If you are interested in a modern graphical version of a debt calculator, check out this free graphical debt reduction calculator. We will be adding features as the feedback rolls in, so feel free to check it out and leave some suggestions by clicking the “Feedback” tab. To the right is a screenshot: Also, over at What’s The Cost I came across a handy debt snowball calculator. The calculator lets you add up to 20 debts, their interest rate and monthly payment, and asks for how much money you can put each month towards debt. From there it will [...]
Read MoreOctober 2007
A few years ago I saw an article about state agencies having millions of dollars of unclaimed cash and property. The sad part was that no one knew the money existed or how to find it. One the article’s advice I searched the Pennsylvania State Treasury database and I found that The Happy Rockette had two unclaimed checks from college. The one was about $200 and the other was just a couple of dollars. You feel like you hit the lottery, even though it was money that was rightfully yours. “Common types of unclaimed property include: Bank accounts and safe [...]
Read MoreOften, a huge part of getting out debt and achieving financial security is removing the option of purchasing with payments and credit from our brains. See, payments set you up to stay in debt and spend more then you can afford. We end up looking at purchases through a short term lens rather then thinking about the long term impact. Breaking things down into small conquerable pieces is a great strategy for achieving goals that seem too big, but when we do that with purchases we are remove ourselves to far from the real impact of the decision. The drawbacks [...]
Read MoreThe reason they call it personal finance is because there aren’t any right answers. That’s right, no right answers. If there were right answers, we could call it something like personal financial decision science. Everyone would be doing the same 20 step program and trying to achieve similar goals. That isn’t how it works. It is our money. We are all different. We all have our own quirks, goals, personalities, and dreams. Personal finance can not escape that fact that it has to deal with humans, and that is where the personal side of equation comes into play. Consider two [...]
Read MoreFor the frugal person with a little bit a tech savvy, the internet provides amazing access to deals that you would never be able to find otherwise. For learning purposes I wanted to run through the process I used to save 55% on an external hard drive. After years of procrastination I finally decided that we should be backing up our computer’s hard drive. The amount of pictures and other important data was just too much to bear losing. Unless you have been through a major loss of data, backing up never seems important enough. If you aren’t backing up, [...]
Read MoreFor those of us who are interested in legally downloading music, Amazon has recently unveiled their DRM free MP3 download service. “DRM-free means that the MP3 files you purchase from Amazon.com do not contain any software that will restrict your use of the file.” I figured I would try out the service and give it a review, because being able to inexpensively download a single song saves me from buying a whole CD when I just want one song. It has even helped my avoid albums that I wouldn’t have liked. Sometimes just listening to the sample of the tracks [...]
Read MoreWe recently talked about financially changing your family tree as financial motivation, but for those of us needed some more convincing here is evidence that our decisions about money go much deeper than just dollars and cents. Our choices are crucially importance to our children and this offers early stage evidence that our choices can cover over ‘bad’ genetics. The researchers “studied 109 children who had been removed from their parents’ care due to reports of abuse or neglect and 87 control children with no reports of abuse or maltreatment.” The children also had two gene polymorphisms that put them [...]
Read MoreFirst, I am giving away the brand new copy of The Quiet Millionaire that I reviewed. To enter the contest leave a comment on this post that lists your top reasons you got out or want to get out of debt. If you don’t want to get out of debt, list your reasons why. Simple as that. A winner will be randomly chosen Sunday October 21st @ 9pm EST. Click the following links for more information on the book : My Quiet Millionaire Review Queit Millionaire Amazon Page Second, poetloverrebelspy @ Less than a Shoestring shared a great NY times [...]
Read MoreIf you have ever listened to Dave Ramsey, there is a good chance you have heard him say “go and change your family tree”. It is a beautiful saying that paints a wonderful backdrop for our motivation to make healthy and wise financial choices. The idea being that the money choices we are responsible for now can and will affect your children and family. These are huge shoes to fills, and they get even bigger when broaden the perspective to grandchildren and great grandchildren. Let’s not operate out of fear though. Be encouraged by that fact that if you stop [...]
Read MoreThis is the second post in the principles in action series that will illuminate a practical application of a positive life principal. The first in the series addressed treating others like they have value. The advertisement @ the Clever Dude was about the 100th time I had been bombarded with the free $250 for opening an American Express Business Rewards Gold Card offer, and I was finally ready to give in and get the money. I usually stay away from signing up for credit card schemes or opening a new savings account at every bank with a good intro offer. [...]
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