Comments on: Less money, less problems? Not really.

By: PastaQueen

PastaQueen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:49:07 +0000

@Ann O’Brien – Not a Notorious B.I.G. fan, are you?

By: Ann O'Brien

Ann O'Brien — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:44:59 +0000

less money, FEWER problems

By: PastaQueen

PastaQueen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:51:00 +0000

@Shirls – Sorry! Don’t know of any Mac programs.

By: Shirls

Shirls — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:57:00 +0000

PQ, I love the idea and look of that SimpleD Budget program, however I work on a Mac, do you happen to know of anything compariable on a Mac platform?

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:38:26 +0000

@JEM – Same here… this year and last have seen huge raises/bonuses and I guess I’ve mostly recovered all the losses in my retirement account. I even sold my house at only a very minor loss. I’m saving and investing a lot more now than ever before.

On the plus side, since my job is less secure, I have enough in savings that I no longer worry about feeding myself if I lose employment.

By: gfe--gluten free easily

gfe--gluten free easily — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:17:46 +0000

Great post! I’m a big fan of Get Rich Slowly, reading it daily. YMYL and Tightwad Gazette (I used to get it monthly when it was being published years ago) were also very influential. (I still read them from time to time for inspiration.) A friend recommended a stock purchase plan (utilities) and we did that for ourselves and our son, using just part of the value of the stocks to purchase a tuition plan for our son for college But, getting a financial planner made the largest difference in us getting all our finances in order–particularly our retirement. Like PJ said, we had some losses the last several months, but minimal compared to many.

Thanks so much for sharing your favorite resources, the budget tool, etc.

Shirley

By: mad folly

mad folly — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:34:22 +0000

I agree with RG above. Your Money or Your Life was the book that made me focus on what I was spending and why. Thanks to the kick it gave me, I’m debt-free (wonderful phrase) and saving money. I think it should be required reading for every high school senior in the country.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:39:15 +0000

I guess most people I know have had some kind of bad CC debt at one time or another. I never had any when I was younger, as in, in college, still don’t, but my husband and I did charge basically our entire wedding. That was about 5k, which doesn’t seem like much, but in Chile where the average salary is 500 a month it’s a fortune. We paid it off in about a year though by continuing to live with my in-laws even after we were married.

Now I’m happy to report that we’ve saved up 40k for our trip around the world in two years. That’s due to me living in Chile and making a U.S. salary though and my husband being on the receiving end of a very nice severance package when he got fired. So yeah, some extenuating circumstances, but it gave me confidence in our ability to save money and be financially responsible. Once we paid off our wedding we’ve always earned more than we ever spent, even when we upgraded our lifestyle a little bit.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:49:36 +0000

I have been irritated by the commercials I’ve been hearing from the casinos and gambling outlets in the Louisville/So. Indiana area. Maybe their businesses are in a little slump right now, too, since with less income, perhaps people are forgoing gambling as entertainment for the moment.

But these commercials — “come in and gamble for 30 minutes and get a free room/meal, etc.” They seem desperate for gambling customers, and I think that at this moment in time, most people probably DON’T need to be urged to go waste some of their money, which is probably in short supply these days, although they have the right to do with their own money if they want to.

By: coolred38

coolred38 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:15:15 +0000

I guess Im one of the few people left that has never had a credit card…and Ive never had a desire to get one. Too many horror stories….I dont generally have much money either. Since divorcing my exidiotwithmoney husband over 2 years ago and suddenly finding myself in control of my own finances…of which I had no prior experience (controlling marriage blah blah blah)…its taken a lot of quick learning…the end result is that I pay my bills…but cant figure out how to have some left over to save. Ive not managed to save anything in this time period…and Im 40 years old.

It makes me incredibly nervous to know Im this old and I have no savings…but for the forseeable future…I dont know how to change that.