Gather Little by Little

When it comes to family money management and assisting friends and family who fall victim to the current economic crisis, most people want to help, but often have absolutely no idea what to do. 90 percent of us understand that the equation of “family + money” = “a particularly nasty” outcome. Hence, the dilemma resulting from being put in this awkward position, not knowing what to do, nor where to turn, can be a bit daunting.

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As a techie and former software developer I love software and in particular money management software, including personal budgeting software. I’ve expressed my extreme fondness for You Need a Budget in the past as my favorite personal budgeting software package. I thought I’d take some time in this article to highlight my favorite online money management tools. Contrary to what many say, I find using both online money software and personal budgeting software to be very complimentary. I use You Need a Budget to manage my budget and daily expenses, but I also use Mint.com as well.

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Just in case you might have been on an extended vacation in another galaxy or maybe you really do live under a rock, I thought I would let you know that it would seem we really are in an economic recession. The symptoms are all over and new symptoms seem to be appearing daily on the news: layoffs, declining markets, plant shutdowns, small businesses going under, and drastic corporate budget cut-backs.

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I was listening to Frugal Coast to Coast last Monday evening. The show was about becoming frugal. Lynnae and Jenn shared their various frugal tips and suggestions and people in the chat room did as well. I found it very interesting to observe people’s levels of “frugalness”.

Some people, like Lynnae and Jenn, I would consider very frugal. Others say they’re frugal but only practice a very few tips and seem to ebb and flow when it comes to being frugal. The concept of “being frugal” seems to be a very personal and is definitely not a one shoe fits all definition.

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After seeing my home heating cost at more than $400 last month, I decided to take some drastic action to reduce our overall heating cost. Right now, I just don’t have the budget to make major changes like moving to a more energy efficient heat-pump or converting to a different source of heat like propane or oil, but I did find a number of minor changes I could make to help reduce my heating cost.

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The following is a guest post from Studenomics.

I’m not the world’s most religious person but religion definitely plays a vital role in my life. I try to follow my religion and it’s teachings as often as possible and make it a point to attend Mass Service every Sunday. Whether you realize it or not your beliefs (whether they are cultural, religious, etc.) play a large role in your everyday life and especially how you view money. The purpose of this article to show how any religious beliefs may improve a young person’s financial outlook:

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I’m sure many of you received holiday gift cards just as I did. I know many people don’t like gift cards, but I actually prefer them, especially Visa gift cards. I’m fine with store specific cards as well, but Visa gift cards are great because you can use them anywhere.

I’m a fan of gift cards in general for two reasons:

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1. Many of my interests make it difficult for people to buy things for me (i.e. banjo, saltwater aquariums, model trains)
2. I am often not sure what to get people, and giving gift cards allows them to get what they want and/or need.

I recently received the first full month electric bill for our new home here in the NC mountains and was shocked: $420.00! That is the most expensive electric bill I have ever had. Granted, my new house is all electric, where my prior homes were both electric and gas.

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I mentioned two weeks ago in my Friday gathering post that as a result of moving into our home, I’m having to learn a bunch of new things due to our new house and the new area we live in. The trend of learning continues.

As I write this, I am sitting next to a nice, warm gas fire. It’s 6 degrees outside, so I’m very thankful for it. Our gas fireplace keeps our middle main living floor nice and cozy. Two weeks ago though it wouldn’t have as we ran out of gas.

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I listen to the radio in my car while traveling, and it seems like almost every commercial break contains a Blue Hippo computers commercial. I am sure you’ve heard them, Blue Hippo promises a desktop or laptop with no credit check and they even throw in a free digital camera and color printer. If you have bad credit this sounds like an awesome deal right? I decided to do a little research into this offer, after all if it sounds too good to be true it probably is right?

Blue Hippo computers – The Math

This is straight from the Blue Hippo site:

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