How we spend dictates how much we can save and invest. It all starts with putting a few rules in place. Here are mine. Big Purchases Are Never Made on Impulse I never buy anything over $1,000 without deep research. Whether it’s a car, a vacation, a major household appliance or a new investment product. […]
The frugal living trend isn’t new, but it is growing. And the influencers are loving it. A quick Instagram search just threw up 966,000 posts tagged #FrugalLiving. It’s easy to see why. The cost of living crisis. Stagnant wages. Spiralling costs for education and healthcare — which are inevitably leading to higher levels of student and medical […]
There’s a cost of homeownership that surprises many first-time homebuyers, one that’s easy to overlook in the excitement of going through the homebuying process. It’s called private mortgage insurance or PMI. For the unprepared homebuyer, the cost of paying PMI can be a real budget-buster, adding thousands of dollars in additional expense each and every […]
If you’ve never heard of money dysmorphia, you’re not alone. The term seems to be a relatively recent phenomena, although the concept is not. It’s a modern-day take on the age-old phenomenon of feeling pressure to “keep up with the Joneses”. Except now we all think we know exactly how much money the Joneses have, […]
There are two ways we think about saving money, and they’re both problematic in their own way. Let’s take a look at them. Saving for a Rainy Day We’re conditioned to save for the proverbial ‘rainy day,’ when something goes wrong and we need to rely on our savings. I’m a fan of saving enough […]
If you’re struggling to make ends meet with how high prices surged in recent years, you’re not alone. Sure, year-over-year inflation is sharply down from 9.1 percent a year ago to 3.3 percent last month, but all that means is that prices are going up more slowly. It doesn’t mean prices have gone back down […]
Our youngest left for college in 2017. It was a big change financially, but even more so emotionally. To help adjust to the change, we looked for new activities we could enjoy together now that we no longer had to be home at any particular time to make sure she was taken care of. For […]
We all have fixed monthly expenses. They’re the ones that are seemingly non-negotiable. The ones where there’s little or no wiggle room. Things like rent, car payments, utilities, cell phone plans, and student loan repayments. Whereas we can always cut our expenses in any given month by eating out less, shopping less, or just generally […]
No matter how overwhelming your debt might seem, there are three easy steps you can take to help you get back on track. Assess: How Much Debt Do You Have? You can’t get debt under control until you know exactly what you owe, and what you’re paying back (or not) each month. Not knowing what […]