I agree--thinking positively is great. (Certainly, negative thinking isn't going to help.)
But I do hope that people aren't falling into the mistake of thinking that the peak of the bubble was the "normal" to which we will inevitably return. The peak of the bubble was a weird, unnatural state. Right now we're retrenching--something that positive thinkers can hope will be over soon. But then the question is, "What's next?" And to that I don't think the answer is going to be a straight-line path back to the way things were in 2005. At least, I hope not. Once was bad enough.
Not long ago I was in Macy's and bought a top, using cash. The clerk looked at me like I was an alien!! Oh, my she actually had to count back change. It looked like she had not had to count back cash in forever. Actully never counted it back, just put it in my hand. I told her please count it back. She stumbled and mumbled.
Hubby and I do have a cc for car rentals, etc. But pay off at the end of the month. Also have a debit card. For some reason if we are purchasing something big, i.e. an appliance, furniture I prefer to put that cash in our checking account and then writing a check. Just further proof of purchase. And less chance of being robbed.
Otherwise, we deal mostly in cash, other than big ticket items and bills.
Maybe I'm just crazy but it does NOT seem like a good idea to hand over information about all your accounts to one source--one that exists only in "the cloud", no less. All I can think of is the mass havoc that could be caused if a service like Mint had its database hacked. It can happen.
I use online account management in three different places-- ING savings, my checking account at another bank, and my american express card. It may be a hassle but I like having them separate. That way the damage done can be minimized if any one of those gets compromised.
Guys, we all have our personal style. Let's keep our criticism constructive instead of vicious, shall we? Personal attacks on authors are uncalled for.
OK, sure. But that's not really an argument against the mortgage plan.
One big difference between a lease and a mortgage is that the former is a short-term contract. You are liable, at most, for one year's worth of rent -- and often much less, if you can find a new tenant for your place or work out a "penalty for early vacancy" with your landlord. No such luck with a mortgage, which is typically a 30-year contract. In the current market, it can be impossible to find a buyer, so you're pretty much trapped in a contract whose terms you can't meet.
All those foreclosures have a disastrous ripple effect through the whole economy. That's the reason for intervening to help -- not empathy for the individual homeowner (although empathy is fine), but public interest.
(BTW, several posters above talk about the illegality of meddling in private contracts. Actually, there are provisions in contract law for altering contracts that are contrary to the public good.)
Job loss for a renter may be a personal catastrophe, but its larger impact is much more limited.
Historically, the stock market is a leading indicator of business cycles. So you are right that an upturn in the market, or an official assessment that the recession is over, may say little about the actual economic climate.
I believe that you are being too critical. If you feel that the writer's post are horrible, then why even waste the time to visit the site? I am a mint.com member and absolutely love the site. All of you naysayers should visit the site instead of being so critical.
Once the kids scorn Crayola, start trading up, one moving sale at a time. Go for good antiques at reasonable prices or for classic reproductions with no particle board anywhere in them and with mortised or dovetailed joints instead of staples.
On second thought, if your family has secure employment, buy it soon. Financially distressed families are selling stuff cheap so they can relocate or make house payments. Be picky and cheap but don't bargain down folks in trouble--just say that the item does not fit your budget.
Replace one item, then sell the old one. Someone will pay you something for any furniture that is not made of particle board.
If you are in healthy financial shape, you may want to give the old furniture to people graduating from a recovery program, to battered women's shelters, or merely put a "Free" sign on it and stack it by the sidewalk.
Also, in response to JD, it's illegal for a company to withhold pay from employees.
I worked for a small start-up some years ago. They were struggling and couldn't make payroll. They asked us to be "patient." One employee took it upon herself to call the state Dept of Labor, which promptly ordered the company to either pay its employees within a specified period of time (i think it was a matter of weeks) or cease doing business.
I've been a user of mint.com for a while now, including it's iPhone app. You really can't get much better than this site. Rudder.com is another, but mint is so damn delicious that it's hard for anything else to satisfy.
With my wife, we are able to look at our total financial picture at once, and make budget decisions together, even if our accounts are totally connected yet.
I used to use Quicken for years, paying the bank for the connection fee, and having to ascend the learning curve that that software presented. But now, it's as easy as it gets.
Forecasting is the only thing missing from this site. But getting everything for free is amazing.
I also recommend creditkarma.com to get a free credit score, paid for by advertisers in much the same way mint works.
This happened to me once, but it was about three years ago, long before this recession.
After losing a full-time job, I found a p/t job doing office work for someone in my town. I worked a fixed number of hours a week, and then i was free to pick up extra cash doing freelance writing in my free time, which paid considerably better than what this guy was paying me.
One day, after working there several months, he told me he needed me to work longer hours. I declined, and he told me not to bother coming back in.
He actually challenged my attempt to get unemployment benefits, saying I wasn't "fired," but that i left voluntarily.
The Dept of Labor sided with me and i got my benefits
We are all a little bit dumber for reading that post. Mint.com is less credible for being the (apparent) subject of it. Wisebread.com demonstrated a lack of wisdom for providing a forum for it.
My credit union stopped tracking my external accounts because they couldn't keep up with the constant security changes. I like to do as much online banking and tracking as possible and went searching for alternatives.
Through another personal finance site, I heard about Mint. Since then, I have turned on several people to this great resource. Not only can I track my expenses and credit card balances, they give me options on saving money on interest rates.
Thanks for the article reinforcing this great tool.
I really can't stand to read any of this guy's posts. They are HORRIBLE. Please explain why he's allow to post on Wise Bread. It really makes me question the integrity of the entire site.
I absolutely love Mint.com and I think the service is unmatched by any other on the market. I had to cancel my account because ING Direct will not play ball with this service for security reasons. Although I understand ING Direct's position it absolutely kills the point of using Mint.com and therefore I can no longer use it.
I hope something changes and one day they will work together but I have wasted countless hours trying to get my ING Direct account to work properly to no avail.
By the way I think you guys are being harsh on the writing style of one person on this site. Jabulani Leffall did a great job writing this article; constructive criticism I assume is always accepted however I got the message clear, try Mint.com because it might be for you.
I don't have an advanced degree in english and probably have worse grammar than anyone on the planet but I understood this article and it's motives.
Okay, I like Wisebread but this article confused me. I can hardly translate what the author says. I've heard of Mint and apparently the author feels it might be worth a look but that he shouldn't say so? I'm really not sure what I was supposed to take away from this article and I have an advanced degree in English.
Weird. I hope this isn't a trend with this site. The vocab and style of this post was so unpleasant that, if it continues, I'll continue on my way to another place for advice and articles.
i really liked the article, and this concept of frugality should be promoted more.last summer i did my roof repair all by myself. it want just for me but for using some skills i have in myself
Working with a hillbilly obesed boss. Who's given us an inservice on eatting healthy (jokes). Makes the ultimate crude and vulgar jokes/passes at me. Verbally abusive at times/opts for the rudest way possible to say things. He's just a very uncomfortable being to be around probably could of reported this to HR but I wussed out. Also there is some stupid employee's I work with who are just mean spirited and loud to everyone. I hate confrontation.. ughh.. but geez one of these days I will take Marco's advice.. Get out of my face. you have work to do! Just thinking of saying this is soo sweet.
if you want to truly make an investment in your home however your best is to opt for a hire and installation material. if you want purchase a house in a urban areas initially analyze your financial investment. how much money you can spent? you can take advice from consultants, about dimensions of your home,furniture,toilets and each &every thing which is necessary for home.
if you have good knowledge about the taxes and investments then you can invest your money.
typical lib. unable to accept the truth.
Probably best to just take the whole GPS unit with you.
I agree--thinking positively is great. (Certainly, negative thinking isn't going to help.)
But I do hope that people aren't falling into the mistake of thinking that the peak of the bubble was the "normal" to which we will inevitably return. The peak of the bubble was a weird, unnatural state. Right now we're retrenching--something that positive thinkers can hope will be over soon. But then the question is, "What's next?" And to that I don't think the answer is going to be a straight-line path back to the way things were in 2005. At least, I hope not. Once was bad enough.
Not long ago I was in Macy's and bought a top, using cash. The clerk looked at me like I was an alien!! Oh, my she actually had to count back change. It looked like she had not had to count back cash in forever. Actully never counted it back, just put it in my hand. I told her please count it back. She stumbled and mumbled.
Hubby and I do have a cc for car rentals, etc. But pay off at the end of the month. Also have a debit card. For some reason if we are purchasing something big, i.e. an appliance, furniture I prefer to put that cash in our checking account and then writing a check. Just further proof of purchase. And less chance of being robbed.
Otherwise, we deal mostly in cash, other than big ticket items and bills.
Maybe I'm just crazy but it does NOT seem like a good idea to hand over information about all your accounts to one source--one that exists only in "the cloud", no less. All I can think of is the mass havoc that could be caused if a service like Mint had its database hacked. It can happen.
I use online account management in three different places-- ING savings, my checking account at another bank, and my american express card. It may be a hassle but I like having them separate. That way the damage done can be minimized if any one of those gets compromised.
Guys, we all have our personal style. Let's keep our criticism constructive instead of vicious, shall we? Personal attacks on authors are uncalled for.
I must agree with what you've said but I also want to think positively regarding this recession times. Hopefully for the better.
OK, sure. But that's not really an argument against the mortgage plan.
One big difference between a lease and a mortgage is that the former is a short-term contract. You are liable, at most, for one year's worth of rent -- and often much less, if you can find a new tenant for your place or work out a "penalty for early vacancy" with your landlord. No such luck with a mortgage, which is typically a 30-year contract. In the current market, it can be impossible to find a buyer, so you're pretty much trapped in a contract whose terms you can't meet.
All those foreclosures have a disastrous ripple effect through the whole economy. That's the reason for intervening to help -- not empathy for the individual homeowner (although empathy is fine), but public interest.
(BTW, several posters above talk about the illegality of meddling in private contracts. Actually, there are provisions in contract law for altering contracts that are contrary to the public good.)
Job loss for a renter may be a personal catastrophe, but its larger impact is much more limited.
Historically, the stock market is a leading indicator of business cycles. So you are right that an upturn in the market, or an official assessment that the recession is over, may say little about the actual economic climate.
I believe that you are being too critical. If you feel that the writer's post are horrible, then why even waste the time to visit the site? I am a mint.com member and absolutely love the site. All of you naysayers should visit the site instead of being so critical.
Once the kids scorn Crayola, start trading up, one moving sale at a time. Go for good antiques at reasonable prices or for classic reproductions with no particle board anywhere in them and with mortised or dovetailed joints instead of staples.
On second thought, if your family has secure employment, buy it soon. Financially distressed families are selling stuff cheap so they can relocate or make house payments. Be picky and cheap but don't bargain down folks in trouble--just say that the item does not fit your budget.
Replace one item, then sell the old one. Someone will pay you something for any furniture that is not made of particle board.
If you are in healthy financial shape, you may want to give the old furniture to people graduating from a recovery program, to battered women's shelters, or merely put a "Free" sign on it and stack it by the sidewalk.
Also, in response to JD, it's illegal for a company to withhold pay from employees.
I worked for a small start-up some years ago. They were struggling and couldn't make payroll. They asked us to be "patient." One employee took it upon herself to call the state Dept of Labor, which promptly ordered the company to either pay its employees within a specified period of time (i think it was a matter of weeks) or cease doing business.
They ceased doing business.
I've been a user of mint.com for a while now, including it's iPhone app. You really can't get much better than this site. Rudder.com is another, but mint is so damn delicious that it's hard for anything else to satisfy.
With my wife, we are able to look at our total financial picture at once, and make budget decisions together, even if our accounts are totally connected yet.
I used to use Quicken for years, paying the bank for the connection fee, and having to ascend the learning curve that that software presented. But now, it's as easy as it gets.
Forecasting is the only thing missing from this site. But getting everything for free is amazing.
I also recommend creditkarma.com to get a free credit score, paid for by advertisers in much the same way mint works.
That's all for my plugging today.
Have a good one.
This happened to me once, but it was about three years ago, long before this recession.
After losing a full-time job, I found a p/t job doing office work for someone in my town. I worked a fixed number of hours a week, and then i was free to pick up extra cash doing freelance writing in my free time, which paid considerably better than what this guy was paying me.
One day, after working there several months, he told me he needed me to work longer hours. I declined, and he told me not to bother coming back in.
He actually challenged my attempt to get unemployment benefits, saying I wasn't "fired," but that i left voluntarily.
The Dept of Labor sided with me and i got my benefits
We are all a little bit dumber for reading that post. Mint.com is less credible for being the (apparent) subject of it. Wisebread.com demonstrated a lack of wisdom for providing a forum for it.
My credit union stopped tracking my external accounts because they couldn't keep up with the constant security changes. I like to do as much online banking and tracking as possible and went searching for alternatives.
Through another personal finance site, I heard about Mint. Since then, I have turned on several people to this great resource. Not only can I track my expenses and credit card balances, they give me options on saving money on interest rates.
Thanks for the article reinforcing this great tool.
I really can't stand to read any of this guy's posts. They are HORRIBLE. Please explain why he's allow to post on Wise Bread. It really makes me question the integrity of the entire site.
I absolutely love Mint.com and I think the service is unmatched by any other on the market. I had to cancel my account because ING Direct will not play ball with this service for security reasons. Although I understand ING Direct's position it absolutely kills the point of using Mint.com and therefore I can no longer use it.
I hope something changes and one day they will work together but I have wasted countless hours trying to get my ING Direct account to work properly to no avail.
By the way I think you guys are being harsh on the writing style of one person on this site. Jabulani Leffall did a great job writing this article; constructive criticism I assume is always accepted however I got the message clear, try Mint.com because it might be for you.
I don't have an advanced degree in english and probably have worse grammar than anyone on the planet but I understood this article and it's motives.
Okay, I like Wisebread but this article confused me. I can hardly translate what the author says. I've heard of Mint and apparently the author feels it might be worth a look but that he shouldn't say so? I'm really not sure what I was supposed to take away from this article and I have an advanced degree in English.
Weird. I hope this isn't a trend with this site. The vocab and style of this post was so unpleasant that, if it continues, I'll continue on my way to another place for advice and articles.
Great post! I love the power and control of paying cash . . .
I often joke with the cashier when making cash purchases, "Is cash okay?" They usually get the joke . . .
I already have a budget book, but you're always a fun read.
We could use this.
Thanks for the giveaway!
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
i really liked the article, and this concept of frugality should be promoted more.last summer i did my
roof repair all by myself. it want just for me but for using some skills i have in myself
Working with a hillbilly obesed boss. Who's given us an inservice on eatting healthy (jokes). Makes the ultimate crude and vulgar jokes/passes at me. Verbally abusive at times/opts for the rudest way possible to say things. He's just a very uncomfortable being to be around probably could of reported this to HR but I wussed out. Also there is some stupid employee's I work with who are just mean spirited and loud to everyone. I hate confrontation.. ughh.. but geez one of these days I will take Marco's advice.. Get out of my face. you have work to do! Just thinking of saying this is soo sweet.
if you want to truly make an investment in your home however your best is to opt for a hire and installation material. if you want purchase a house in a urban areas initially analyze your financial investment. how much money you can spent? you can take advice from consultants, about dimensions of your home,furniture,toilets and each &every thing which is necessary for home.
if you have good knowledge about the taxes and investments then you can invest your money.
Roof Repairs