Are there really only nine personal finance tips you can't live without? Can you really not live without them? It's debatable, of course, but here they are, in classic David Letterman style (minus one):
1. Make Love to Your Budget - Budget early, budget often. Take your budget to dinner and buy it a drink. Whisper sweet nothings in your budget's ear. Just don't let the missus find out about you two…or you can make it a threesome, if she's cool with that.
- Freedom Account Spreadsheet - MoneySpot.Org's spreadsheet version of the classic Mary Hunt "Freedom Account" budgeting system. Simple, elegant, and easy to use…not to mention dead sexy.
2. Be a Debt Assassin - Stalk your debt (preferably while wearing ninja garb). Learn your debt's daily routines, which way it goes to work, where it eats for lunch. The plot its assassination. The best technique is to roll a snowball at it, which in cartoon fashion will hit your debt, embedding it in the side of the snowball, and then roll on to crush your next debt.
- Debt Snowball Spreadsheet - It's Your Money's debt snowball spreadsheet will help you plan your debt repayment so that your debt is dead as soon as possible. Ninja garb not required while using the Debt Snowball Spreadsheet, but it sure does look cool to actually wear a ninja outfit…as much as possible…regardless of what you're doing.
3. Live, Eat, and Breathe Personal Finance - Let's face it, if you're going to obsess properly about your finances, you've got to start by reading about everyone else's personal finances. Not only should you start your day with a personal finance shower (listen to Dave Ramsey while showering), you should eat a personal finance breakfast (Alphabits cereal, with the letters arranged to spell words like "BUDGET", "MORTGAGE", and "SUBPRIME LENDER").
- Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator - Flexo of Consumerism Commentary fame has graciously provided a site for one-stop shopping for your personal finance information fix. Now, put aside your Alphabits for just a minute, and start obsessing about your personal finances.
4. Get A Little on the Side - You've probably been faithful to your paycheck for a long time. You've had eyes for it alone, and it was the apple of your eye. But recently, you've been getting bored with your paycheck, and you want to spice things up a little by getting some extra "dough" on the side. Be discreet, and your paycheck won't know the difference.
- Huge Discussion on Making Money on the Side - FatWallet.com's members have come up with a gigantic list of things that you can do to earn some extra money. From the Truffle Shuffle (going hunting for valuable mushrooms in the forest of the Western U.S.A.) to mystery shopping and tutoring, there's an idea in there for you.
- 5 Ways to Earn Extra Cash in Your Spare Time - Get Rich Slowly has a short, but sweet, list of ways to earn extra money to pay off debts, save for vacations, or "move on up to the East Side".
5. Fill Your Spare Tank - You're in the middle of Creditville, driving your financial train into almost certain ruin, running on fumes, and thinking, "I'm doomed." Suddenly, you remember that your Financial Train of Doom has a spare tank, and you've got enough to get back to Wealthsville. You're saved!
- Dave Ramsey Baby Step #1 - Gather Little By Little talks about how to save your financial train from ruin by filling your "spare tank". Say goodbye to bounced checks, overdraft fees, and running out of cash at just the wrong time. As Martha would say, "It's a Good Thing."
6. Send Your Money Back to School - It's your money's high school graduation day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's thinking to itself, "Money, you've learned how to earn interest in a bank account. You're never going to have to learn another thing in your life." Unfortunately, when your money grows up, it realizes that all the other people's money has gone on to learn how to grow larger in the stock market, or come back bigger after living in a CD for a while. Don't worry, your money's not dumb, just ignorant - it can be taught.
- About.com's Personal Finance - This is one of the largest sites about personal finance, with over 2,000 articles (I know because I have actually gone through all of them!) about personal finance, investing, banking, saving for retirement. Start clicking, keep reading, and teach your money how to grow itself.
7. Get Snooty - Buy fine wines, Chateaux on the Loir River, and one-of-a-kind gold coins. Shun the lowbrow "investments" such as a brand new car, the hottest new computer (which is already outdated), and a surround sound system. Remember, you are the upper crust, who buys assets that appreciate in value (or at least those that don't immediately depreciate), not some philistine who only values whatever has appeared in the latest Gamer's Monthly magazine. Break out your antique cuff links and monocle, and start spending that money where it'll do the most good.
8. Get Cheap - After investing in all your fine wines and snooty French houses, and socking away your gold coins, you realize that you don't have much money left to spend…or you have the money, but you just don't want to spend it. Continuing in the fine tradition of millions of American millionaires, decide to drive your car and maintain it well, stay in the same house even though you can afford better, eat generic cereal because it tastes the same as the brand name stuff, and shop at Wal-Mart instead of The Gap.
9. Don't Be Like the Muffin Man - Have you seen The Muffin Man? Well, nobody has, not since he got audited by the IRS and lost his Drury Lane bakery because he didn't keep good records. The Gingerbread Man ended up buying his business at a sweet discount because The Muffin Man had to scrape up cash, quick. When you go up against the Tax Man, you'd better make sure you've got your ducks (records) all in a row.
Here's a quick tutorial on how to make and use a grocery price book to save money on groceries.
Filed under Money Making/Saving Strategies by Sean
When you hear the word "gratuity", you probably think of tipping a waiter or waitress for good service. The standard is 15% for acceptable service, with 20%+ for outstanding service, and nothing if the service stinks. Some restaurants even automatically add a percentage to your bill if your group is larger than 6 or 8, making it easier to calculate your bill.
Most people think of the gratuity as being optional. I mean, if the service stinks, you shouldn't have to pay for it, right?
Wrong.
As reported on NBC, Leslie Pope and John Wagner in Bethlehem, PA were recently thrown in jail for refusing to pay the gratuity that the restaurant automatically tacked on to their bill. According to the article:
Pope and John Wagner were hauled away by police and charged with theft for not paying the mandatory 18 percent gratuity totaling $16 after eating at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem, Pa. with six friends.
Pope claimed that they had to wait nearly an hour for their order and that she had to get napkins and silverware for the table herself.
“At this point I became very annoyed because I had already gone up to the bar myself to have my soda refilled because the waitress never came back,” Pope said.
After the $73 bill came, the group paid for food, drinks, and tax but refused to pay the tip. After explaining the bad service to the bartender in charge, Pope claimed he took their money and called police. The couple was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.
Not only has service gotten worse at restaurants, you now have to tip for it? Ridiculous!
Fortunately for the couple, the charges have been dropped. I'm betting that the bad publicity for the restaurant ended up costing them more than the amount of the "gratuity".
The original news story, with video:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Time-In-Prison–70426052.html
Filed under Article Reviews by Sean
Want to get out of debt? I've been working for the past month or so on a handy mini-course to help you get out of debt. It's packed chock full of the steps that I've used to get out of debt myself.
If you're having trouble getting started on paying off your debt, or even working on paying off that last little bit of debt, you can get instant access to this neat course by filling out the form at the top-right of any page on this site.
You'll get the e-course via email, one every couple days, over a period of about three weeks. Each installment has a useful tip and an action step that you can use to accelerate your debt repayment. Go ahead and sign up - you'll be glad you did!
I recently had the great opportunity to interview Jesse Mecham, creator of the You Need A Budget(YNAB) personal budgeting system. I'm a fan of YNAB, I admit, so it was a big deal for me to be able to talk to Jesse about YNAB, budgeting, and building wealth. The interview is about forty minutes long, but don't worry - I've trimmed off all the fat and left only the meat of the conversation. You'll learn about:
- the Four Rules of simple, successful budgeting
- how to motivate yourself to budget (believe me, it's easier than you think)
- how to "roll with the punches" when your budget is blown to pieces by unforeseen expenses
- how to plan for those "emergencies" that always pop up (and how to come out smelling like roses, to boot)
- and how to build wealth without feeling the pinch
If you'd like to listen to the streaming version, push the "Play" button on the player at the bottom of this post. If you'd like to download this killer interview, you can click on the link below. YouNeedABudget.com
Get Flash to see this player.
Filed under Budgeting, Personal Finance Tools, Podcast by Sean
I'm a first-time homeowner, and one of my main concerns is making sure that my home is properly maintained. For as much as I paid for it, it should last my entire life if maintained properly. One of the axioms of frugal living is that you save money by taking care of what you already have. I try to live by this rule, but it's not always easy.
The Home Maintenance Schedule spreadsheet makes that a lot easier. Make it part of your monthly financial review, or even your weekly financial review. Fill it out once, look at it occasionally, and do whatever preventive maintenance it tells you to do, when it tells you to do it. Check it out - it's a free download, and it could end up saving you a lot of money when your efforts to take care of your investment pay off.
You can find the Home Maintenance Schedule spreadsheet here.
I just read a great article at Get Rich Slowly about how to reduce your grocery spending by using a grocery price book. You can find Get Rich Slowly's great grocery price book post at the link below:
Use a Grocery Price Book to Slash Your Food Spending
I won't attempt to duplicate the article, or even review it (although I do recommend it). Instead, I will list a bunch of resources that will help you to get started with your own grocery price book. So, in no particular order (although my own Grocery Price Book spreadsheet is listed first), here they are:
An Uncommon Way to Wealth Grocery Price Book spreadsheet - This spreadsheet lets you easily enter the items you buy, and then sort them by category, store, or description. It also automatically calculates the price per pound, ounce, or whatever other unit of measurement you choose. Recommended by Get Rich Slowly. FREE
Cheap Cooking - Another, simpler grocery price book spreadsheet. Doesn't have the functionality of the Uncommon Way to Wealth spreadsheet (of course I would say that!), but it will do the basics. This spreadsheet was also recommended by Get Rich Slowly. FREE
HandyShopper (Palm version) - This is a Palm-based shopping list tool with many powerful features. However, it is more than just a shopping list application. It can be used for almost every kind of list imaginable. What's more, HandyShopper works on Palm OS 2.0 through 5.0, and on all PalmOS-based devices. FREE
HandyShopper (Pocket PC version) - This Pocket PC version of the shopping list tool is newer and less robust than the Palm version. It's still in Alpha stage of development, so it's buggy and not fully functional. However, it is FREE.
Grocery Price Book ebook - This ebook tells you how to save money on groceries. The author, Lana Dorazio, claims that you can save $180 to $240 a month using her ebook. It comes with a couple of bonuses: 1) A pre-filled grocery book that has four years worth of grocery prices. 2) 50 of the author's favorite simple recipes. 3) An insider interview with a grocery store manager - they talk about "insider secrets of the grocery business". I have not purchased or used this ebook/system, so I can't personally recommend it. However, it's not very expensive. The ebook is $19.
Some other resources for saving money on groceries, although not necessarily price-book related, are listed below. Note that I have not tried any of these:
My Grocery Deals - An all-in-one online source for finding good deals on food, matching coupons to low prices, and seeing how much you're saving. Haven't tried this one.
I hope these resources help somebody who's "sitting on the fence" about whether to use a grocery price book to get started. You can use the free resources and get great results. You can use the resources that cost a few bucks, and maybe make things easier. Either way, just get started and save a bunch of money on your groceries.
Filed under Article Reviews, Blog Reviews, Money Making/Saving Strategies, Personal Finance Tools by Sean
I got this letter from one of my visitors.
My daughter sent me an address for your website. I am very interested in obtaining help in managing my debt. I want to become debt free… however my husband and I don't always agree on the method. Purhaps some guidance would benefit both of us… releasing us from this "my way/your way"… tug. I'm respondsible for managing our funds… please I really need your help. We are enjoying a great retirement and I want it to stay that way.
Thanks!
Rose
Hi Rose,
Thanks for checking out my website. It's always nice to hear that people are finding it useful. I can certainly sympathize with you about wanting to get out of debt - I've been in the same boat.
Regarding your question about how to work with your husband to get out of debt:
It seems, from what you said, that you are more passionate about getting out of debt than your husband. It can be tough to get things moving when a husband and wife aren't on the same page regarding their finances. To help get both of you on the same team and working in the same direction, here are some things that I would suggest doing, in this order:
1) Check out some personal finance books from leading personal finance authors, and decide which "guru" you want to follow. Both you and your husband should be totally committed to following whichever guru's plan you decide on, because as you've discovered, both of you need to be working together to make this work. Some suggestions of good authors are: David Bach, Dave Ramsey, and Mary Hunt. There are others, but those are the ones I'm most familiar with.
For an extreme approach that really works, I suggest Dave Ramsey. The thing that makes people either love him or hate him is that he advocates getting rid of all of your debt, including cutting up your credit cards…forever. Still, he's very good at what he does, which is helping people get out of debt. If you get the chance to listen to his show (you can listen to it live by streaming audio on http://www.wgst.com/), you'll get to hear people call in and scream, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!" It is truly motivating to hear the stories of these people who have gotten out of debt. It's also very revealing and insightful to hear the stories of people who have gotten themselves into debt and don't know how to get out of it.
For a more moderate approach, I suggest Mary Hunt. Both she and Dave Ramsey have been in debt up to their eyeballs, but her approach is less likely to turn you off. Mary doesn't necessarily advocate getting rid of credit forever, but she will show you how to stop being a slave to credit while getting out of debt.
David Bach is more of a "learn how to retire wealthy" guy than he is about getting out of debt. His approach is a little controversial, and can be summed up in about two sentences: Put your finances on autopilot. Save money by cutting unnecessary expenses.
2) Stop being the only person who is in charge of your family finances. You and your husband are in this boat together, and since he's the one who's less worried about getting out of debt, I'd guess that he helped accumulate more than his fair share of the debt. He needs to be doing his part with the family finances, because you can't do this alone.
That's the sum total of my advice. Find a guru who has a *proven* system for getting out of debt, and then follow that system, To The Letter! Don't justify any deviations from the plan, because their plan is proven, and your version of the plan is not. Go with what works, and worry more about the "how" than the "why". Work with your husband on this, and don't take "No" for an answer. Make a strategy for implementing the guru's plan, agree that you'll both do it, and then hold each other to your promises.
I hope this helps, Rose. It's the same thing that I'm doing to get out of debt, so I can tell you that it works.
Filed under Debt, Retirement Strategies by Sean
Phil Town is a follower of Warren Buffet's investing strategies, which boil down to one simple rule to follow: Never lose money.
The whole reason behind the "Never lose money" rule, according to Mr. Town, is that if your investment loses even a small percentage of its value, it has to kick it into high gear and increase by an even larger percentage to regain its original value. For example, a $100 investment that loses 50% of its value has to see a 100% gain to regain its original value of $100.
So, it seems obvious, but how do you go about investing without ever losing money? The first step in the process is to buy your investment (stocks, in the case of Phil Town's book) at only 50% of its actual value. If you buy at way-below-value prices, you lock in your profit on the front end. After all, just as water seeks its own level, the stock price should at some point reflect the actual value of the stock. So, buy low.
The book goes into great depth on how to select your stocks to make sure that they're good companies, with a solid history and a (hopefully) bright future, and how to know what the actual value of the stock is. Then, it's simply a matter of waiting for the stock price to fall to 50% of its value. Buy, wait until the stock price climbs to or above the value of the stock, and sell before it goes back down. When it goes back down, wait until it hits that 50% price point again, and repeat the previous steps. Town even gives you some lessons about using technical indicators to time the purchase and sale of your stock.
This book actually got me excited about investing in stocks. Of course, I'll paper trade first, to see if the system works before diving headlong into it, but it looks great. What looks even better to me is that Phil Town doesn't seem to have a vested interest in selling you expensive seminars or "bootcamps", in the style of former stock-picking guru Wade Cook. I find it easier to trust a guy whose only apparent interest is the one-time sale of a book.
I'm working on a spreadsheet that will make the selection process more automated, and take a lot of the emotional aspects out of stock picking. Don't worry, I'll make it available to you when it's ready.
Also, I'll be posting my progress with Rule #1 investing on my blog, mostly to pressure myself into making regular progress 
Filed under Book Reviews, Investing, Retirement Strategies by Sean
