue that saving money is the most important aspect of the journey. Some call it an emergency fund, money for a rainy day, or […]
I just spent $2,500 on my 7-year-old GMC Sierra with 173k miles on it to fix some major front-end components on the truck and I am loving it. Actually, to be exact the bill came to $2,561.09. OK, maybe loving it is a bit overzealous, $2,500 does set me back a bit. However, if you’re […]
The time value of opportunity is the ability to recognize money saving or money making opportunities (events) that will benefit you over the course of a lifetime. The key word being recognize. For example, in relationship to vehicle insurance. Most think of vehicle insurance as a single annual occurrence. You pay your premium every year […]
Have you thought about becoming an author? Is writing a book on your bucket list? Are you wondering how to self-publish and eBook? When I initially came up with the idea of writing an eBook series and creating a personal finance blog, I must say I wasn’t sure what to expect, or how far […]
Technology is great, isn’t it? We listen to music on our smartphones, stream HD movies over the Internet to our TV, and now Uber and Google are testing driverless cars. And when it comes to personal finance, there are smartphone apps to help you track your expenses, online budgeting tools so you can link […]
I was having lunch with a friend of mine the other day and we were discussing my next book Filling The Pig – Simple Investing. We were discussing the subject of how much money you need to have to start investing, specifically in stocks. His perception was that you needed a good chunk of […]
