Emergency Fund
Money Roundup: The Truth About Credit Scores, A Letter From Warren Buffett’s Grandfather, and More
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Every week, I read lots of personal finance articles so you don’t have to! Here are 10 that I think you should read. Myths, Misperceptions About Credit Scores Rampant (USA TODAY). Does your income impact your credit score? What about your age? Read on to find out. Six Networking Tips for Your Job Search (U.S. ... [Read more]
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Why Two Savings Accounts Are Better Than One
Monday, March 28th, 2011
Interested in dialing down your financial stress and making your finances run more smoothly? Open and maintain two savings accounts. Savings Account Number One: An Emergency Fund During the early days of the recession, I worked with the market research firm Synovate to conduct a national survey (See “Tough Times Call for…”) asking people how ... [Read more]
Best of Money Carnival #67
Sunday, September 5th, 2010
It’s my pleasure to serve as host of this week’s Best of Money Carnival, a weekly listing of the top ten personal finance blog posts. As always, there were many great submissions. Here are my picks for this week’s top ten in countdown order. 10. The New Frugality posted at Reasonably Rich: Lauren writes about ... [Read more]
Why You Need Two Savings Accounts
Monday, January 4th, 2010
A very common New Year’s resolution is to save more money. That’s a worthy goal, but I recommend that you maintain two savings accounts—an “If” savings account and a near-term “When” savings account. “If” savings is your emergency fund. It’s for all of life’s if’s—if you incur significant medical or house repair expenses that are ... [Read more]
The Fragile State of Our Finances
Friday, November 13th, 2009
If you faced an unexpected $2,000 expense, how confident are you that you’d be able to come up with the money? According to a recent survey from the market research firm TNS, less than half of us believe we could find the funds. Of those who said they could, about half said they would tap ... [Read more]
Your Own Financial Stress Test
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
With the nation’s banks now having to submit to stress tests to determine their financial health, CNNand Money magazine decided to create a free online personal financial stress test. By working through a handful of mostly easy-to-answer questions, you can get a quick read on the strength of your household’s finances. While I like the ... [Read more]
Changing Our Money Ways
Monday, August 18th, 2008
With our tough economy leading people to eat out less often, switch from SUVs to gas sippers, and generally spend less, an MSN columnist recently wondered what would happen if we all suddenly got and stayed money-smart? That is, what if we paid our credit cards in full each month (46 percent of households carry ... [Read more]
The Debt Fix
Friday, August 1st, 2008
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” – Romans 12:12 For the last couple of months we’ve been going over a step-by-step plan for getting out of debt and staying out of debt forever. If you have debt, you probably didn’t get into it overnight. Getting out of debt won’t be an ... [Read more]
A Mysterious, Maddening Law of Economics
Monday, July 7th, 2008
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the “insidious and unforgiving Law of Household Economics.” Don’t remember this one from Econ 101? It goes like this: “For every financial windfall that comes into your home, there will be an equal, unexpected household cost.” The article’s author recited several first-hand experiences, such as the garage sale ... [Read more]
Too Few Playing the Savings Game
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
Just 28 percent of all Americans say they save at least 10 percent of their income. That’s one of the findings from a new survey by the American Savings Education Council. What percentage of your monthly gross income do you save each month? For most people, 10 percent should be the absolute minimum. Do you ... [Read more]
