Don't be an idiot when it comes to credit cards
Credit Cards as a Tool
Credit cards are incredibly useful tools in today’s market. No longer is it about being able to finance a purchase or buy something now that you can’t afford until tomorrow, its about rewards. There are many cards out there today that provide holders with some sort of rewards incentives. Whether it be frequent flier miles, a points system usable for purchasing items in a catalog, or cash rewards, if you are a card holder it is worth your time and effort to research these. Over time, and through proper use you can make serious gains. Read more…
Personal Finance
account optimization, credit card rewards, credit cards, debt, repayment
Every Sunday I take a look back at the week that was and pick out some of my favorite posts from other personal finance bloggers.
J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly has a great post with several personal finance ebooks worth reading.
Lazy Man takes a look at his net worth for the first time in awhile.
Nora Dunn posting on Wisebread writes about balancing spend and savings while not becoming miserly. Worth a read.
Baker over at Man vs Debt tells us how to not suck at blogging. I really enjoyed the video he embedded. It’ll motivate you.
Also at Wisebread this week is a great post by Vincent Scordo about money lessons he learned from his immigrant parents.
Trent at The Simple Dollar goes through his book shelf to pick out some of the best financial books he’s found.
Matt writing for Five Cent Nickel lays out 5 of the top ways we waste time and how that costs us.
Some great stuff out there this week. Looking forward to another week of good reading.
Personal Finance
Around the Horn, balanced spending, Best of the blogs, books, ebooks, frugality, net worth, personal finance, wasting time
My Mint.com comparison of Sept. and Aug. spending on restaurants/bars/groceries
September has been a pretty good month for my budgeting. When I moved to Washington, DC is July I knew that I would be spending a lot on getting myself set up down here. I pretty much blew through all of my savings. I spent $6,000 in July. That is… absurd. Granted, I had to buy furniture, pay for an apartment and a deposit, and splurged and bought a TV, but still, this was pretty outrageous. My jaw hit the floor when I looked back at July once August had rolled around. Read more…
Personal Finance
budgeting, credit card, debt, mint, paying yourself first, savings
This is the third and final part in a multi-part series about getting a handle on your finances.
Researching savings accounts will pay off in the long term
Banking and cash flow
So far in this series we’ve looked at how we get an idea of how our money is moving. We’ve looked at our income, our expenses, where we can cut back. We’ve looked at how to organize this to figure out fixed expenses and see how much we actually have to spend every month. Budgeting basics. For the last part of this “Straightening out your finances” series I want to take a look at where funds are being stored. What kind of bank, what kind of account, and why that matters to you in the long run. The short of it is that it can make a big difference over time. Read more…
Personal Finance
cash flow, checking accounts, emergency fund, paying yourself first, savings accounts, Straightening out your finances
This is the second part in a multi-part series about getting a handle on your finances.
Sample fixed expenses
Yesterday, we looked at getting an overview of your income and spending habits. Hopefully you signed up for one of the online finance utilities that I mentioned yesterday. In my experience these have become an invaluable tool for my own financial awareness. They have helped me become a conscious spender, much more mindful of where my money is going. Ultimately, I can thank Mint.com for saving me money. I always know what is in my bank account. I always know what the last thing I bought was. More importantly, I always know what I have left to spend thanks to my budgeting and awareness.
Read more…
Personal Finance
budgeting, Money, paying yourself, Straightening out your finances
This is the first part in a multi-part series about getting a handle on your finances.
Image Credit: http://www.cs.miami.edu/
Everyone needs a starting point
If you’re just starting to try and get a handle on your finances it can, at first, seem overwhelming. The best first step you can take is to step back and examine your finances. Get an overview. If you don’t already use online banking, this is the perfect time to switch over. With online banking you’ll better be able to track your spending rather than writing down every expense in a register (do people even still do that?!), or just waiting for a monthly report to be mailed to you. An added benefit of online banking is that you can transfer funds between accounts at the click of a button. Even better though is the capability of interfacing with some of the best financial programs out there, such as Mint, Wesabe, and Quicken Online. Read more…
Personal Finance
budgeting, financial overview, mint, quicken, wesabe
Beginnings
Back in February of this year, I made a stupid decision to close out my oldest credit card because it had a rate higher than the card I used more regularly. Why did I do this? Because I felt the account was cluttering my online banking screen with something I was never going to be using. So, I called up Bank of America and closed out my account. This was perhaps one of the dumbest financial moves I’ve ever made. Read more…
Personal Finance
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