Gather Little by Little

Welcome to this edition of the Carnival of Money Stories! Since all featured posts reflect a money story, I decided to share my money flaws along with the articles.

If you are new to Gather Little by Little, you should read the following articles:

– How to build a compost bin

– How to get your finance under control

– Simple ways to make money online

– zero percent transfer balance credit card

Money Flaw #1: Having Spendthrift Moments

The current recession and the recent read of In Cheap We Trust got me thinking about my spending habits. While I am frugal in several aspects of my life, I am having a hard time spending less on food, clothes and cars. I don’t go shopping often, but when I go on a shopping frenzy, I can spend my whole pay check on clothing”¦ I am actually worse than my wife when it comes to shopping ;-). In order to control my spendthrift moments, I am continuously asking “will I regret it?”. Thinking twice about what I am about to buy reduces my bill at the end of the month considerably;-).

Ben presents Open Enrollment deadlines posted at Money Smart Life.

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog presents Save Money By Selling Your House Without A Real Estate Agent posted at The Canadian Finance Blog.

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Save Money on Auto Insurance Rates posted at Cash Money Life.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents My Retirement Plan Or What I Plan To Do When I Retire posted at The Digerati Life.

DR presents 10 Simple Steps to Buying a Car or Truck on eBay. posted at The Dough Roller.

Michal presents Tips to Creating a Green Home Theater posted at Energy Saving Gadgets.

Peter presents This Blogger Fell Into The FICO Trap, But Saw The Light And Became Debt Free posted at Bible Money Matters.

PT presents Results of a Week Without Spending posted at PT Money.

Money Flaw #2: Procrastination

In my opinion, procrastination is my worst money flaw. The problem with procrastination is that it often doesn’t show. You barely notice that you are losing money because you don’t take care of something. It’s like water dripping from a leaky faucet; you are losing water but you won’t notice the damage until something breaks and you see the big hole under the counter! I try to send myself emails (it’s a Gen Y thing, so says conspiracy theory man) and leave notes everywhere of what needs to be done (like looking at my insurance coverage for example or analysing how much interest I pay on debt). I am slowly getting better when it comes down to take care of my personal finances.

RJ Weiss presents How I Saved $1,925 By Picking Up The Phone! posted at Genyweath.com.

Mrs. Accountability presents The Time I Almost Married An Amway Salesman | Out of Debt Again posted at Out of Debt Again.

Julia Kingston presents Taking the Life out of LIFO posted at Gray Matters

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Ode To Prosperity posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

CreditCardAssist presents Card Issuers Find Loopholes Before New Law Takes Effect posted at CreditCardAssist.com.

Peak Personal Finance presents 6 Types of Financial Apps for Your Smart Phone posted at Peak Personal Finance.

David Carlson presents Dual Income No Kids: DINKs Buying Silver & Bonds posted at Dual Income No Kids.

KCLau presents Caring for the Elderly posted at KCLau’s Money Tips.

Tyler presents What?s Your Environmental Net Worth? posted at Frugally Green.

Money Flaw #3: Looking to increase my income continuously

While aiming for a bigger salary is not a bad thing by itself, I would say that continuously looking towards the next promotion, working more hours to make extra bucks or spending time and energy on a sideline (like starting an online store) will gradually take away from the most important things in life: your family and friends. Since I have finished my MBA, I have decided to cut down on my hours at work and spend more quality time with my beautiful wife and children. I definitely don’t regret my choice!

FMF presents How to Buy a New Furnace and Air Conditioner posted at Free Money Finance.

Steve Patterson presents FastSwings – Blogs – Federal Reserve Holds Rates as Expected posted at FastSwings.

Darwin presents The Truth About Rewards Credit Cards – But, Is it Really True? posted at Darwin’s Finance.

Jeff Rose presents Should You Buy Life Insurance at an Early Age? posted at Jeff Rose.

Aussie Investor presents How To Buy Shares In Australia posted at Australian Stock Market Investing Blog.

Diane Laine presents The Definitive Inverse ETF Guide posted at ETF Database.

jim presents Tips for Buying Used College Textbooks posted at Bargaineering.

Money Flaw #4: High tendency to leverage

I have mentioned it before, I have a high tolerance for risk and I don’t mind borrowing money in order to increase my assets or income over time. This is what I call “having productive debt”. However, good or bad, a debt is a debt. If things turn sour, my tendency to leverage everything might blow up in my face as I am taking a lot of risk. I haven’t found any tricks to reduce this “bad” habit. I just hope that I will continue to make money from it I guess!

chris presents Credit Score Factors posted at Real Estate Money Matters.

freefrombroke presents My Experience Switching To Cable/Digital Phone Service posted at Free From Broke.

J.D. Roth presents Knocking Out the Beliefs That Hold You Back posted at Get Rich Slowly.

Baker presents Budgeting Ups and Downs: October and Beyond posted at Man Vs. Debt.

MatthewPaulson presents Tips For Using Your 401k posted at Fine Tuned Finances.

Braudis Lee Pegram presents Goodbye Capital One posted at The koH Resources Blog.

Madison presents Make the Most of Open Enrollment posted at My Dollar Plan.

Mr. ToughMoneyLove presents Does Las Vegas Deserve a Recovery? posted at Tough Money Love.

Money Flaw #5: Fighting with my Budget

While I have no problem sticking to my budget (besides a few spendthrift moments ;-) ), my biggest problem is to keep track of each expense in order to be able to analyse them. I did enter each dollar earned or spent for 2 years in Microsoft Money software. But since starting my basement renovations, I have completely lost count and never went back to my original budget again. While I know that, overall, my assets are increasing and my debt is decreasing, I can’t pinpoint where to concentrate my efforts in order to get rid of my debt faster.

Austin Morgan presents The Best $100 I Ever Spent posted at Foreigner’s Finances.

Chris Lang presents Property and money: 20 tips any married woman must read (part 1). posted at Home I Own.

Mike presents The Finish Line posted at Minting Pennies – Personal Finance, Investing, and Microfinance.

TC presents Who Funds Non Profit Debt Help Organisations? posted at How To Eliminate Debts.

Bucksome Boomer presents The Trouble with Rebate Cards posted at Buck$ome Boomer’s Journey to Retirement.

Matthew Paulson presents Thefts at Open Houses Return to Real Estate Market posted at American Consumer News.

Mr Credit Card presents Should I Get Another Credit Card Before Moving Overseas? posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

The Smarter Wallet presents Secret Bank Accounts And Marriage Don’t Mix posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Miss M presents Hit and Run! posted at M is for Money.

Super Saver presents Part Time Job Situation is Improving posted at My Wealth Builder.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my money flaws along with the articles in this carnival!

Author: Mike.

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