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Article Archive
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
| Doing the math on coupons | ||
| 02/10/10 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "If motivation is an issue, the next time you find yourself facing a stack of coupon booklets and flyers don't ask yourself if you can be bothered. Try asking yourself if you'd like to earn more than $100 an hour for a job you can do, at home, while sitting on the sofa watching TV." | ||
| More articles on the same topic . . . | ||
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| Your banking may be more expensive | ||
| 02/16/10 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "When you lose your job, the last thing you need is for your expenses to increase. Yet, at some banks, that's exactly what can happen with your checking account." | ||
| Why so many Americans are broke | ||
| 01/14/10 Permlink Report Broken Link | Behaviour Thrift | ||
| "Bookstores are full of books about getting out of debt. Why, then, are so many Americans struggling to get by? One reason, according to Connecticut College Psychology Professor Stuart Vyse, is that when it comes to money, people are not as rational as many economists - and authors - think. In his book Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold on to Their Money, Vyse cites studies that consistently show that people commonly make mental mistakes when it comes to their money. This realization is the foundation of behavioral economics, which holds that people behave differently than in the supremely logical fashion that classical economics predicts." | ||
| Economists are cheapskates | ||
| 01/02/10 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Academic economists gather in Atlanta this weekend for their annual meetings, always held the first weekend after New Year's Day. That's not only because it coincides with holidays at most universities. A post-holiday lull in business travel also puts hotel rates near the lowest point of the year." | ||
| Spend now, pay later | ||
| 08/22/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Debt Government Thrift | ||
| "With noble intentions, much of what was advocated and popularized by the Woodstock generation involved an increased role for government in the economy. They argued that 'smart people' in the government would 'manage' the economy and 'protect' people from themselves. Government would run 'temporary' deficits and 'create' jobs. It was argued that society's prosperity needed to be shared through government-administered programs, regulations and taxes." | ||
| GICs are safe, but don't expect much | ||
| 06/27/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Indexing Bonds Stocks Thrift | ||
| "So what's the lesson? First, fees matter a great deal. Second, while a stock-filled portfolio may provide higher returns, that comes with risk. A GIC-only portfolio may not be exciting, but investors sleep well at night. " | ||
| The end of personal finance | ||
| 05/03/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "That our personal finances weren't fully ours to seize didn't seem to occur to many of us until recently, when the stock market plunged almost 40 percent in a mere year, housing went into free fall, and the unemployment rate began to climb perilously toward double digits. All these facts suddenly left the personal finance industry facing a conundrum of its own making. The backbone of the self-help complex is the idea that you can do it. You. Singular. But what happens when you lose your job and can't find a new one before your six months of recommended emergency savings runs out? Or a good chunk of your retirement income is in the form of a pension from your former employer - and that employer is named Chrysler? What then?" | ||
| Haggle your way to extra | ||
| 04/24/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Many people might feel uncomfortable asking a store to take less than the posted price, but not Leonardelli. A professor at the Rotman School of Management, he teaches negotiating skills to business students. In his view, the recession offers a golden opportunity to get better prices and extra perks." | ||
| Big Macs and fries | ||
| 04/24/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Even with glimmers of hope for the recovery, consumers are still cutting back - especially when it comes to dining out. But turning to some of fast food's biggest bargains in order to stretch your dollar in the recession may be one belt-tightening measure that could end up forcing you to loosen your buckle by a couple of notches." | ||
| Austere times? Perfect | ||
| 04/13/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Millions of Americans have trimmed expenses because they have had their jobs or hours cut, or fear they will. But a subset of savers are reducing costs not just with purpose, but with relish. These are the gleefully frugal." | ||
| Free toothpaste for life! | ||
| 03/18/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "There's a system behind coupons, rebates and store incentives. Figure it out, and the store aisles are rich with freebies for you and those you want to help." | ||
| 10 tips for a better deal | ||
| 03/18/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Some people were born to haggle, negotiate, cajole, whatever you call it. The rest of us need some guidance. Here are 10 great negotiating tactics to use next time you want to get more for less." | ||
| Feeding a family in the depression | ||
| 02/18/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It was a time of making do and doing without. The Great Depression forced thousands out of their jobs, but most of the burden was shouldered by the homemaker, who had to keep the family fed." | ||
| A lament for savers | ||
| 02/13/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Borrowers get bailed out. Run your bank into the ground and the taxpayer will lend it money. Buy a house you cannot afford and the central bank will cut interest rates to ease your burden. Meanwhile those who have lived within their means and put money aside for the proverbial rainy day, have seen interest rates slashed to 2% in the euro zone, 1% in Britain and virtually nothing in America. No one offers to help them out, even though saving is needed to allow business investment which, in turn, generates growth. Asians, told off in the 1990s for their current-account deficits, now get lectured for saving too much. This is quite a different paradox of thrift from the usual one. In theory, everybody regards thrift as a virtue. In practice, they treat it as a vice." | ||
| Analyzing market-linked GICs | ||
| 01/25/09 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I'm not actually a big fan of principal protection. I think the cost of this protection is too high. But for investors who want this protection, it's important to evaluate whether your market-linked GIC is a good deal or not." | ||
| The IBM fortune and the funeral home director | ||
| 12/12/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A couple of months ago, Robert McDevitt died at 90 in Binghamton, N.Y., my hometown. He ran a nice-enough but unremarkable funeral home near the center of town, about two blocks from where my parents now live. Over the past week, his will has become public, revealing that while McDevitt spent his time embalming local bodies and soothing mourners -- he was worth $250 million." | ||
| Where have all your savings gone? | ||
| 12/07/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Markets Thrift | ||
| "For American and European savers it has been a lost decade. After two booms and two busts, stockmarkets have earned them nothing, or less, in the past ten years. Low interest rates have made bonds and bank deposits unrewarding too. Were it not for the tax relief they receive, contributors to personal pension plans would have been better off keeping their money under their mattresses. It will be little consolation to Westerners that savers in Japan have known this empty feeling for far longer." | ||
| Findependence day | ||
| 12/01/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Books Thrift | ||
| "The protagonists grapple with two key concepts - financial independence and guerrilla frugality. Financial independence (the book's title is a contraction of the term) refers to the goal for most of us: the day on which our assets are large enough to cover our living expenses and we don't have to work for a living anymore. ... Guerrilla frugality is the key means to achieve the end, financial independence." | ||
| Holes in our socks | ||
| 12/01/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Economy Thrift | ||
| "Right about now, most businesses are trying to work out how their customers are likely to respond to the recession. Looking back to the last really nasty recession - the early 1980s - isn't much help for low-cost airlines, cell-phone companies, Internet retailers, producers of organic and fair-trade food, and many other businesses barely imagined at the dawn of the Reagan era. The economy has simply changed too much since then for experience to be a reliable guide." | ||
| A return to thrift | ||
| 10/30/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Sometimes it takes a near-death experience to change bad behavior. Think of your friend who quit Lucky Strikes after a coronary incident. Or look at how banks are reducing their dependency on debt after watching rivals go belly-up. On Wall Street this process of reducing debt relative to equity is called deleveraging. Main Street should be deleveraging too." | ||
| The new age of frugality | ||
| 10/10/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "On a shady lane in New Hope, Pa., a quiet revolution in American culture may be taking shape. Here, a family of four lives in a white, colonial-style house in a manner that once would have been considered All-American but more recently has been seen as just plain weird: They're frugal." | ||
| American savers have drawn the short straw | ||
| 09/08/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Markets Government Thrift | ||
| "American savers, take a bow. This is your moment of vindication. Your hour of glory. And you earned it (in a manner of speaking). You resisted the siren call of plastic teaser APRs, dutifully living within your means to store money for a rainy day. You never took out an interest-only mortgage. Never had to pawn the copper pipes from your exurban McMansion to pay the reset on your liar loan. Your credit score would have gotten you into Harvard at age 12. Good for you! Your reward: injurious savings yields, inflationary rot, and election-season neglect, all served up with a dollop of institutional insecurity." | ||
| The death of the credit card economy | ||
| 09/01/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Debt Thrift | ||
| "The most revolutionary notion in commerce today is one of the oldest. If you want to buy something, you may actually have to pay for it. We are reverting from a "borrow and buy" economy to the "cash and carry" model of our grandparents." | ||
| Is debt your destiny? | ||
| 08/31/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Debt Thrift | ||
| "Credit changes the way we spend and think. If you're broke, research shows, there's a good chance you'll stay that way a long time. But there are ways to fight the pattern." | ||
| Wise investing: no substitute for saving | ||
| 08/25/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The problem is that while the financial-services industry is very good at marketing and selling investment products, it's very bad at marketing and selling thrift, and living within one's means. After all, the only thing which is marketed more aggressively than investments is credit products. But if you want a financially comfortable retirement, the first best and pretty much only thing you need to do is save a lot of money while you're working." | ||
| Rebundling Passive Performance | ||
| 08/19/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Indexing Brokers Stingy Investing Thrift | ||
| "Advisors using actively managed funds have taken a beating from index-fund advisors in the popular press over the issue of fees. But the argument for indexing is usually made by relying on raw index returns and usually targets investors who don't want advice. The case for indexing is substantially weaker when all of the costs associated with advice on passive portfolios are added up." | ||
| Why Generation Y is broke | ||
| 08/09/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Today, people in their 20s and 30s are more educated than ever before. Some 85% of those aged 25 and older hold a high school diploma, and 27% have a college degree. This generation of adults is also, of course, the most technologically sophisticated to date, with about half using cell phones for text messaging and 90% on e-mail. And yet stats indicate our generation's financial literacy is abysmal, with personal finances to match. Only 52% of high school seniors passed a recent national financial literacy test, meaning adults entering the work force do not know enough about basic budgeting, interest rates or taxes to make sound decisions for their own lives." | ||
| How to leave your wife | ||
| 07/28/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "If your marriage is crumbling, you need to pay attention to money matters -- or suffer harsh consequences. Here's what to do, men." [A link to a similar article for women is provided near the top of this article. But thrifty couples will work hard to avoid divorce.] | ||
| Can a family eat on $100 a week? | ||
| 07/27/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Did we make it? First, let's say that any reduction in my grocery bill was welcome, as most weeks we spend nearly $250 at a grocery store. That's well above the $182 budget the U.S. government considers "moderate" for a family of our size and ages. Spending less than half what we normally do was tough. A $100 budget gave us $1.19 a meal per person, obviously not enough for dinners or coffees out and barely enough to put decent meat on our plates." | ||
| Unbundling Canadian ETFs 2008 | ||
| 06/21/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Indexing Stingy Investing Thrift | ||
| "It is easy to get a simple, low fee, and broadly diversified portfolio with ETFs. Most investors can safely stop here. But perhaps I can entice you to read on about a few specialized situations. When it comes to ETFs I like to consider two options for long-term investors. The first option is to purchase the ETF and hold on. The second option is to bypass the ETF and buy the stocks that it owns. At first glance, the choice between buying a low-cost exchange-traded fund that holds many stocks or buying each individual stock appears to be obvious. The exchange-traded fund is likely to be the better bargain. However, buying stocks directly may be a good choice for some investors because the Canadian stock market is very small and it is dominated by a few big names. By holding only a few stocks you can reasonably approximate, or even fully replicate, some ETFs." | ||
| How to retire on $12,000 a year | ||
| 06/04/08 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The solution is social. It is called sharing, having enough social skills to multiply your effective income to a level far greater than it could be made with ordinary cash. The prosperity of the past 50 years has raised our expectations. We want to own our house, to have our own bedroom, our own bathroom, our own car, our own phone (preferably mobile) and our own TV, and we want to eat what we want for dinner, not what everyone else is having. That makes life very expensive. The productive social alternative is sharing. Economists call it "economies of shared living." Most of us think about it in regard to marriage." | ||
| Is marriage a dumb move? | ||
| 10/26/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The decision to wed or not, of course, is between you, your intended and your conscience. But you should realize that from a coldhearted financial perspective, the U.S. tax code and Social Security rules don't necessarily come down in favor of marriage for people with a substantial amount of assets." | ||
| Life and debt in suburbia | ||
| 10/05/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Debt Thrift | ||
| "Assessing how the neighbors are doing financially and what that means about how we are doing is practically a national pastime. The guessing game starts off as harmless pillow talk and community pool chatter, an outgrowth of natural curiosity. Just how much money must Susie and Bob have to be able to afford that new kitchen, three cars and a family safari? Then too, every homeowner has a vested interest in the financial well-being of his or her neighbors. Homeowner associations have long understood that nothing raises the value of a home more than an expanse of trim lawn and well-kept homes on either side. But the finances of those around you affect more than just the perceived value of your property. They also, like it or not, help shape how much you spend and save and color your perceptions of your own financial well-being." | ||
| How rich friends make you feel poor | ||
| 08/25/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Trying to live as if you have more money than you do may be one of the biggest causes of financial distress in America today, and nobody wants to talk about it." | ||
| How to earn $1 million by not watching TV | ||
| 07/17/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A recent study found that it would take $1 million for someone to be willing to give up TV for the rest of their lives. Guess what? If you decided to give up TV and invested the money you saved, you would get that $1 million -- and probably a lot more." | ||
| What's up with all those tip jars? | ||
| 07/07/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Am I alone in taking pointed notice of all the tip jars that have blossomed on business countertops? From delis to pizzerias, Chinese takeout joints to barbershops, the word has spread like wildfire: If you put out a tip jar, people will fill it. Well, maybe they will, but I have yet to be shamed (if this is the right word) into casting my coin into the tip jar fountain. Perhaps it is the scientist in me, but I try to reason the situation out like this: I call in my order to the Chinese restaurant. I drive there to pick it up. I pay the menu price. Why on earth would I pay more than they are asking for their product? Doing so strikes me as positively un-American. Tipping used to be confined to service-oriented occupations: waitresses, taxi drivers, doormen. Now it has spread to businesses where I seem to be doing most of the work." | ||
| Lessons from living down and out | ||
| 04/05/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "We were poor and unhappy, so I thought having money meant being happy . . . (but) my husband also grew up very poor, and his family was close and he had a loving childhood. (Meanwhile,) many rich people are miserable. Don't confuse money and happiness. They're separate issues and you need to work on your family and relationships just as hard as you work on finances. Don't give up family and relationships in pursuit of money and don't assume money will fix your personal life." | ||
| The emergency fund you can eat | ||
| 03/15/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Having a substantial cash emergency fund is an important financial goal, but it's not an easy one. Building up enough savings to cover three months' worth of expenses can take some families years to accomplish, as they struggle with more pressing goals, such as paying off credit card debt and saving for retirement. Fortunately, there's another kind of emergency fund that's a lot easier to put together: a well-stocked pantry." | ||
| Could you stop spending for a month? | ||
| 03/12/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "For the 28 days of February -- I picked the shortest month to make it easier on volunteers -- those who wanted to participate would buy only necessities. Each person would get to define what was a necessity for himself or herself. At the end of the month, everybody would report back on how their shopping fast went. The point wasn't just to save money. It was also a way of examining our relationship with money." | ||
| Take a big bite out of grocery bills | ||
| 03/09/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "But as I learned from the food mavens on the Grocery Challenge thread, living in the land of cheap grub is not a reason to become complacent. No, no! As these savvy shoppers will tell you: If you think you got a certain item for a great price, rest assured there's a way to get it even cheaper -- or maybe even for free." | ||
| Looking for love, and money | ||
| 02/21/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Oh, to be dating in the time of Jane Austen. No sooner does a young man move into the neighborhood than everyone knows he's single -- and exactly what his income is and how much property he owns. Not only that, but as this sly opening sentence of Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" suggests, finance and romance were presumed to go hand in hand. It was perfectly acceptable for a gentleman to look for a wife with financial assets or for a woman to seek a beau with the best prospects. Unfortunately, courtship has lost some of its financial candor in the past 200 years. Even with the rise of online dating -- where people answer numerous questions and create elaborate, supposedly revealing profiles of themselves -- it's hard to find your financial match." | ||
| What should it cost to say 'I love you'? | ||
| 02/13/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Is Valentine's Day about love or money? My heart tells me it should be about love and appreciation for those who matter most to us, but the facts show that Valentine's Day is truly big business." | ||
| Living 'poor' and loving it | ||
| 02/09/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Here, then, are the rules for How to Be Poor: Rule 1: Have very little money. Rule 2: Live on it. Rule 3: Rule 2 will change your life, if you let it. Being poor means taking a hard look at your needs and getting ruthless about separating them from the wants." | ||
| Financial sanity down a country road | ||
| 02/07/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Who knew a beer out here was only $1.50? That's just one of many discoveries I've made since trading the big city for a life in rural New York. The bright spots outweigh the drawbacks so far." | ||
| Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year | ||
| 01/10/07 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I'll be living on just over $1,000 a month this year. That doesn't sound like much -- and it isn't -- yet I plan not just to live on it, but to build a savings account." | ||
| I make $6.50 an hour. Am I poor? | ||
| 12/28/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "As a single professional woman, for years I sat securely among the lower rungs of the middle class. Now I've fallen off the ladder. In a matter of months, I went from a comfortable life with decent pay and health insurance to a $6.50-an-hour job with no insurance, no furniture and just enough resources to keep the wolf from the door." | ||
| Are you on track to retire rich? | ||
| 11/14/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Yes, the typical household really can save $1 million to retire on, but most don't. Here's how your friends and neighbors are doing." | ||
| Huge debts, paid off fast | ||
| 11/13/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A $150,000 mortgage erased in five years. About $49,000 in credit cards, almost gone in just a year. These debt-payoff champions share their secrets." | ||
| Why your 'lizard brain' makes you a bad investor | ||
| 11/05/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Investors often make foolish financial decisions, and lots of folks are trying to figure out why. Specialists in behavioral finance have sketched out some of our more persistent mental mistakes. Neuroeconomics is looking at how the brain functions. Happiness researchers are trying to understand why our rising standard of living hasn't made us happier. Now, some experts are turning to evolutionary psychology. Why do we make so many financial errors? Maybe, deep down, we're just cavemen and women." | ||
| 'Dilbert' deserves the economics Nobel | ||
| 10/11/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Quietly hidden in Adams' groundbreaking work is a financial formula so simple it rivals Einstein's E=mc2. In its original form Adams' formula was apparently so heretical and so explosive that no major house would touch it when he proposed publishing it as a one-page book. After initial rejections, he announced sadly that "if God materialized on earth and wrote the secret of the universe on one page, he wouldn't be able to find a publisher" either. Fortunately for America's 95 million investors, Adams' secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels." Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula" | ||
| Extreme saver | ||
| 09/08/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "When Jessica Nixon began her first job at Whataburger, her father gave her some pretty sage advice: start saving early for retirement. She was not even 16 years old at the time, but she took his recommendation to heart almost immediately, socking away 10 percent of every paycheck. Now 23, the Dallas-based electrical engineer has transformed herself into a financial wunderkind, having put aside $49,000 towards retirement, and an additional $20,000 that she has earmarked for a home and a new boat. "Saving to me is another bill you have to pay," says Nixon. "Saving comes before a lot of other things."" | ||
| How we did it | ||
| 08/05/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "We asked readers to tell us how they met major financial or life goals and the answers that poured in were extraordinary. Whether you want to get rich on a middle-class salary, turn your hobby into a business, escape the rat race, or pay off your house in three years, we found the tips you need to succeed - from people who've actually done it." | ||
| Financial infidelity is rampant | ||
| 07/13/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Is it cheating if you lie about where the money went? Yep. And it's every bit as damaging to your relationship as the physical kind." | ||
| Today's graduates face a world that is seriously tougher | ||
| 06/17/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Many older people believe that young people are spoiled and self-indulgent. Worse, they are blissfully unappreciative of how difficult things were in days of yore. In lots of ways, if not most, the reality is just the reverse: Many older people are unaware that today's college graduates face a world that is seriously tougher." | ||
| Why so many grads 'fail to launch' | ||
| 04/08/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Many 20-somethings find themselves moving home to live with Mom and Dad, just like the movie 'Failure to Launch.' Blame it on the inertia -- and some very real challenges." | ||
| Extreme savers: meet the parkers | ||
| 03/31/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The Parkers know all about scraping by, even though they make plenty of money. Michelle, 33, and Rob, 34, were high school sweethearts, they got married in college and managed on only $8,000 in income for the first year of their marriage. Fourteen years later the couple makes a combined $128,000 but their love, and thrifty lifestyle, has stayed with them." | ||
| 5 mistakes investors just can't afford | ||
| 03/25/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Research shows that investors are generally irrational and overly impressed with their acumen. Here are 5 rules to help you head off your worst investing impulses." | ||
| Kids: Bad investments, big returns | ||
| 02/25/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A potential mom does a detailed cost-benefit analysis of what having a child will mean and nearly scares herself to death." | ||
| The fantasy - and reality - of your own business | ||
| 02/12/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "According to the latest figures from the Internal Revenue Service, the average sole proprietor (i.e., non-farm businesses that filed a Schedule C) reported net receipts of about $53,272 in 2003. The average net profit: About $11." | ||
| Is marriage cost effective? | ||
| 02/11/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Ebenezer Scrooge should have reserved his scorn for St. Valentine's Day. The typical American is going to spend about $100.89, according to the National Retail Federation. That's up from $97.27 last year. A pricey holiday getting pricier thanks to the notion -- inspired by gobs of advertising -- that you will spend your life alone and unloved if you don't pony up lavish gifts and cheap sentiment on Feb. 14." | ||
| More nickel-and-dime fees to fly? | ||
| 02/05/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "We've become accustomed to paying a buck or two for soda or a bag of nuts, but such charges are going to get much more common. And that may not be a bad thing." | ||
| Frugality: You get it from your kids | ||
| 01/22/06 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Having children can devastate your ability to save. But look at it another way: parents need less in retirement because parenting cleverly trains them to live on less." | ||
| You're worth $135,500 | ||
| 12/16/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The country's net worth reached $4.4-trillion at the end of the third quarter, valuing Canadians' net worth at $135,500 per capita, Statistics Canada reported Friday." | ||
| Your holiday present | ||
| 12/11/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Commercialism runs rampant this time of year and while this type of consumerism is good for the economy and makes all those malls seem like the place to be it also usually means that January and February - when the bills start arriving - can be pretty tight financially. This is made worse by the fact that some many people wait until then to do their RRSP contribution as well." | ||
| When status has too high a price | ||
| 12/10/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Dr. Shaun Saunders, a researcher at the University of Newcastle in England, studied more than 1,000 people and found materialistic folks who try to keep up with the Joneses are more likely to be angry, depressed, frustrated, and anxious." | ||
| Walking the line between scrooge and santa | ||
| 11/23/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Here's how to prevent dreams of the Sugar Plum Fairy from becoming a nightmare when the credit-card bill arrives: Develop a holiday spending plan." | ||
| 3 big reasons couples fight about money | ||
| 11/14/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Arguments about money are often really struggles for power. Managing these issues can smooth out the bickering." | ||
| Don't wind up divorced and destitute | ||
| 11/06/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The worst thing you can do is to ignore money matters while you're married. Here are 9 ways to divorce-proof yourself now." | ||
| Save big on a tiny income | ||
| 10/23/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "19 ways -- and counting -- to save when you make next to nothing." | ||
| Is your kid a spoiled brat? | ||
| 10/06/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Instead of an iPod nano, give your kids the tools they need to be financially independent adults." | ||
| Blogging toward financial sanity | ||
| 10/03/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I was skeptical about starting a blog, but then a real community emerged -- and together, we're bucking up our fiscal resolve to battle spending and debt." | ||
| 8 financial train wrecks you can avoid | ||
| 09/30/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "'Just because they say 'I love you' doesn't mean they'll pay you back' -- and other tales of money misery. Watch. Learn. Take notes." | ||
| Steer clear of 'flood cars' | ||
| 09/25/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Hurricane Katrina swamped hundreds of thousands of new and used cars. Some of them will be polished up and sold in used car lots near you. Here's how to protect yourself." | ||
| Protect your wallet in a divorce | ||
| 09/25/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Making plans to preserve your assets in case of a divorce may not be very romantic. But with half the population headed for divorce court after a trip down the aisle, it's not such a bad idea." | ||
| Using debit is better than paying ABM fees | ||
| 07/22/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "With almost every financial institution charging non-customers up to $1.50 to use its automated banking machines, the number of transactions where people used ABMs from other financial institutions fell to a 10-year low last year. Meanwhile, usage of direct payment notched yet another year of solid growth. The numbers are a confirmation of a growing recognition that the cost of using any old bank machine is one of the biggest wastes of money in financial services today, whereas debit represents one of the best values." | ||
| Confessions of a compulsive shopper | ||
| 07/22/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Maxed-out credit cards, more than $50,000 in shopping-related debt and the slow realization that she chatted more with other Gymboree-obsessed moms than she did with her own family finally convinced Rogers that she needed to kick her habit." | ||
| How a single mom makes it on $31K | ||
| 07/03/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "While I admire the folks who were born smart about money, my true heroes are the ones who had to struggle to find that precious commodity I call financial sanity." | ||
| Start with saving | ||
| 05/08/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It's a lot like the old personal finance chestnut, "Pay yourself first," but I like it because it indirectly forces you to start spending less. And that's what we humans need." | ||
| Are seniors gambling away their retirement? | ||
| 04/25/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "With casinos, slot machines and poker parlors on seemingly every corner, a growing number of seniors find themselves addicted -- and losing their nest eggs." | ||
| A failure to negotiate | ||
| 04/24/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Although women have certainly made plenty of progress in the workplace over the past three decades, the glass ceiling remains firmly in place at many companies -- especially when it comes to compensation. But some experts now suggest that the wage imbalance between the sexes could have as much to do with women's failure to negotiate well as any other factor." | ||
| Low-cost, low-tech ways to protect your home | ||
| 04/01/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It doesn't have to cost a fortune to make your home safer. Here are some deterrents to thieves that are simple and work." | ||
| How much is enough? | ||
| 03/21/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I came into a tidy little windfall, and my first thought was . . . I want more. But working the numbers helped me realize I might already have enough." | ||
| The lies we tell | ||
| 03/14/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Be honest, now: Have you ever told your spouse you paid less for something than you really did -- say, a great pair of shoes, or maybe that very cool 52-inch TV now gracing the family room?" | ||
| Suddenly single | ||
| 02/24/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "When her husband died suddenly at 58, JoAnn Russe found she knew little about her family's finances." | ||
| Can frugal living make you happier? | ||
| 02/22/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Without conventional pensions, it's hard to shake the nagging anxiety of geezerhood: Will we outlive our money? A New Yorker cartoon hanging on our refrigerator says it all. A man tells his wife: "If we take a late retirement and an early death, we'll just squeak by."" | ||
| Luxuries you can live without -- and should | ||
| 02/20/05 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it wasn't that long ago when the mere concept of Williams-Sonoma (or Restoration Hardware, Crate & Barrel, et. al.) would have struck most folks as . . . nutty." | ||
| Free land in the heartland | ||
| 12/26/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Small towns in Kansas, North Dakota and other states are rolling out the red carpet for newcomers." | ||
| Deadline looms for RESP grants | ||
| 12/12/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "In a survey conducted for Heritage Education Funds, Decima found only 15% of parents realized the RESP contribution deadline is December 31. Unlike the RRSP deadline, which allows for contributions within the first 60 days of the new year, RESP contributions must be made within the calendar year to qualify for the federal grant." | ||
| Successful investing starts with saving | ||
| 12/07/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "To profit as an investor, you need to regularly divert money into your investment account. Here are ways to save -- and the best ways to invest the cash." | ||
| 4 ways to simplify your life and save | ||
| 11/29/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Alas, most people have seen the same tips a thousand times: * Live on less than you earn. * Track your spending so you can see where your money goes. * Never buy anything new. * Whenever possible, slaughter your own livestock, etc." | ||
| The high cost of smoking | ||
| 11/18/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Add it up: cigarettes, dry cleaning, insurance, breath mints. And the toll doesn't stop there." | ||
| Retirees don't have to be so frugal | ||
| 11/17/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Maybe you don't have to order the early-bird special after all. Many retirees have trimmed their spending during recent years, and it isn't just because of plunging bond yields and tumbling stock prices. Instead, they have been reacting to dire warnings from Wall Street, cautioning them that their portfolios can't sustain the sort of withdrawal rates that used to be considered safe. Feeling pinched? Don't resign yourself to a lifetime of scrimping and saving just yet." | ||
| Destination disaster | ||
| 11/14/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Did I ever feel saddened by the loss of those students who did not return after my depressing lecture? Not at all. If they were sufficiently discouraged in just two hours to abandon their fledgling aspirations, I helped save them time and money and spared them a trip down the road to failure. It's far less costly to abandon a business in the classroom or on paper than in the dog-eat-dog atmosphere of the real world." | ||
| Unlucky in riches | ||
| 11/10/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "For a lot of people, winning the lottery is the American dream. But for many lottery winners, the reality is more like a nightmare." | ||
| A reality check on your financial fantasies | ||
| 11/01/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Waiting for the lottery or for Prince Charming to come and wipe away all your personal finance woes? It's time to stop dreaming and face reality." | ||
| Most expensive colleges | ||
| 10/24/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Quick: What will $36,750 buy you? Only a year's worth of tuition at the country's most expensive college, not including room and board." | ||
| Battle your budget back into shape | ||
| 10/23/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Household budgets don't run themselves. When yours begins to break down, don't run away -- roll up your sleeves and start getting it back into condition." | ||
| Fast-forward and grow rich | ||
| 10/16/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "If you consider the 61 hours of ads the average American sees each month, there's nothing more expensive than free TV. Here's why the alternatives pay off." | ||
| From debt to wealth on $10 a day | ||
| 09/27/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "How would you like to be free of credit card debt? To have a financial cushion to fall back on?" | ||
| Rich Man, Poor Man | ||
| 09/19/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "But here's the ironic part of it. If, from the beginning, the little guy had adopted a strict policy of never spending more than he made, if he had taken his extra savings and compounded it in intelligent, income-producing securities, then in due time he'd have money coming in daily, weekly, monthly, just like the rich man. The little guy would have become a financial winner, instead of a pathetic loser." | ||
| Women's guilty secrets about spending | ||
| 09/03/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It's a hidden bit of behavior so many women share: They don't want the men in their lives to know how much they spend on clothes." | ||
| Are we saving too much? | ||
| 08/15/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I have to admit this isn't a question I get every day. In fact, I've never gotten it before. Given the spendthrift habits of most Americans, it's just not something that's ever come up. Saving too much? It's almost like asking whether someone can be too rich or too smart." | ||
| 13 ways to live well on less | ||
| 08/13/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Every dollar you spend has consequences elsewhere in your life. Remembering that will change the ways you spend and save." | ||
| The lottery-ticket retirement plan | ||
| 07/16/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "You've got better odds of saving a good nest egg than winning one -- but there are ways to improve your chances, if only slightly." | ||
| Can't banish budgeting? This software's for you | ||
| 07/07/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "One of the reasons for the success of David Chilton's The Wealthy Barber was that it rejected budgeting on the belief that it doesn't actually work. Instead, he suggested the more commonsensical pay-yourself-first strategy, where you invest with money that you take off the top of your take-home pay rather than using what's left over after expenses are paid." | ||
| Debit-card fees sneak up on shoppers | ||
| 06/29/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "More banks are tacking on point-of-sale fees of as much as $1.50 -- and aren't adequately warning customers, some groups say. Watch your bank statement to find out." | ||
| 3 steps to slaying your money demons | ||
| 06/14/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "If you're bedeviled by fear, confusion and denial when it comes to your personal finances, join the crowd. Here's your head start on an exorcism." | ||
| The Kings and Queens of mean | ||
| 06/10/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Here are 20 more rich and famous people who keep a tight grip on their dosh" | ||
| Secrets to 'living lite' | ||
| 05/15/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Forgetting about the Joneses is just one of many reader tips for dropping out of costly lifestyles that deplete your financial and emotional stores. Here's how you, too, can live well on less money." | ||
| What Mom taught us about money | ||
| 05/07/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "In honor of Mother's Day, we asked our readers to send in the best financial advice their mothers ever gave. And hey, it turns out, money really doesn't grow on trees and you shouldn't spend it all in one place." | ||
| Bummed out? Bad time to shop | ||
| 03/25/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Think you paid too much for a little gift you bought yourself after a tough day at the office? A new study suggests your emotions may have pushed you to a bad decision." | ||
| How to lead a rich life | ||
| 02/27/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "These accounts of the rich and spendthrift point to one big question: What does all that income and spending add up to? A lot of nothing, it turns out. One of the more shocking measures of our "prosperity" is the fact that the United States spends more on trash bags than 90 other countries spend on everything. In other words, the receptacles of our waste cost more than all of the goods consumed by nearly half of the world's nations." | ||
| Making 'cheap' romance memorable | ||
| 02/12/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Quick: what are the three most romantic gifts you've ever gotten? I'll bet at least one or two of them cost very little, if anything at all." | ||
| Start on your first $1 million at age 16 | ||
| 01/29/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It's easier than you think to become a millionaire. The magic combo? Getting an early start saving and having the discipline not to raid the piggy bank." | ||
| 10 fat warnings about diet products | ||
| 01/22/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Don't be tricked by companies peddling weight-loss products and plans. Instead, digest some facts about the fabulous claims, testimonials, guarantees, machines and wonder supplements that sound so appealing." | ||
| 5 steps to wedded wallets | ||
| 01/19/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "We exchanged vows before we exchanged views on health insurance. Now our finances are proof that opposites attract -- but we've hammered out a budget that works." | ||
| The 'yo-yo' car sale trap | ||
| 01/15/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "You've got your new car. You showed it off to all your friends. You've driven it to work a few a times. You love it. Then you get a scary phone call." | ||
| Be sure to compare service fees if you use your card a lot | ||
| 01/09/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Here's how the credit card business works. Dazzled by rewards that suggest lifestyles of the rich and clueless, people sign up for cards and end up paying bloated interest charges and/or a vast array of service fees." | ||
| Ten helpful tips for saving and investing this year | ||
| 01/03/04 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Eat less, exercise more. Now that we've taken care of your physical well-being in 2004, let's talk about your financial health. No lectures here. Instead, we'll look at 10 easy-to-follow tips for saving money and investing smarter. You may have heard some of these before, but they bear repeating." | ||
| Keep more in 2004 | ||
| 12/31/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Here are 8 resolutions: pick one or two and stick with them to bolster your finances next year." | ||
| Beware the tricky fees on gift cards | ||
| 12/19/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Between hefty shipping, maintenance and service fees, all the cheer can be sucked out of gift cards -- and most of the value. Here are 10 questions to ask if you give one or get one." | ||
| Scrooge of the investing world | ||
| 12/13/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A a time of year when most people are beingurged to spend, Norman Rothery is going about his business of urging people to be thrifty in how they invest their savings. Examining the menu over a Diet Pepsi at Pangaea, in the heart of the fashionable Bloor Street shopping district in downtown Toronto, the founder of StingyInvestor.com and FrugalFunds.com and publisher of two quarterly newsletters is an unlikely Scrooge -- more of a happy warrior of the value investing world." | ||
| Watchdog says car dealer scams are rampant | ||
| 12/10/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "A report released Monday by Public Citizen, the consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, accuses the nation's car dealers of wholesale fraud and asks all state attorneys general to investigate." | ||
| Rip-off room revisited | ||
| 12/07/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Extended warranties, rust-proofing, Scotchgard: Is this stuff ever worth it?" | ||
| A new charge called 'Oops' | ||
| 12/04/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Every few years, economists identify another mutant variation of inflation to keep them awake at night. In the 1980's, it was stagflation. Three years ago, it was deflation. And now, meet the economic specter of the new millennium: stealth inflation." | ||
| 9 ways to look rich but live cheap | ||
| 11/10/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Rise above your measly income and worn-out shoes. You can live the Simply Fabulous lifestyle and enjoy cushy perks even without being adopted by the Rockefellers." | ||
| How cheapskates get away with it | ||
| 10/20/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| 10 classic cheapskate strategies. | ||
| 5 ways to stop the urge to shop | ||
| 10/18/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "If you can still pay your bills, you might not think you have a problem. I didn't think I had a problem, either -- until I asked myself why buying shoes felt so good." | ||
| How to fend off kids selling stuff | ||
| 09/29/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "No more magazine subscriptions! No more wrapping paper or candles! Stand up to these pint-sized salespeople and their adult accomplices." | ||
| How to survive 7 big budget busters | ||
| 09/29/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| " Most budget advice focuses on carving savings out of your discretionary spending -- how much you blow on lattes or health clubs or eating out. But interviews with credit counselors and bankruptcy attorneys show it's more often the expenses you consider fixed or beyond your control that can cause you serious financial trouble." | ||
| Fees! Fees! Fees! | ||
| 09/22/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Companies can't raise prices, so they're socking consumers with hundreds of hidden charges--and that's creating stealth inflation and fueling a popular backlash" | ||
| Is your degree worth $1 million -- or worthless? | ||
| 09/20/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Look before you leap into spending a small fortune on an associate's, bachelor's or graduate degree. If money is your motivation, learn which ones really pay off." | ||
| 10 ways you mindlessly waste money | ||
| 09/16/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Silently, secretly, your money disappears under some hideous voodoo spell, right? No way. Take a look at some ways you're flushing your cash down the loo -- and what you can do about it." | ||
| A latte today or $1 million tomorrow | ||
| 09/15/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Can you cut the caffeine and stay out of Starbucks? You could be on your way to piling up $1 million. The choices: a quick coffee fix now -- or drinking in a more secure retirement later." | ||
| The cost of the good life | ||
| 09/15/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Spending on stuff seems a never-ending spiral in America; there's always something new to buy." | ||
| The fine art of splitting a check | ||
| 08/29/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "It's the moment of ugly truth: Your dear friends are appetizer-hogs, dessert-grubbers and drink-downers. And they ordered pheasant under glass. So . . . shall we just divide it 6 ways?" | ||
| You might be a shopaholic | ||
| 08/25/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Turns out 1 in 20 of us -- women and men alike -- can't control the urge to spend. Learn what drives this destructive behavior." | ||
| How to cope with a cash crisis | ||
| 08/18/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "I find that money disasters tend to hit all at the same time, and it's always the worst possible moment. Here's how to assess your situation and get back on your feet." | ||
| What college doesn't teach you | ||
| 08/15/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "The irony is that there's a whole world of math that would have been useful to learn. I'm talking here about the math of personal finance -- borrowing, budgeting, banking and such." | ||
| The ripoffs behind rebates | ||
| 08/13/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "As many as half of all product rebates go unclaimed, experts say. One reason: Some companies make the rules so tricky that consumers won't bother." | ||
| 10 biggest summer spending blunders | ||
| 06/29/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Amid the lazy days and sunny hours ahead lurks an insidious evil -- the urge to overspend on just about everything. Fun-seekers, beware: It can creep up on you like a tight swimsuit." | ||
| Turn $1 a day into $67,815 | ||
| 06/26/03 Permlink Report Broken Link | Thrift | ||
| "Want a foolproof way to turn $1 a day into $67,815? It doesn't take a lot of money or time or personal sacrifice. There's no magic, no multilevel marketing and no salesman will call at your door." | ||
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