Gather Little by Little

Given our current economic trend, people are looking for all kinds of ways to save money and reduce expenses. One such way that is being highly touted by the media is Recession Gardening. Recession Gardening is such the fad lately, that even major news outlets like CNN and MSNBC are publishing stories about it.

We started a vegetable garden this year. We’ve wanted a nice one for years but never had the room. When we purchased our current house in October, we finally had the room the grow the garden we had been wanting to for years. Has it helped cut a food bills? Maybe a little, but its been more fun and rewarding than anything.

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It is a good idea to know your credit score – it is an even better idea to know what is in your credit report. I typically check mine once a year and I checked it last month and found an error. Not a huge one, but on the list of names/aliases, there was a name by which I have never been known – same initials, but completely different name. I am working to get the error changed. You need to check your report for errors – unauthorized credit pulls, incorrect late penalties or missed payments, or even lines of credit that you did not take out.

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Since completing my introduction post, I have received several questions about personal finance. This one is coming from Cindy who is asking when should you file for bankruptcy? This is a very important question as the consequences of bankruptcy will follow you for several years. Therfore, you might want to think twice before choosing this path.

First, understanding what filing for bankruptcy means

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It has been a while since we talked about giving here at Gather Little by Little. The Bible speaks about the subject of money on many, many occasions. Each time that the subject is mentioned we learn a bit more of how God wants us to order our finances. It is a little bit funny, because almost every bit of advice that comes from the personal finance bloggers of today has root in Scripture. Even one of the most revolutionary personal finance ideas of the last ten years, the so-called “latte factor” is just a repackaging of an idea first proposed in the verse that inspired the name of this blog: “He who gathers money, little by little makes it grow.” Proverbs 13:11

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So . . . I always thought that my library fines supported the public library. Mrs. Micah says that such fines do not support your local library. Turns out that they are more like a tax. MM suggested several, more proactive ways to help out your local library.

Do you have chrometophobia? Click over to Cash Money Life and check out Patrick’s description of this disease. If you find that you are a victim of this particular debilitation, Patrick suggests some tricks for coping.

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Making money online, even in today’s economy isn’t difficult. But like anything else, it requires hard work. Here are just a few simple ways you can start making money online:

Start a blog

Contrary to what many say, blogs to make money. If you obtain decent search engine traffic and establish a good reader base, they can actually earn a full-time revenue. The trick to having a successful blog is finding a niche that you’re interested (and knowledgeable) on AND that people are interested in reading about. A great way to find what people are interested in is by using Google Trends. The other important part of building an online community and blog is to be authoritative but be personal.

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A month ago, I shared that my wife was planning to work outside the home during this school year. We had every reason to believe that she would be hired and our children would attend that school free of charge. The added income would have reduced our financial strain significantly and if you remember the reasons, the decision was almost 100 percent financially based. However, it turns out that she will not be taking the job.

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I decided to share a few of my tricks to save money. Since my wife stays at home with our two kids, we must be careful with our spending and make sure we make savvy purchases.

We have lived together for the past 10 years. When we first started, we got all our furniture from friends and family. Absolutely nothing was new. While it was great 10 years ago, second hand furniture still has a maximum life expectancy! Recently, we had to buy a new bed for us (my mattress and my bed was 30 year old!) and another one for Amy (she just turned 2 so it was time for her to move up, into a real bed).

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Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

Several years ago, we made a dumb decision to take out a loan in order to purchase a car. It was a relatively sensible used minivan, nothing extravagant, but I have regretted the decision ever since. Fortunately, our car has held up well and we have had no more than the usual types of repairs. :twists fingers and rolls eyes heavenward:

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Here are some interesting posts from around the personal finance blogosphere this week:

How to find cheap airfare and hotel like a ninja master was writen by Paul Van Leirop and posted at Moolanomy. I knew most of the tips that he shared, but I did not know how the new search engine from Microsoft called Bing can help in your quest for low cost travel.

Frugal Dad writes about why it is really never a good idea to skip a payment, even when your credit card company offers it to you. Most “deals” offered to you by credit card companies are structured so that they benefit the company more than you. I know, crazy isn’t it? Credit card companies are in it for profit!

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