It's a bad deal. What is a 401(k) loan? You borrow money from your 401(k). You have to pay the money back in a certain amount of time. It seems like a good idea because you are "borrowing from yourself", the interest rate is usually "low", and it doesn't affect your credit. What's the catch? …
Spending Prison
Spending can be like a prison. It’s counterintuitive. People are usually excited to earn more money because it means they are able to spend more. You can acquire more material possessions, eat (allegedly) better food, and so on. Don’t get me wrong, this is true to an extent. Increasing your earning/spending power enough to move …
One Card for Monthly Expenses
Keep all monthly expenses on one credit card All monthly expense that can be paid by credit card without a penalty should be kept on one credit card. And that card should not be used for anything else. Why companies love subscription revenue Monthly subscription revenue is great for businesses because the installment amounts are …
Turn Large Expenses into Vacations
When life gives you lemons... Unplanned expenses You need expensive dental work done, a new air conditioning system, you are signing up for life insurance, or you have an expensive car repair coming up. It sucks when you have to spend money that you weren't planning on, but you can at least make the most …
How Debt Works
Understanding how to think about and manage your debts is key for financial security. Debt requires monthly payments, and that reduces your cash flow. Some debts carry additional risks. For example, if you lose your job and don't pay your car loan, you will be taking a bus to your job interviews after your car …
Rent or Buy
When people first start thinking about buying a house, they often mistakenly compare the cost of a loan for a house to the cost of rent. Then they think they are being ripped off on their current rent and that they should go buy a house ASAP instead of "throwing money away on rent." The …
How I Buy Cars
How I buy cars Many people have negotiating tips and suggestions on how to buy cars. There are many ways to do it. Here is how I do it when buying from a dealer and it has been successful so far. This method works best when buying a new car or if there are substantially …
Responsible Use Of Balance Transfers
What is a balance transfer? Credit cards come with a limit often referred to as a revolving limit. You go to the store and swipe your card and as long as your outstanding balance is lower than the limit + new charge it goes through. Some credit cards also have a feature called a balance …
Save money with decanters
Alcohol is bad for your health and costs money. If you can drink less or never start drinking, that's ideal. Depending on your tastes and how much you drink, you can easily spend as much as maxing out an IRA contribution for the year. Find better values through blind taste tests We adopted the practice …
17 Steps to Clean Up Your Finances
Financial Checklist Any good business needs to get revenue and also needs to control expenses in order to be profitable. Personal finance is no different. You went to school and have some kind of career and that gets you revenue. You have some influence on your revenue but you definitely can control a lot of …
Introduction
Saving and investing has always been important to me. Over the years we got sidetracked from time to time. Our planned retirement horizon was the classic 40-year career, so it was no big deal to splurge as long as we were on track to retire in our early 60s. But, why wait that long? With the …
Pulling Pork 