Paying Cash Makes Purchasing Large Items Hard to Do

Since paying off our non-mortgage debt with a Dave-Suze hybrid approach and vowing to only pay cash for all purchases going forward (we do use credit cards for the reward points and then pay them off completely before the grace period is up), we have had a few big-ticket items come up that have rattled [...]

Woe to the Lean Purse: Cures to Fix it

“Deride not what I say because of its simplicity. Truth is always simple.” – George Samuel Clason Last week I highlighted The Richest Man in Babylon by discussing the five laws of gold and how the rich or those with meager means are not immune to them. Perhaps I got a little ahead of myself, [...]

Placing Purposeful Money Restraints on Your Household

Paul and I are all too aware of the type of sticky financial situations life can throw at you. In the summer of 2008, Paul was laid off from his position. Just two weeks later while he was visiting me in Florida with the extra time on his hands, I came home early from work [...]

Personal Saving Rate: Nationally and in Our Household

Personal Saving: the portion of personal income that is left over after personal current taxes and outlays for personal consumption expenditures, nonmortgage interest payments, and net current transfers to government and the rest of the world. Personal Saving Rate (PSR): the ratio of personal saving to disposable personal income (expressed as a percentage). Saving money [...]

Liquidate Your Past and Invest in Your Future

Please note: If you are my ex and are reading this, then it is not your jewelry I pawned! Ever since being engaged (we are E+ two weeks now, as my fiancée likes to keep track of time after the big day), I have had this consuming desire within me to organize, de-clutter and simplify [...]

Add a Boatload to Your Savings Account in One Year, Even if You are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

There are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck, out of necessity. So how are they supposed to pull themselves up and out of debt, or build up a savings in order to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle? It will take some commitment, planning, and perhaps some psychological warfare, but here are some ideas to [...]

Honeymoon Savings Goal: March and Final Tally

Since September of 2009, I made a goal to put $2500 into savings to be used for our honeymoon using as little of our own 9-5 paycheck money as possible. I am happy to report, just 22 days away from leaving on our honeymoon, that we have succeeded in doing this. We thought outside of the box, and [...]

Honeymoon Savings Goal Update: January

Hello Everyone! We were able to add $301.99 to our honeymoon savings goal this month, bringing the total to $1,670.78 (check out progress bar in right hand column). The breakdown is below: $121 from ING Checking Account Opening Bonus $120 from Freelance Writing Income $11 Hasbro Rebate $9.99 Oil of Olay Bodywash Rebate $10 Gas [...]

December Savings Goal Update: Honeymoon

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers! If you check out the progress bar for paying cash for our honeymoon, you will see that we are now at 54% of our goal! While that is wonderful…I realized the other day that our honeymoon is just three and a half months away. Needless to say, we need to get [...]

Take Yourself on a Walkabout: Predicting and Saving for Future Upsets in Your Life

I am not talking about going into the wilds of Australia for six months until you come out a man. I am talking about literally walking about your home, apartment, car, and life in order to examine the things that allow your life to run smoothly and at the level of affluence you have become [...]

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