<$Monday, February 4, 2008$>
Link Roundup: Philosophical Edition
| This round of links is all about the deep thoughts on financial matters. Philosophical (and practical) discussions ensue: Labels: finance+blogs, link roundup |
<$Wednesday, January 30, 2008$>
This is why I love the internets.
| In the same vein as yesterday's post about free online image editors, there's a great post at Gather Little By Little that lists free open source software--both web based and free downloadable programs. When we get our computer, I don't plan to pay extra for Microsoft Office. With all of the open source programs available these days that are as easy to use as and compatible with MS programs, there's just no reason to. I already do the majority of my writing in Google Docs. I might not even download any programs to my hard drive--I might just save space by using web based programs! Labels: finance+blogs, freebies, frugality, resources, tools |
<$Friday, January 25, 2008$>
Link Roundup: Tax Rebate Edition
| Look, I have an edition! With the tentative announcement that a lot of Americans will be getting tax rebates this year intended to stimulate the economy by getting us all to get spendy, you can be sure the PF blogosphere had plenty to say about the matter. The general consensus: the rebates are a lot more likely to be saved than spent by this particular community. Personally, I intend to throw mine at my credit card debt, but I'm guessing that still goes against the government's intent. Although, the more quickly I can get rid of my debt, the more able and willing I'll be to spend a little on extras now and then. So I guess it will all even out. Watch My Moneymaker lists Ten Things To Do With Your Economic Stimulus Rebate that the Government Won't Like. Interestingly, "pay credit card debt" is on his list. But I'm doing it anyway, 'cause I'm all rebellious like that. ;) Free Money Finance has a similar list that he picked up from MSNBC. A lot of good discussion in the comment thread there. My Dollar Plan also talks about why the Economic Stimulus Plan Fails at [Their] House. They plan to channel their rebate directly into their investments. Finally, Living Almost Large questions the wisdom of the Revised Tax Rebate. I question it, too, for the reasons stated there. What good will it really do to further increase the Federal deficit to give people money (that they'll probably have to pay taxes on again, if the last big rebate is any indication) to encourage the type of spending that got us into this mess in the first place? Not that I'm complaining about the windfall, but there does seem to be some bass-ackwards logic at work here. Labels: debt reduction, extra income, finance+blogs, free money |
<$Thursday, January 24, 2008$>
Just say no to McMansions
| Stop the Ride lists thirteen reasons "Smaller Is Better" when it comes to buying a house. This is advice I'd heard before, and it's advice we intend to heed when we shop for our new home. We don't really need that much room, especially for a starter home. We have so much junk that we plan to get rid of before we move. I really want to de-clutter and simplify my home life. I think having a small home will force us to be ruthless in letting go of our stuff. Not to mention the lower energy bills... just go read the list. All of my reasons are already over there. Labels: finance+blogs, frugality, goals, house-hunt |
<$Tuesday, January 22, 2008$>
Frugal Post Script
| One more link: Small Cents posted a list of 25 frugal things she does while she's paying off her student loans. They're not all about food, and they're not all stuff I can do (that breastfeeding thing is kind of outside my ability for the moment), but there's a lot of good ideas there. Labels: finance+blogs, frugality |
Link Round-Up: Totally Random Edition
| A lot of bloggers are so organized and clever as to present link round-ups with themes that tie each link together. I am neither that organized nor that clever (nor willing to work that hard), so I just present them as I find them. Here's some of the best stuff I've stumbled upon in today's round of PF surfing: Labels: finance+blogs, link roundup |
How to get a credit report that's really free
| Money Smart Life has an unfortunate article up about how to get a free credit report that directs you to Freecreditreport.com. A lot of people make the mistake--including myself--of thinking that this is the web site where you get the free annual credit report that the reporting agencies are required to give you by law, and I'm sure FCR capitalizes on that assumption with all of their advertising. But what they don't make clear when you sign up is that when you register to get your free credit report from them, you're also signing up for their credit monitoring service. If you don't cancel this service within thirty days, they'll start automatically charging your credit card. Last year I was really bad about not checking my statements, and I ended up paying twice the fee for a year (for both my and my husband's reports) without realizing. As soon as I found out I canceled it, but they don't make that process particularly easy, either. That's $310 I unwittingly spent for my "free" credit report. The actual free credit report site, set up by the three major reporting agencies in compliance with federal law, is Annualcreditreport.com. You won't get your credit score, but you will get all three reports with no hidden fees or strings attached. You can get each report once a year, but you don't have to get them all at the same time, which means you can stagger them out and check up on your credit three times a year at no cost. They also provide enough information for you to get a reasonable estimate of your credit score by using the FICO Score Estimator, which is also totally free. Monitoring your credit is a smart thing to do. Just be careful of getting sucked in by misleading advertising. Labels: credit cards, debt reduction, evil, finance+blogs, freebies |
<$Tuesday, December 4, 2007$>
It's like losing weight: the slower you do it, the more likely it is to stick.
| Congrats to JD over at Get Rich Slowly, who yesterday achieved that state which we all covet and crave: he paid off all of his consumer debt. Way to go, JD!!! Labels: debt reduction, finance+blogs |
<$Wednesday, August 22, 2007$>
Married With Debt
| Speaking of vigorously attacking debts, Get Rich Slowly has an excellent guest article on When a Spender and a Saver Say "I Do". It's pretty inspirational, and also contains some good ideas for going at those debts full-throttle. Husband and I started out pretty much even in the saving/spending department, with neither of us really big on saving. It didn't take long after we got married to realize that at least one of us needed to step up and become a saver if we were ever going to make any financial headway and live a comfortable life. This is all still fairly new to me, and although I suffered a backslide in the last couple of months, I'm ready to pull ahead again. I'm doing my best to drag husband along with me. I think I might print out this article and (try to) get him to read it. Maybe it will inspire him to get in step with me and give us an opportunity to sit down and make a plan together to reach our goals. Labels: credit cards, finance+blogs, goals, money management, personal |
<$Monday, August 20, 2007$>
Thoof! ... is not the sound a lispy dog makes.
| *Sponsored Post* My internet habits—and limited time in which to indulge them—don't leave me a lot of time for reading the news these days. I have a pretty short attention span when it comes to that stuff, anyway, and I've got my RSS feed reader pared down to only that which can hold my attention, or that which I can breeze through quickly. It doesn't include much in the way of news. I recently discovered Thoof, though, and it's feeding my need to feel more informed and politically aware, what with the election year approaching and all. It's a personalized news aggregator, which means that I can personalize it to show me only headlines covering topics that interest me. Their business tag, for example, brings up a page of finance-related headlines. Nifty. From a marketing standpoint, I really should also start using them as a marketing tool and submitting some of my own posts. Getting my posts out there will do more for my traffic, which will ultimately do more for my bottom line (and for my debt elimination). The Thoof ranking badge could be a great way to track the popularity of my posts. Now all I have to do is come up with something legitimately news-worthy to post about, and I'll be all set. Labels: disclosure, finance+blogs, PPP, self-promotion |
Carnival Time Again
| We're still falling down in the food department. But we finally broke out one of the many Target gift cards we received for our wedding last year (which, I think we'd better hurry up and use these before they start losing value; we've been holding off on spending them until we moved to our new place, but seeing as how that doesn't appear to be happening any time soon...) and bought the indoor grill that Husband has been salivating over since we filled out our gift registry last summer. This increases our cooking abilities and options, which, hopefully, will translate to more cooking real food at home and less eating out. Hopefully. The 114th Carnival of Personal Finance is up at The Simple Dollar. I don't have anything listed this week, but I found a couple of articles there that are appropos to my getting my hinder back in gear in the budgeting and finance department: I've Paid For This Twice Already has started a new Budgeting for Dummies series. Part 1 examines the importance of lists, for which I can confidently vouch. I think my laziness when it comes to lists is partially responsible for my current financial stagnation. No Credit Needed has done a nice Envelope System Video Tutorial. I used a similar envelope system to save money for my wedding and honeymoon, and I still use envelopes to save for short-term goals. The rest of my money is in electronic form, and instead of envelopes I use Post-Its to allocate and track my funds. This worked pretty well for me until, as I mentioned above, I got lazy about writing stuff down. I'm considering going to an envelope system for our food budget. Maybe this would help cut down on our food spending, especially if I don't carry the cash with me and only take it out when there's a legitimate need. I can't be tempted to pick up burgers on the way home from work if I don't have any food money on me, and it would also force my husband to plan ahead and think about what he really needs instead of calling me at work and asking me to stop and grab fast food or groceries for him on the way home. Anyway, back to the carnival: The Digerati Life has a list of the Top 10 Wealth Building Ways of Ordinary People. I must admit, I find #9 an attractive option. It ties in well with my goal to launch a web design business within the next few years, and domains don't really cost that much. A hundred dollars could buy up a handful of domain names, and if just one of them is a jackpot domain (i.e. coveted by a wealthy entity who is willing to shell out big money for it), you could see big returns. Digerati also has a good article on What Low Income Earners Can Do to Get Off Minimum Wage. Thankfully, it's been over a decade since I've been forced to rely on a minimum wage job. It was my basic computer skills that got me out of that trap, and it's been my computer skills, even more than my college degree, that have pulled me up the corporate ladder. The article advises education as the best way to beat minimum wage, but I would emphasize a computer education. Even a single basic computer literacy course will provide someone with the skills they need to get an entry-level office job, often with companies that will pay for additional training and education. Other good links not included in this week's Carnival: We're In Debt asks, Can I Use My Emergency Fund for That? - the temptation to spend our savings on wants instead of needs is another issue Husband and I keep struggling with. Finally, The Budget Fashionista has a $10 Off Old Navy coupon to share. Now I'm off to track our food spending for the last several weeks so I can show Husband just how out-of-control we've gotten. Cheers! Labels: carnivals, finance+blogs, money management, spending |
<$Wednesday, July 25, 2007$>
Applying Talent to Debt
| So apparently the internet really did crash yesterday, or at least the parts of it hosting LiveJournal, Typepad and Craigslist. It also happened to be the part of it that currently hosts the stylesheets for this blog, which explains what the what happened to my template yesterday. If you stopped by during the outage, I'm sorry you caught me without my clothes on. *blush* Elsewhere, the lovely and constantly clad Blogging Away Debt is featuring a guest post on how to fight encouragement about debt. It's good advice, and relevant, seeing as how fighting discouragement about my own debt is pretty much a constant for me these days. One way I fight discouragement is to keep plugging away at my novel, and entertain fantasies of how much our lives will change if this turns out to be the one that sells. Even a crappy advance would be enough to eliminate our consumer debt, thereby dramatically altering our quality of living and opening up our choices. I'm not pinning all of our hopes on that possibility, though, and so I'm constantly looking for more practical and immediate ways to raise extra money to throw at those credit cards. Earlier this year I was determined to start making money from my knitting, but somehow that project fell by the wayside. I think it's time I took it up again. By the end of the week I plan to have my Etsy shop stocked with some new made-to-order items. I also went through my yarn stash recently and weeded out an entire 13-gallon bag's worth of yarn that I can sell on eBay. I don't expect these things to bring in a lot of money, but every extra bit helps, and at least this is something I'm already spending time on anyway. Also in that vein, I'm creating a goal for myself to write at least two Associated Content* articles a week. The first one I'm planning to do is a review of Bridal Bargains*, a book that proved incredibly useful and more than paid for itself when I was planning my own low-budget wedding last year. Once I'm done with the review, I'll be holding a contest here to give away my copy to another frugal bride-to-be. So that's a plan for action, at least. Whether it actually works out the way I hope or not, at least it makes me feel like I'm doing something to take back control of my finances. This is giving me some much needed encouragement at a time when I'm weary and tempted to lie down and give in to minimum payment limbo. *Affiliate links Labels: credit cards, finance+blogs, goals |
<$Monday, July 2, 2007$>
Carnival Time! Also, Eight Things.
| I love it when other people provide me with content, thus saving me from having to gear up my brain and think too hard on a Monday morning. First up, let me point you to the 107th Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this week by Blogging Away Debt, and which includes my post from last week about pet health. It also includes much more in the way of personal finance goodness, including this highly relatable article on money anxiety at My Money and My Life. Eight Things Secondly, I've been tagged! Weirdgrrl over at Things That Make You Go Huh? has tagged me for that Eight Things meme. This one is going to actually require some brain power, which, being that it's still before noon on Monday, is going to prove a challenge; but let me give it a whirl. The Rules: "Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples' sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do." There you have it. And here are eight things about me: 1. I have a bachelor's degree in social science, with an emphasis on psychology. I like to bring this up from time to time, since this degree has not a blessed thing to do with either my current job or with my future ambitions, and people tend to not realize that I actually got myself a colluj ejumacayshun. 2. I played the saxophone for about 15 years, starting in grade school and continuing well past high school, and by the end of that time had gotten pretty good at it. Then about ten years ago a spring on my sax broke and, not being able to afford to either repair or replace it, I put it away and haven't played since. I still hope to get it fixed and start playing again one day. 3. Meanwhile, I'm learning to play the guitar. I'm still new and not very good at it, but I can strum a pretty mean Kumbayah. 4. I originally majored in journalism. One semester in this major helped me figure out I'd rather make stuff up than report the bare facts, so I switched to English. After a couple of frustrating semesters of not being able to handle the reading lists (this was before I even knew I had ADD, let alone how to manage it), I dropped out entirely and didn't go back to school until I was twenty-eight, when I started working on that previously mentioned psych/soc degree. I still minored in English, though. 5. I married my first boyfriend. This doesn't seem all that unusual until I point out that I didn't meet him until I was thirty-one. 6. I once wrote an entire original (by which I mean not fan fiction) novel. It wasn't very good, but it was novel-length, and I finished it. This is helpful to remember when finishing my current novel begins to feel like an impossible feat. I did it once, and by God, I can do it again. 7. I once worked a temp gig as a production assistant behind the scenes at a teen beauty pageant. I will never do such a thing again, ever. 8. I spend an embarrassing amount of time secretly obsessing over whether people would still appear shocked when I reveal my age and insist that I look ten years younger if I stopped coloring my hair, or whether I could pass off all of those white hairs as highlights. And now you know my secret shame. Now it would seem I have to tag somebody. Normally, I would cop out and just say feel free to consider yourself tagged if that's your thing, but it occurs to me that this is an opportunity to spread some linky-love, so if I've linked you below, consider yourself tagged: Bad Kitty A Cowboy's Wife Broke As a Spoke C.Whyte's Blog And that's lunch. Labels: finance+blogs, fun, personal, random |
<$Thursday, June 28, 2007$>
Excuse me for not blogging
| My one day back at the office this week turned out to be a busy one, so I had to forgo all of the blogging I'd planned for today. I'm going dark once again for the weekend (tomorrow is my regularly scheduled Friday off), but I don't want to leave you, gentle readers, empty handed. In my lameness, please allow me to direct you to this discussion at Get Rich Slowly about trying to help those who aren't yet ready to help themselves. I'll admit, I was once a Gillian. I'm glad I'm finally learning what's truly important in life. Labels: finance+blogs, money management |
<$Wednesday, April 18, 2007$>
Finance Fundamentals
| Blueprint for Financial Prosperity culled all of the personal finance floating around the webs to gather together Ten Fundamental Concepts in Personal Finance - some of which are pretty common sense, but I guess that's what makes them fundamental. (Via Get Rich Slowly.) Labels: advice, finance+blogs, money management |
<$Wednesday, April 11, 2007$>
Site Maintenance
| Well, here's the new template. I'm not really sure how I feel about it just yet, but at least it looks more professional than the original. It still needs some tinkering here and there; some of the tab links don't go anywhere yet, and I'm not crazy about the fonts, and the description definitely needs work. I'm out of time for today, though, so those will have to wait a bit. While I was at it, I updated the blogroll with a few new finance blogs, but I'll save you the trouble of clicking that link and just copy the new additions here: Free Money Finance - This is an openly Christian finance blog that uses Biblical principles as a foundation for financial management. If you're wondering what scripture has to say about a particular financial issue, this is a good place to start looking. Money Changes Things - I'm brand new to this one, but I like the idea: once those debts are paid off, those finances are all straightened out and you've arrived at "enough," then what do you do? This blogger looks for creative ways to maintain your newly accomplished wealth, and reminds us that there's a lot more to riches than money and possessions. Gen X Personal Finance - Another Gen-Xer tailoring financial info and advice for my generation, in easy-to-understand terms. Labels: finance+blogs, site maintenance |
<$Thursday, March 29, 2007$>
The Blogroll
| These are all of the personal finance blogs that have inspired me, taught me, motivated me, and helped me save money and take charge of my finances. You'll find a permanent link to this list over there in the sidebar, and I'll update this post whenever I discover any new blogs worth adding. Adult ADD and Money - This was the first finance blog I ever read regularly, and it was the ADD aspect that drew me in. John is a small business consultant who posts helpful links and advice target to those who, like me, can identify Attention Deficit Disorder as the root of most of their financial woes. Get Rich Slowly - I've been making daily visits to J.D.'s blog for a while now, and it's probably been the most motivating and informative for me. It's through this blog that I discovered most of the links that follow. Every time I start to get down because it seems like I'm never going to do more than make ends meet, I visit this blog, and I always come away feeling motivated and optimistic about my financial future. Blogging Away Debt - This is another blog I visit whenever I need a shot of optimism. Tricia is a young wife and mother who's using blogging about the progress she's making toward paying down her debt. She's some one I can relate to a lot. Lifehack.org - A blog about productivity and getting things done, this contains a lot of good tips and tricks for making life a little easier, as well as a lot of good money-saving "hacks." Getting Finances Done - I visit this blog less regularly, but this is where I found advice on how to organize a budget that really helped me pull my own budget together. Generation X Finance - This blog is pretty new to me, but it contains a lot of good info and analysis aimed at my generation. Curbly - Not really a blog or a personal finance site, but this community is full of creative, outside-the-box ideas for inexpensive decorating and home improvement. Budget Vino - Also not a personal finance site, but a must for any wine enthusiasts on a budget. This blogger samples and reviews wines that cost a mere $10 or less, and proves that being a wine connoisseur doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. Bless him. I love a glass of wine after dinner, and thanks to this guy I can drink it without any spendy guilt. That's my list as it stands today. Like I said, I'll update it as time goes on. In the meantime, if you have any favorite personal finance sites that you think I should visit, share them with me in the comments. UPDATED 4/11/07 I've come across a few more that grabbed my interest enough to ensure that I'll return to them. Free Money Finance - This is an openly Christian finance blog that uses Biblical principles as a foundation for financial management. If you're wondering what scripture has to say about a particular financial issue, this is a good place to start looking. Money Changes Things - I'm brand new to this one, but I like the idea: once those debts are paid off, those finances are all straightened out and you've arrived at "enough," then what do you do? This blogger looks for creative ways to maintain your newly accomplished wealth, and reminds us that there's a lot more to riches than money and possessions. Gen X Personal Finance - Another Gen-Xer tailoring financial info and advice for my generation, in easy-to-understand terms. UPDATED 6/25/07: Lazy Man and Money - I have a pretty broad lazy streak myself, and I'm also pretty particular about how I spend my time, so naturally I love Lazy Man's perspective on making your money work so you don't have to. (See also: Lazy Man and Health) Labels: finance+blogs |