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Is your stuff really worth what it’s costing you to store it? Everyone thinks their stuff is priceless, but be realistic. If you had a sale tomorrow, how much cash would you get for it? Multiply your storage bill by 12. Is your stuff worth what you’re paying to store it each year? In this post, how to break the storage unit addiction …
When I was a kid, family travel meant kids crammed into the back seat of a sedan, poking and elbowing one another while counting the miles between rest stops. Things have changed dramatically since then, but even with onboard DVD players, spacious minivans, air travel, cruises, and theme parks, family vacations can be either delightful or disastrous. It all depends on the care you devote to research and planning.
One of the most memorable letters I’ve received in my writing career came from a reader reporting on how she and her husband took a financial leap of faith with their daughter—a move that paid off big. Dear Mary: I wanted to tell you the secret of sticking to a budget on […]
You graduated. Great. Good job. You ended up with a degree and a pile of ugly student debt. You say it’s not your fault—you need forgiveness. Student debt relief has become your number one Google search. Painful isn’t it. And now it’s time to get real. Can we talk?
Emergencies are a fact of life. When faced with an unexpected event that has dollar signs written all over it, it’s good to be prepared. Nothing new there, I’m sure. We know what we should do. It’s actually doing it that eludes so many. Look, an emergency fund is not a luxury—it’s a must-have! Here how to get started …
It was this event, now more than 20 years ago, that served as the catalyst to change my arrogant attitude about abundance and entitlement. A half-used roll of paper towels turned into a lasting wake-up call. I won’t say we have completely kicked paper towels from our home, but we’ve come pretty darn close! A single roll can last for six months or longer. If paper towels were to become extinct and disappear from the face of the earth, not a problem, as we have replaced paper towels in our home with bar mops.
Now more than ever it’s time to slash expenses in order to preserve cash. Gasoline, Food, Utilities—the cost of everything is soaring!
A question that I answered in a previous post brought a small avalanche of mail, mostly from readers who were aghast that I would suggest they save such a portion of their paychecks for retirement. It was money they just didn’t think they could afford to save. I can only imagine that for a person who saves nothing, suggesting they should be saving at all is shocking. Or even impossible. Here is one of those messages …
I’ll admit I used to think frugality was a distasteful lifestyle forced upon the poor. I believed “frugal” was synonymous with never buying new clothes and dumpster diving under the cover of night. That it meant cheap and slovenly.
Boy, did I have a lot to learn. And learn I did—and continue to learn—that frugality is the path to building wealth on any income.
Even the mention of words like frugality and thrift send some people over the edge because, for them, those words conjure up thoughts of poverty and deprivation. They assume that cutting costs means diving into dumpsters to find their next meal …
When you give yourself an allowance, it’s more than just cash—you give yourself the freedom to spend without feeling guilty. I’m going to step out on a limb here and suggest that you need an allowance even if you are in a tight financial situation!
Early on in my long journey back to financial health, my husband and I agreed that I would have an allowance—a regular expense listed in our fledgling household budget. That changed everything for me!
If you’re ready to put yourself on a similar plan, I have some firsthand advice I’m fairly certain you are going to love. See you there … Love, xo m 🤑 ❣️
If you’ve ever have been in serious debt—or are right now—you know the feeling that your creditors own you lock, stock and bank account. I’ve been there, I know.
Debt steals your freedom one option at a time until you become its prisoner. Want out? I can help. Click through and I’ll see you there … Love, m xo 😍
Living below your means requires a good bit of creativity from time to time. You have to get pretty clever to stretch a buck. But just how far can you go in matters of etiquette before you cross the line? Ask yourself this: Is my choice to be cheap going to harm or insult another […]
Being thought of as cheap was, to me, the ultimate insult. I equated frugality with digging through dumpsters in search of food and who-knows-what-else. Eeeooow! To me, cheap people skipped out without leaving a tip. They were slovenly in appearance, lacking dignity and self-respect. Cheap people were just plain tacky. I couldn’t bear the thought […]
