I have invested in Certificates of Deposit or CD’s a number of times over the past two decades and lately, I have been doing some reading on the concept of a “CD Ladder”.
I first heard the term CD Ladder several years ago while listening to a Saturday morning radio show that dealt with topics like mutual funds, annuities and estate planning.
Last week, I mentioned several ways to decrease the cost of going out to eat – if you must eat out. Of course, I neglected to mention the #1 way to hold down restaurant costs: get someone else to pay. I suppose some of you might be better at that than others . . .
How much money do you think you could save if everything you need could be purchased on clearance or marked down or on sale?
Mrs. Stew recently walked in the door carrying several department store bags. I noticed because she does not usually come home from the store with her arms full unless she is coming home from the grocery store.
Today we have another lesson in our series on the subject of money as found in the Gospel of Luke.
The beatitudes are statements by Christ that provide the guide or example of how those of us who are a part of God’s kingdom should order our lives. The most famous passage on the beatitudes is found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. This is the list that includes “blessed are the meek”, “blessed are they that mourn”, etc. In Luke chapter six, we find a similar list recounted by the author. It is certain that Christ spoke these principles on a regular basis throughout his ministry in order to clearly illustrate how a follower of Christ should behave.
Going out to eat is almost never a frugal decision no matter what eatery you choose – from fast food to all-you-can-eat to fine dining – you are always going to spend more than the actual value of the food that you consume. So why do we still eat out? For the service. A lot of people can cook food that tastes just as good as restaurant food (including Mrs. Stew), but we go out to eat so that we do not have to prepare the food and do the dishes.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how we were trying to decide whether or not to move into a different duplex in order to save $200 a month in rent.
We agonized over the decision for a long time. The new place came with a much smaller yard, no garage, but new carpeting, new appliances and of course, lower rent. Mrs. Stew and I are serious about cutting expenses and we were ready to make the hard choices needed to adjust our lifestyle to the new place. We were going to need to throw out or sell a lot of our stuff – including things that we might have otherwise wished to keep. Items like extra kid’s bicycles, a chest freezer, an extra bed for guests and more.
And so, our housing saga comes to an end today – at least I hope.
In March of 2008, I took a job several states away and my family and I packed up and moved. We immediately put our house on the market, but it took almost eighteen months for it to sell. I have recounted most of the story here at Gather Little by Little:
What should I do with my house?
More thoughts on short sale, foreclosure and bankruptcy
If my day job were actually a “day” job with a set schedule and regular hours, I would almost certainly have a part-time job to go with it. As it is, my only alternate stream of income is blogging which works well with my varied schedule.
I am always on the lookout for other ways to make a little extra cash, especially if it is a change-of-pace job. For instance, if your full-time job is as a school teacher, you might want to find a part-time job where you do not have to deal with people. If you have a stationary office job, you might want to get outside, if you are a construction worker, you might want a part-time job where you can get off your feet. Here are a few possibilities:
