If we had to separate people into 2 different clans: The Thrifts and the Spendthrifts, I would probably be closer to the latter. Unfortunately, the thing I like most about money is spending it. However, being a husband and father of two beautiful children has helped me be more responsible financially. While I never really wasted my money, I have always enjoyed earning more to spend more in order to indulge myself from time to time.
Just by writing this title, I already know that people won’t agree with this strategy. How can you tell people to get rid of their emergency fund while we are in one of the most important recessions ever? So please, keep reading until the end of the post, I promise to make sense ;-)
First things first, I am a big fan of the “pay yourself first“ technique when it comes to personal finance. If you consider yourself as a priority creditor, you will put money aside for your personal finance and then, live off the rest. Many of my clients are asking the same question with regards to extra money: Should I pay down my debt or invest the difference?
This passage is one of the most instructive passages regarding money in the New Testament. The end of this letter is more or less a simple thank you note to the Philippian church, but it throws back the curtains to show the secret of Paul’s contentment in Christ. The passage does not need a great deal of commentary, but let us just look at a few things that have been a challenge and encouragement to me. I hope your financial insight is deepened as well:
Festival of Frugality – Life Stages & Home Ownership Lesson Edition
Welcome to the #201 Festival of Frugality!
If you are new to Gather Little By Little, I can suggest a few of our great posts:
– Alternative Income From Internet
This edition is about life stages and home ownership. When we are young, most dream of owning our first home. It may be small, it may be old, but once it is ours, it’s the most beautiful place on earth to live!
Everybody is looking for ways to make extra money these days. Since I started working for money around age 12 or 13, I have always had several streams of income. Someday, I hope to be able to live on a 40 hour workweek . . . someday. But until that happens, here are some extra ways to make some cash. Keep your eyes open, be creative, find something that works for you.
Here are some articles that I like this week. I hope you find something to think about!
Craig Ford at Moolanomy asked should parents have a financial double standard for sons and daughters? I have both.
Mighty Bargain Hunter is worried that the new credit card legislation will result in higher costs for responsible credit card users. He might be over reacting, but the history of government interference in private enterprise is not good. It almost always has unintended consequences.
Patrick at Cash Money Life helps us find the best rates on a Roth IRA.
It was a good news story wasn’t it? Much of the world did not even know what a Ponzi scheme was, let alone that it could provide a way for Bernard Madoff to perform the single most important fraud ever. On the surface, it is interesting and certainly a sensational way to sell newspapers. But beneath the surface lies a much bigger issue. Fact is that almost any investor could be fooled by such a scheme. Many of the investors that lost everything did not even know they had investments with Bernard Madoff. It has become very important for all investors to take measures to avoid falling victim in similar situations. Losing your lifetime savings or every penny owned by a charitable foundation is tragic enough when you hear about it on TV. Just imagine when you are centre stage of such a drama.
Important: I am not an economist or an investment advisor. Everything you read here is simply opinion based on my limited knowledge and (hopefully) a little common sense.
Lately, I have been hearing all kinds of advertisements for gold. Whenever my six year old sees those “cash for gold” commercials, she tells me to sell all our gold for money. The problem is that we have almost no gold . . . jewelry or otherwise and that does not look like it will change in the near future.
This is Stew and I am going on six months of posting here at Gather Little by Little. I am thankful to Glblguy for originally giving me the opportunity to write for a blog of this size and also greatful to Mike for allowing me to continue in this role.
Congratulations! You are going broke! I mean”¦ getting married! As I mentioned in my first post on how to save money for a wedding over at my other blog, my best friend is getting married next spring (and I also have a sister-in-law getting married at the end of next summer, in 2010). So, while I will end up broke in 2010, as I am the best man for both weddings, I will try to share all the money savings tips related to weddings that I could find:
Money Savings Tip #1: Talk to people
