So you’ve got a little extra money on your hands. Perhaps it’s one of those months with an extra pay period, or your side hustle is finally kicking off and actually bringing in a bit of cash — whatever it is, you’ve got a little extra money, and it’s burning a nice little hole in your pocket. What do you do with it? Sure, you
10 Tips to Keep Your Travel Cheap
Most of us probably have travel on our goals list, but travel can be really expensive. With that in mind, I thought I’d look into some tips and tricks that can help keep your travel cheap. Travel Carry-On Only Checking your baggage for your travel costs you more money than you are (or should be) willing to part with. However, every traveler is able to
It’s That Time of Year Again: Doing the 52-Week Savings Challenge
Saving money can be challenging for the most disciplined. It’s hard to resist the urge to spend money that’s sitting in an account, especially if you have things you sort of need to purchase. Not actual needs, but things you think you need. If this sounds like something you struggle with then maybe the 52-week savings challenge (aka the 52 Week Savings Challenge) is for
You Need an Emergency Fund, Here’s Why
According to reports, only 39% of Americans have an extra $1,000 kicking around to be able to pay for financial emergencies. So if you’re in the group of Americans who don’t have an emergency fund, you’re not alone. But you need to have one. Life is unpredictable and unfortunately, it runs off money. There’s no telling what tomorrow will bring so it is in your
How to Raise Financially Savvy Kids
Missouri, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia require that high school students take a personal finance course to graduate. If you don’t live in one of those states or your children are younger than high-school age, you might have to be their first teacher on this subject — that’s how to raise money savvy kids. Jackie CohenJackie Cohen is an award winning financial journalist turned turned financial advisor obsessed with
4 Realistic Ways to Save Half Your Income
After calculating my new two person budget I realized that combined we would be socking away 47% of our income on a bad month and even more on the months where we earn more than average. The good news was that we will able to do this at a quite comfortable spending level. (Note that I’m not talking about spending ungodly amounts of money on
How to Live Off One Income
Are you a mom dreaming of the day when you can quit working and start staying home with your kids? Maybe either you or your spouse lost a job. Or, you could be like me, a single parent, with no choice but to live on one income. The circumstances don’t really matter. That fact is that it’s completely possible to support a family on one
Why Thinking Long Term is Hard (And Why You Should Do it Anyway)
Save for you future. Invest ten percent of your income. Open up a Roth IRA. It goes in one ear and out the other. I should know. The long term mentality has only kicked in with me over the past couple of years. As some of my close family members near retirement age I cringe. Without any savings to fall back on retirement is going
3 Mindsets That are Killing Your Personal Finances
As I sit here looking at the computer screen I draw a blank “what do I want to write about tonight” I think. Nothing seems like a good choice. But I tell myself I should get started anyway. After all, the blog post won’t write itself. I’ve got it in my head that if I type the first few words the rest will come. And
Increasing Financial Stability One Step at a Time
Over the past year and a half I’ve been working on increasing my financial stability. I’m happy with where I’m at but I still feel like I could be doing a little more. I find that sharing my financial goals and progress keeps me more accountable. Here is how I’ve been increasing my financial stability one step at a time. Pick Up Extra Jobs While