Increase Your Personal Savings and Live the Life You Want

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Do you have trouble saving money? Take one look at the savings rate in America and you’ll realize you’re not alone. It goes up and down but before the gloomy recession savings rates were as low as -2%. You read that right. Americans had a negative savings rate! It’s gone up a little bit since then but there is still much room for improvement. Clearly Americans have trouble saving money but imagine if there was something that encouraged you to pay yourself first each and every month. Instead of running out of money at the end of the month to […] Read more »

The Best Discount Cards for your Budgeting Dollars

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The wallets and key rings of consumers have been filling up with little pieces of plastic that promise deep savings. Whether it is a loyalty card that offers you discounts on products or a membership card that offers even greater discounts chances are the stores you shop have one to offer. The economy is forcing millions of us to find new ways to earn extra money as well as cut back on expenses. One of the easiest ways to do this is to find the right mix of discount, membership and loyalty cards to stretch your hard earned dollars farther. […] Read more »

10 Small Ways to Increase your Emergency Fund Without Noticing

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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

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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

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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 »

Motivation — Coping with “Slow to No” Progress

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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?

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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 »

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

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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 […] Read more »

Perfect Example As To Why You Must Have An Emergency Fund

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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

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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 »

How I Saved $168.17 On A Recent Purchase!

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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

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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 »

SAVE MONEY, NOT MOVIES!

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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!

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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 »