Buying It for Life + MORE

Buying It for Life + MORE

Rent or Buy? Look at the Price to Rent Ratio for Objective DataDetermining whether to rent or buy a home, apartment, or other dwelling is often a tough choice to make.
As we discussed, housing costs are huge (between 31-39% of spending, on average). And you want to keep yourself out of trouble, should you hit some monetary speed bumps.
Despite what a local realtor or mortgage broker might tell you, it is not always “a good time to buy”…

Continue Reading On 20somethingfinance.com/ »

Living a Frugal Life: Exploring StaycationsIf you’re trying to save money, pay down debt, or both, then you might want to consider skipping your family’s usual summer trip and plan staycations instead. Staycations are inexpensive activities that your family can do at home, or locally, that you can all enjoy without running up an expensive vacation tab…

Continue Reading On prairieEcothrifter.com »

Let’s examine what is in our net worthThis is a follow up to – Can you retire with a million dollars? Some readers pointed out that a million dollars net worth is very different from having one million dollars in investible assets. You could have $500,000 tied up in your home and other assets and you won’t have much left over to generate money for you in retirement…

Continue Reading On retireby40.org/ »

I remember when I received my first credit card offer. I was 18 and fresh out of high school and, frankly, I was flattered that Visa thought I was responsible enough for a card. Of course, I know now that pretty much every 18-year-old receives credit card offers, but at the time I couldn’t wait to […

Continue Reading On moneycrashers.com »

25 Reasons Why You Should Take a Walk

I’m always a little amazed when people drive across town to the gym, hunt around for a place to park, change their clothes, sign up for a treadmill, and wait in line to use it, all just to take a nice 30 minute walk. Not that there’s anything wrong with walking…

Continue Reading On wisebread.com »

Money Now or Money Later?

– canadianfinanceblog.com

Money Now or Money Later?Delayed gratification is one of the main tenants of personal finance. Scan the front page of any major personal finance website, or read through the table of contents for any popular personal finance book, and you’ll see examples of delayed gratification.
We see this in tips and techniques like freezing your credit card so that you have to wait for it to thaw in order to make purchases on it, or by writing out a list of things that you want, waiting 30 days, and checking to see if you still want to make those purchases…

Continue Reading On canadianfinanceblog.com »

Three Tips for New Landlords

– free money wisdom

Three Tips for New LandlordsFor those with the financial power becoming a landlord can be a lucrative scheme, bringing in a sizable income on a regular basis. However, the life of a landlord is not always as straightforward as many believe.
With a little research and knowledge of the trade, landlords can ensure that they are seeing a solid return without putting in a large amount of regular work…

Continue Reading On free money wisdom »

How many of you invest outside of retirement?
I’m currently of the mindset that Girl Ninja and I have enough job security and enough liquid assets we can afford to quit saving money. It’s a fun place to be in for sure, but it is also extremely intimidating. Throwing excess income in to a savings account each month takes virtually no effort…

Continue Reading On punchdebtintheface.com »

Buying It for Life

– thesimepledollar.com

Over time, as our various pots and pans have worn out, we’ve slowly been replacing them with enameled cast iron, which are fairly expensive – substantially more than the pots and pans at our local department store.
My pocketknife’s blade became so beat up that it could barely cut string…

Continue Reading On thesimepledollar.com »

Gold Down But Not Out

– libertyinvestor.com

Over the past six months, the price of gold has been steadily in decline — though the past six days have seen the precious metal regaining some of its allure, rising 5.8 percent. According to some gold watchers, that is a sign that it may be a perfect time to get into the gold game.
"We’re in process of finding a bottom," Jeff Nichols, managing director of American Precious Metals Advisors, told CNN…

Continue Reading On libertyinvestor.com »

5 Ways to Save Money as a Wedding GuestBack in my country, weddings are not as costly as what it is in US. Generally we attended weddings within our own city but occasionally we had to travel long distance by trains. I know those trips and all the associated costs were too much for my father. This guest post from Alice talks about some of the ways to reduce cost of attending a weeding…

Continue Reading On onecentatatime.com »

Our House is Now Worth More! 🙂

– budgetsaresexy.com/

Our House is Now Worth More! :)
So after the debacle with our renting situation last week, I thought it would be smart/fun/interesting to see what our house could sell for shall we put it on the market instead of renting it out. Ya know – in case I lose my mind and just say “F it” one of these days (only a 1% chance of happening btw, but you never know ;))
It’s been almost exactly a year since the last time we updated it (when our neighbors sold theirs for $285,000), so figured it’s about time to get it checked out again anyways…

Continue Reading On budgetsaresexy.com/ »

Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities
The Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities (OFPD) is a program designed to help persons with disabilities to prepare for and obtain employment or self-employment in Canada. The program supports local, regional and national projects. The eligibility for local and regional projects differ by region and year contingent on the community needs but applications are accepted on an ongoing basis…

Continue Reading On milliondollarjourney.com »

The Pipes Are Calling

– libertyinvestor.com

The Pipes Are CallingWhile this week will find golf fans hearing the call of the pipes not far from Edinburgh, Scotland, as the British Open gets underway, the pipes I’m writing about are of a different and more profitable kind than bagpipes.
Last week, I wrote about the tragedy in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic, located in the southeast area of the Province of Quebec…

Continue Reading On libertyinvestor.com »

The Biggest Lie About Spiking Interest RatesTalk about myopia!
For 18 months straight, I’ve been chronicling the “huge recovery” in residential real estate, as one of the Nation’s largest homebuilders recently put it.
I’ve ushered in data point after data point to convince investors of three things: The recovery is legitimate; it’s broad-based; and it’s here to stay…

Continue Reading On libertyinvestor.com »

5 Pieces of Money Advice For EveryoneThe following is a guest post by Celina Jones. If you are interested in guest posting on BudgetBlonde, please e-mail me at Cat [at] BudgetBlonde [dot] com.
It can be hard to determine whether a particular piece of money advice is right for you, and the Internet is full of ideas and opinions!
However, there are some tried and true pieces of advice that almost everyone can benefit from…

Continue Reading On budgetblonde.com »

How to Vacation on a Budget

– moneyning.com/

How to Vacation on a Budget
The baseball season is a grueling six months. It starts with Spring Training in March, and it ends in the beginning of September. There are many games — and only a few days off. When I had two days off for the All Star Break last week, my wife and I took advantage of it.
Being that we’re on the east coast, and I played a summer in Cape Cod, we got in contact with my old host family to see what they were doing…

Continue Reading On moneyning.com/ »

This post is from staff writer Kristin Wong. I first read about the envelope system back in college. I used it regularly, but after graduating and paying off my debt, I sort of abandoned it. I’d gotten a hold of my finances, and I figured I could budget safely without having to use this tactic…

Continue Reading On getrichslowly.org/blog »

“Pump and Dump” is Back – and on Social MediaOne of the classic investment scams is the “pump and dump.”
While this scam has declined somewhat in recent years, it’s starting to make a comeback, at least according to FINRA.
FINRA warns that pump and dump is on the rise in emails. On top of that, it appears that other social media outlets offer the chance for pump and dump to really take hold…

Continue Reading On moneysmartlife.com »

Don’t Pay to Find Lost Money

– moneytalksnews.com

Don’t Pay to Find Lost MoneyHow do you spend commercial breaks? Checking your email? Playing Candy Crush Saga on Facebook? Why not spend it doing something productive like hunting for treasure?You can by searching online for unclaimed money that’s owed to you. While it may seem unlikely, 2.5 million claims involving $2.25 billion were processed in 2011, returning the money to its rightful owners, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators…

Continue Reading On moneytalksnews.com »

The Privacy vs Frugality Debate: Saving Money Costs YouHow do you save money yet keep your personal information private?
This is an article by Sam Lustgarten, a doctoral student at a midwestern university.
We’re living in a surveillance society. Recent news and leaks from whistleblower, Edward Snowden, show that the American government has an intricate network — both foreign and domestic…

Continue Reading On ptmoney.com »

We all have those heart sinking moments when we realize we made a big money mistake. At least, I hope I’m not the only one! (Don’t worry, you’ll get a chance to share yours in the comments!)
Here’s one of my best:
A few years ago when I wasn’t as financially savvy and way less cool, we completely misunderstood my husband’s (then fiance’s) apartment lease…

Continue Reading On youngadultmoney.com/ »