10 Small Ways to Increase your Emergency Fund Without Noticing

Written by on February 3, 2012 · 15 Comments
Making Extra Money for Your Savings Account

For many of us, myself included, squeezing money out of your budget takes a lot of fancy footwork. Finding ways to save the money to build up your emergency fund or save for a new car when things are already tight requires numerous income streams. Often times you can not make room for a second job and that is when using your imagination, your dedication and the few minutes of free time you can carve out of your day to make extra money. This list, when separated, may not bring a lot of extra money (accept for the first one) [...] Read more »

Make Your Own Credit Card

Written by on February 1, 2012 · 6 Comments
flag and credit

I often meet with clients who are using credit cards to fund their daily life. With no money in savings credit cards have come through for them time and time again in emergencies. Their reluctance to get off credit is understandable. It's their friend. They know they can count on it. It's possible they have never had money is savings, credit has been their life line since they can remember. Credit is their crutch. Read more »

Save Money and Energy and Pay Off Debt

Written by on August 1, 2011 · 2 Comments
save cash to pay off debt

Are you paying too much on your energy bills? Compare energy prices online now and you might just find a way to give a welcome boost to your summer budget. Energy saving ad campaigns are everywhere at the moment – on TV, the radio, the internet, on billboards – but many people are still unaware of the importance of cutting back, not just for the planet, but for your finances. Energy saving habits like switching the light off every time you leave a room can save you hundreds over the course of a year. Surely, there is nobody out there [...] Read more »

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Motivation — Coping with “Slow to No” Progress

Written by on July 5, 2011 · 7 Comments
broke

We became debt free in late 2009, which is when we officially started saving our big emergency fund. Here we are almost 2 years later, and we are back at square one — ZERO! This post has been a year in the making! The first year of debt freedom, we had $9,500 before it started to go downhill. We weren’t wasting our money on frivolous spending, but we added a new baby into our world as well as lost an income. If you add up all of the savings that has vanished in the last year that could have been [...] Read more »

O Emergency Fund, Emergency Fund! Where For Art Thou Emergency Fund?

Written by on October 25, 2010 · 16 Comments
Letting go

Have you ever had a true emergency fund before? They say, once you go emergency fund you never go back. Having my beloved emergency fund in my life has been amazing, and I became a better person for meeting her. Ever since the first day I laid eyes on my one true emergency fund, I new I was a changed man. The way she comforted me and made me feel all safe and fuzzy inside. I got butterflies whenever I would think of her. I just knew she was the one! Can you tell I’m struggling? My emergency fund was [...] Read more »

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Saying “I Can’t” Is Just Like Saying “I Don’t Want To”

Written by on September 21, 2010 · 12 Comments
crossroads

Photo Credit: haydnseek Have you ever said “I can’t?” I have, and you probably have too. What is it that you are really saying when you speak those words? Are you saying you lack the ability to learn, or are you saying you lack the desire to try? I personally feel the phrase “I can’t” is the equivalent of saying “I don’t want to”. If you wanted to do something, wouldn’t you try, and if you didn’t, you couldn’t say I couldn’t, you would have to then say I didn’t? (Tongue twister—I know) Unfortunately, many people say I can’t before [...] Read more »

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Perfect Example As To Why You Must Have An Emergency Fund

Written by on August 23, 2010 · 52 Comments
enslaved

This is a spontaneous post, brought on by my lingering frustration with how people still manage their money. Hasn’t towering unemployment, record foreclosures, and the looming threat of a double-dip recession (as if there ever was a recovery) taught people anything? For some of us it has, but for others, not so much. That is still better than before we were hit by this recession, BUT I feel I should remind you that we have proven to be a nation plagued by amnesia. As soon as things improve, some of the very same people will go back to their old [...] Read more »

Pay Off Debt By Saving Money

Written by on August 12, 2010 · 5 Comments
coupon savings

How often do you mindlessly pay whatever price the store is asking? I’m not even one of those hardcore coupon clippers that spend hours each week laboring over countless newspapers, but I do believe in getting bargains most of the time. Quite honestly, I’m just as guilty as you are about sometimes ignoring possible savings out of mere inconvenience. I sometimes wonder how much I would have saved if I wasn’t so impatient. What if finding and using coupons was actually convenient and less time consuming though? How much faster could you pay off your debt, build that emergency fund, [...] Read more »

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How I Saved $168.17 On A Recent Purchase!

Written by on August 9, 2010 · 5 Comments
quibids-example

Are you looking to save lots of money by getting huge bargains on merchandise? I don’t know many people that would say no to that question, but I want to make something clear right from the beginning. I’m not an advocate for mass consumption, especially just because you are able to get a huge discount. I am of the opinion that if you need something, it’s just really nice to save money in the process. Today, I am going to share something with you that I have found to be a great resource in helping my family and I save [...] Read more »

When You’re Tired Of Being Broke, You’ll Start Saving

Written by on March 19, 2010 · 41 Comments

If you were to ask people why they do not have any savings, you would likely here a multitude of excuses. You say reasons, I say excuses, and here’s why. If saving money was important to you, and not just a feel good line to help cover up your lack of priorities, you could save an emergency fund! Sure there might be things that pop up and make it harder, but those things happen to everybody. In Financial Peace University, Dave Ramsey uses an example to support the idea that if saving money was an emotional priority, you would in [...] Read more »

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SAVE MONEY, NOT MOVIES!

Written by on September 10, 2009 · 15 Comments

There are lots of things that people waste money on, but I want to talk about something that I used to waste money on.  Movies!  Do you have a DVD collection that rocks?  I have noticed that people take great pride in their DVD collection, and you often hear them proclaim it’s greatness with enthusiasm.  I used to be one of those people that collected movies, that was at least until I realized how much money I WASTED on movies that I hardly ever watched.  I started asking myself if the value was worth the expense. People like to brag [...] Read more »

Fully Funded Emergency Fund – Do It Your Way!

Written by on July 21, 2009 · 9 Comments

Go Get You An Umbrella! You’ve reached baby step 3!  You now have NO DEBT except for your house, and are ready to beef up your savings.  Congratulations! You are climbing a mountain and are two-thirds of the way up.  Can you see the top?  Pretty soon you will be at an overlook that you at one time thought was impossible.  Keep moving forward! There may be times when you feel as if you are moving too slow, but just keep moving!  Now isn’t the time to stop!  Now you should be more motivated and here’s why.  When you were [...] Read more »

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HELP! I Had To Use My Emergency Fund!

Written by on July 15, 2009 · 5 Comments

Even The Best Plan Has Snags Having a baby emergency fund is an essential part of starting a healthy financial plan.  It gives you some wiggle room in order to handle what life throws at you (mainly the little things), while paying off your debt with gazelle intensity.  If you have no debt, then you should have 3/6 months of savings in your fully funded emergency fund.  Life happens at the most inconvenient time, but if you have an emergency fund, it’s not so stressful.  Needless to say, when that time comes you will need to know what to do [...] Read more »

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Baby Emergency Fund – Do It Your Way!

Written by on July 12, 2009 · 17 Comments

Options To Consider When Saving To Achieve The Maximum Emotional Impact For well over a year as I have been doing the plan myself, I have been paying attention to how people respond to doing or possibly doing The Total Money Makeover.  I have coordinated and lead 2 successful FPU workshops, spent some times facilitating the FPU forums, been a member of the mytmmo.com forums, and listened to many friends.  I have heard people that had no savings yet, say that they didn’t think $1,000 was possible, while others have said it wasn’t enough.  Saving money is tied to emotions, [...] Read more »

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