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Posted by Erin E.,
under Erin E, General, In The Media, Savings |
09/3/2010
I vaguely remember learning how to read the stocks in a newspaper way back in elementary school, when newspapers still existed and dinosaurs roamed the Earth. That’s pretty much where my knowledge of investments stands today.
But last week I started reading this book, Moneyball. There’s a reason people use baseball metaphors—they’re effective. I think I’ve learned more about investment and the stock market by reading Moneyball than in a hundred (okay, a couple) of articles I’ve read on the subject in magazines. Granted the magazines I read mostly cover things other than the world of finance, because magazines about the world of finance…snore. Oh, sorry, I fell asleep just talking about it.
And now, I’ll get to the point. The general manager of the Oakland A’s, Billy Beane, along with a specialized and unusual staff, transformed the way good baseball is accomplished. They saw intricacies and truths about the game of baseball that amount, quite literally, to baseball theory. They figured out, as the lowest-budget club in the entire sport—seriously, they couldn’t afford the Yankee’s top three players, never mind a team of 25—how to make small investments that would yield major dividends. Instead of going for the glitz, glam and flash of a power hitter like A-Rod, they hired players who were young and untested (but whose college stats fit the bill) or washed up, “defective” or atypical players who had big numbers where it mattered: on-base percentages and walks, most prominently.
If you’re not a baseball fan, or only a casual one, my little summary up there might not have made a lot of headway for you. But what I’ve distilled from the book is this: If you do the legwork, you can find solid investments that cost little but will do a lot for you in the end.
A car is not one of those investments. A car is A-Rod: expensive, and sure to depreciate in value with time and use. An unsexy mutual fund, however, is one of those investments. A mutual fund is basically a low-risk way of investing your money; for all intents and purposes, it’s a high-interest-yielding savings account. Will a mutual fund help me get rich quick? Not likely. But it’ll take what I have and work it into something more valuable without the risk of getting burned.
Any other recommendations for low-risk, high-return investments?
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Posted by ET,
under ET, Financial goals, Retirement, Savings |
08/9/2010
CNN has a great article this week that discusses how much money Americans need to feel rich. http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/09/news/economy/wealth/index.htm
Factors such as location (NYC vs Boise ID for example), and spending habits play a role in determining this figure. It is estimated that the average American needs $300,000 per year to be considered rich. This allows for a $4,000 monthly mortgage payment and $12,000 in monthly expenses.
I agree, this seems like a lot of money. In fact, I think $6,000 in monthly expenses sounds like a lot of money. All this, and not working, makes for quite a life style. You can begin living the rich lifestyle at age 35 if you have $12 million in the bank. This is not realistic for 99.99% of us, but for those that it is, congratulations. As for me, just being able to retire a few years early with enough money to live a simple lifestyle would be amazing.
What do you consider to be “rich”?
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No Comments | Tags: Retirement, Rich, Wealth
Posted by ET,
under ET, Financial goals, In The Media, Savings, shopping |
06/16/2010
According to NPR, Wal-Mart has over 1,000 money centers in US stores, and has now purchased a stake in Green Dot – a pre-paid debit card service. Wal-Mart shoppers lucky enough to have a money center in their local store can now bill pay, cash checks and more without even belonging to a bank. http://n.pr/dyqcq4
Now if only Wal-Mart customers had access to a free, SEC certified, personal finance planning tool to help them create a financial plan (retirement goals, investments, loans, mortgages, education, etc). Wait, they do have this, if only they knew to visit www.GoSimpliFi.com. Please help us spread the word so that Wal-Mart shoppers will now know the best places to invest all the money they are saving by shopping there.
Popularity: unranked [?]
No Comments | Tags: Financial Plan, Green Dot, Invest money, Money Centers, Personal Financial Planning Tool, SEC Certified, Wal-Mart
Posted by Sophie,
under General, Savings, Sophie |
05/14/2010
Summer is almost here, so it might seem like the wrong time to think about Christmas. But, now is the time to get your
savings plan going for the holidays. If you start right after Memorial day squirreling away $100 a month, you’ll have $700
plus interest saved by December–giving you a big boost to your Santa plans. Now you can afford the tree and have enough left over to accessorize! A little short-term savings pain will keep the credit card blues away come next January. Have a great weekend!
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No Comments | Tags: Christmas, Christmas Savings Fund, credit card blues, Money Tips, Savings account, TGIF
Posted by KEJONES,
under Debt, Family, Financial goals, Savings |
05/3/2010
Recently I began to think about the budget we had in my household, or better, the lack thereof. Every month we had money coming in and going out, but it seemed like we were constantly living paycheck to paycheck, never knowing where our money was going. It basically felt like we were just constantly paying more and more money out, with no end in sight and never being able to get ahead. Like many people these days we are constantly on the go with the kids: t ball, PTA, work, preschool, homework and other various activities, as well as everyday household duties: laundry, groceries, cooking and cleaning. At the end of the day we are exhausted and definitely NOT slightly interested in sitting down to create a budget. However, I was tired of constantly wondering where our money was going. It was like a slow hemorrhage from our account. We are working hard for our money, and I feel making more than enough to have more in savings and less in debt, yet it seems like we are in a constant state of “getting by” without “getting ahead”.
One day I sat down with my laptop at the kitchen table and pulled our online banking information for the previous 30 days. I downloaded it to a spreadsheet and sorted it into categories: groceries, dining out, entertainment, clothing, school / preschool related expenses, kid’s sports, healthcare, car payments, gas, auto and life insurance, utilities, mortgage, etc. I was nauseated to find that we spent $600 eating out the previous month! This was in addition to the $600 on groceries we spent. I fully anticipated spending $600-800 on groceries, as we do have a family of five, but I never would’ve guessed $600 on eating out. This was an area that I knew we could immediately make a change in with relative ease. We’ve set a budget for one family meal out per week, and then my husband and I each get one lunch per week, or any variation thereof, but no more than $75 per week. This will immediately free up $300 per month that can be used to pay down our credit card debt, which will then allow us to start saving more every month.
Have you taken the time to set up a budget yet? Where do you think you could cut back in order to better your financial outlook?
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No Comments | Tags: budget, dining out, eating out, family budget, kids, paycheck, reducing debt, restaurants
Posted by Sophie,
under Financial goals, Savings, Sophie |
02/25/2010
For the 2nd installment of Smart Money Moves, I thought I would continue with last week’s theme: saving is hard. Really hard. Really really… (get the picture?)
One of the smartest ways to save–actually, the smartest way to save–is through what experts call forced savings. This is exactly what it sounds like: forced. Compulsory. Have-To. Think payroll deductions, automatic drafts from your checking account, or even top-up cards like Bank of America’s Keep the Change debit card or Truliant Federal Credit Union’s Rainy Day Savings Account.
The automatic, difficult-to-undo nature of these programs is exactly why they are so smart. They keep us from screwing up our own plans. As humans, we are prone to sabotage even our best-laid plans by making bad decisions in the heat of the moment–or rather, at the point of purchase. We really want to save for medium- to long-term goals, but we can easily forget that when faced with a smokin’ deal at the mall or another fun offer to hit the town with friends.
Forced savings takes the money away before we have the chance to blow it and puts it to work towards our goals rather than our whims. Forced savings means discipline–which is the only real way to save consistently and achieve your goals.
So take a deep breath and put your savings on autopilot with these easy steps:
1) Set up payroll deduction for your retirement plan at work if you can–and if your company offers a matching program, at least contribute enough to qualify for it (it’s free money!).
2) Set up automatic transfers from your checking to savings account to fund your Emergency Fund and other short-term goals
3) Do the same for longer-term goals, just have the transfers go to your investment or mutual fund company.
4) Sign up for a top-up debit card if your bank or credit union offers one–they are an easy way to save additional $$. Of course, make sure there are no hidden fees on the card–that would defeat the purpose!
Now, I’m telling you to take these steps because I assume you’ve already created a financial plan, so you know what your goals are and how much you need to be saving for them. (Wait, you haven’t? Come on now…you knew I was going to say this). If you haven’t created a plan yet, pop over to SimpliFi to get started, or make an appointment with an independent financial adviser if you feel more comfortable going that route.
Once you get a plan and your forced savings process up and running, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you will adjust to your reduced monthly cash flow. So get a plan and start making forced savings work for you!
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Posted by Sophie,
under Financial goals, Savings, Sophie |
02/18/2010
If you’re like most people, finding additional money for savings is hard. Really hard. Really, really hard. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to do it–you just want to find ways that aren’t very painful, right?
To give you some ideas, from time to time I will be offering up “Smart Money Moves” that most of you can use to find additional savings dollars without the dreaded “cutting back.” They won’t be completely painless, but they will be easier to handle than say, selling your organs or giving up cable TV (which isn’t such a bad idea, depending on your TV viewing habits…but that’s for another day).
Today’s Smart Money Move is increasing the deductibles on your home and auto insurance. The good news is it’s fairly painless and can free up dollars right away. The bad news is you will actually have to look at your auto and home policies, which are not the most exciting reads in the world, and you might even have to talk to an insurance agent (yikes!).
But it’s worth it, especially if your deductibles are currently at $500 or less. By increasing these amounts to $1000 (or more, depending on your liquid savings), you will probably save a few hundred dollars annually. And if you have an older car, dropping collision and comprehensive coverage can add another hundo or two to your total savings. Here’s a great article that covers the specifics of how to figure out if you need these coverages.
So get to work. Pull out your (probably dusty) home and auto insurance files and check your deductibles. If they are low, then it’s your lucky day–you can make a smart money move right now. If you have an older car and you’re carrying collision and comprehensive coverage, even better. Call or email your insurance company and cancel these coverage right now. Stop overspending on insurance and instead, direct it towards a goal or goals you care about. Good luck!
Love, Sophie
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Posted by ET,
under ET, General, In The Media, Savings, Special Events |
02/1/2010
Is a kiss at the end of night from your spouse or date worth blowing your weekly budget? A recent CNN article discusses the nine biggest rip-offs we face in America, and includes items such as movie popcorn, wine at restaurants, and hotel mini bars, http://bit.ly/aHkyKb. Wine is marked up 2 to 5 times what it would cost at a store, and that movie popcorn you love to share with your special someone is marked up over 8 times its retail value. I realize that convenience and rules play a big role in ones decision to pay so much for one of these items, but at what can we do about it? Not all restaurants offer a corking fee that allows you to bring your own wine, and almost no movie theatres allow you to bring your own snacks. Therefore you might find yourself in a tough spot when trying to make the night magical yet not come across as a cheap date.
If you have a really tight budget, or are just frugal, I suggest moving your dinner and a movie date into your home. You can find a great bottle of wine at the grocery store for under $8, rent a recent release move from Redbox for $1, make a delicious dinner for less that $20 (or have it delivered), and pop some microwave popcorn for $1. In addition to saving on gas (another item from the CNN list), you can pull off the entire evening for less than $30. That same bottle of wine ($24) and popcorn ($6) would cost the same if you went out, and that doesn’t include the dinner, tip, and movie tickets.
This is not meant to say that I don’t support going out and enjoying a night on the town, but you don’t need to do it every weekend. Plus, if things get heated at your in-home date, hitting the fridge for a late night snack is a lot cheaper than paying for the hotel mini bar.
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4 Comments | Tags: Date night, Weekly Budget
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I just rented my first movie from Red Box and I am completely hooked! Forget $10 movies and $3 Goobers. I am hitting Red Box and the dollar store for my candy!
I don’t like movies anyway. The popcorn is a ripoff.
Sounds like a fun night in! Great for frugal couples, as well as painfully introverted people like me. I mean, uh, homebodies. Yeah.
Dinner and a movie has really gotten expensive. Add in the cost of a babysitter to everything you mentioned, and it’s definitely over $100. At home with the DVD is definitely a lot cheaper, although you have to work a little harder to make it special. Candles can often do the trick…