Financial Hack

Every few weeks, I take cash out of the bank for our budget. We pay cash for as much as possible because it’s a great way to visualize our spending habits.
I pull out $300 for our food, gas, laundry, misc. budget and place it in envelopes at home. I try to go directly [...]

It’s Friday! I felt like a happy Friday so I used my software to calculate my new debt number. Sometimes it’s surprising that looking at my debt number is a good thing. It’s nice to see it heading south.
Total paid since October?
9,585.91
Total remaining:
$28,909.95
I can’t wait to cross the $10,000 mark next month!!
My [...]

It seems as though the harder I work to unbury my finances, the more is heaped.
Our higher mortgage payment is depressing. I struggle to not scream in frustration every time I transfer the extra $150 a month to our mortgage account. Perhaps if I was paying more on my principle I’d be fine [...]

As shocking as this is…
I’m used to public transportation. I actually… kinda like it. I like not driving. I like not sitting in traffic. I like not paying for gas. I like playing solitaire while listening to books on tape while my car sits peacefully in my driveway.
My friends don’t [...]

Friends are free right?
I have fabulous friends. Friends who understand phases like, ‘Sorry, no Christmas gift this year. Bank of America got it’ and ‘Can we please have our girl’s night out at Taco Bell? All I have in my ash tray is 76 cents.’
My friends are forgiving, understanding, loving, [...]

Over the last year, I heard the newspapers and magazines warning consumers about changes to credit card interest rates. Often times, the rates were hiked even on consumers with no late payments and relatively low balances.
As my friends and family complained of the letters they received in the mail six or more months ago, [...]

Library = Books
…Or so everyone thinks.
I’m tempted NOT to share this information… because now my wait times may be longer but…
the library also offers books on CD (like the Twilight Series), music CD’s (everything from Guns and Roses to the brand new Metallica album), DVD’s (including old classics like Gone with the Wind to new [...]

April’s tax hikes gave me yet another incentive to push myself to find additional ways to save. I’ve cut most of my budgets as much as possible but there was one I could scrimp a little on…
gasoline
I am fortunate to live near the center of a beautiful city and most of my errands are [...]

My coworker was murdered yesterday.
Several of us were unfortunate enough to face his body for four hours until it was cleared by the police to be removed by the coroner.
It was random. There was no reason.
Seeing death in person is hard.
I went home. I made dinner. I couldn’t help but feel sadness [...]

I was reading a recent Time magazine article about jobs. According to the article, people are focusing on their jobs as the only way to build wealth since property and investments have gone south.
In this economy, it seems like 10% of the population doesn’t have jobs and the other 90% are struggling to keep [...]