We haven’t had a Tales from the Wallet in too long — today, let’s talk about what kind of investments you prefer, how you research and buy them, and general investing theory and resources. Specific questions for today: How comfortable are you investing your money (beginner, expert, or somewhere in the middle)? Do you invest … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: Do You Invest in Stocks or Index Funds (or Other)?
Cutting the cord and freeing yourself from that monthly cable bill is becoming more and more popular — people choose to do it not only to save money, but to avoid dealing with cable companies, who have earned their industry the title of most disliked in the country (along with ISPs). Kat recently decided to cut … Read More about How to Cut the Cord: The Streaming Services And Devices to Consider
Here’s today’s topic, ladies: What are your best tips on how to store bills and otherwise organize your paperwork? How do you deal with the mix of paperwork, electronic documents, emailed receipts, and more? I describe my own record keeping system below, but I thought it’d be fun to see what other people do… I … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: How Do You Store Your Bills, Receipts, and More?
Millions of people (unfortunately, not an exaggeration) are wondering what many Corporette® readers are also wondering: how to protect their credit after the Equifax data breach. On September 7, Equifax revealed that hackers may have exposed Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, birthdates, addresses, driver’s license numbers, website security questions/answers, etc., for up to 143 … Read More about How to Protect Your Credit After the Equifax Data Breach
How do you typically use credit cards — and what are your tips on how to pick the best rewards card for you? We’ve discussed some great rewards credit cards (Kat is still using her Amazon Visa!), but we thought we’d have a broader discussion today about readers’ credit card habits — the good and the … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: How to Pick the Best Rewards Card For You
We’ve talked in the past about emergency funds — particularly where they fit in a money roadmap and where you should stash the cash you’re saving for an emergency fund — but here’s something we haven’t talked about: when is it ok to dip into your emergency fund? How big of a deal is it to … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: When to Dip Into Your Emergency Fund
Here’s a fun question for today: what’s your vacation money strategy? What’s your overall strategy about vacations and budgets — how do you plan to budget while on vacation — and how do you pay for vacation? There are a lot of questions here, such as: Overall vacation money strategy: What do you consider getting … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: What’s Your Vacation Money Strategy?
Here’s a fun question for today: Do you think you spend more in certain seasons? How do your strategies for saving or budgeting change from season to season — and what do you think your biggest money challenges are for each season? For those of you at big law firms and companies with extensive summer … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: Seasonal Spending
Everyone knows saving for retirement is a priority, because retirement is important and compound interest is powerful — but are the tax savings for retirement accounts so great that you should use them to save extra cash, too, such as for a hypothetical future home purchase? When I was in my late 20s — unmarried, … Read More about Cash Savings vs. Retirement Savings Accounts: Where to Stash Your Money When You’re Unsure What You’re Saving For
2018 Update: We still stand by this advice on how to react to a stock market drop, but you may also want to check out our recent discussion about whether you invest in stocks or index funds. Do you know what to do with your investments when the stock market takes a dive — how to … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: How to React to a Stock Market Drop
How do you prevent “frugal fatigue,” also sometimes called “savings burnout”? It’s that feeling that you’ve been scrimping and saving and you have no money and the debts are still there and you’re not getting anywhere and dammit you just want to not think about it and buy what you want for a little while? I know readers have talked … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: What to Do When You’re Facing “Frugal Fatigue”
I just saw a great study on this, so I thought we’d discuss — do you leave room in your budget to take advantage of sale prices? Do you do it in a disciplined way (“I have $300 to spend for fun purchases, no more!”) or is it just part of your budgetary cushion? Which … Read More about Tales from the Wallet: Leave Room in Your Budget to Take Advantage of Sale Prices
