@ MARY OSTYN... I love the spinach idea... Might get some veggies into my granddaughter who absolutely refuses to eat her veggie. He parents allow her to eat what ever she wants but I think if I do that she will not know & will help some... At least make me feel better knowing she gets some in her on the weekends.
I also stretch my meats out by adding some bread or rice to ground meats... My kids grew up on it & still love it...
But just declining to make any financial commitments is a poor solution. Lots of things are cheaper if you can make a commitment. I wrote a pair of pieces that look at that tension, and provide tips for managing it:
I'm sure some people just overspend, but that's not a large source of bankruptcies. Most bankruptcies come from either large, unplanned expenses (usually medical, but also other kinds of losses) or from drastically reduced income (due to job loss, divorce, business failure, etc.).
Actually, changing brake pads is not difficult at all. If you can follow instructions, you can change brake pads. If the rotor needs replacing, then you'll need a professional.
OMG, getting people to take down a craigslist ad for sold items is like pulling teeth. I've written back to people who say, "Sorry, it sold" with a note saying "Well, then take down your ad", and I always get a response like "It won't let me."
It just proves that so many people on the internet don't deserve to be on the internet.
If people would live frugally in the beginning, most bankruptcies wouldn't happen. I know there are some circumstances that are beyond a person's control such as medical expenses and unexpected things, but most of the time, that is not the cause of financial woes. It is overspending. Thinking that you "need" or "deserve" a newer car to drive when the old one you have works just fine. ("Deserve" is the most overused word in our language at the moment, you don't "deserve" anything! You "need" food, clothing, and shelter, but the rest is just gravy.) Because of people who spend what they don't have, it ends up costing me in the form of higher prices. Don't spend the money unless you have it in your hot little hand and bankruptcy won't even have to be considered most of the time!
The car sharing idea is good... I know thats popular on college campuses. The only thing to keep in mind, is that we are talking about business travel. Car sharing may not allow the same flexibility as renting your own car...I could see that idea working for a personal vacation though.
I have a fledgling personal finance blog of my own, come check me out!
I haven't had this experience, myself. My fasting sugars are always pretty low. It could be because you lack blood sugar control while sleeping, but it really depends on what medications you are on and how much you exercise.
In the case of controlling fasting sugars, I would talk to a doctor. I know people who take long-acting insulin before bed to control morning sugars. There are a couple of other medication options as well. I'm not sure if the more natural remedies are helpful in that situation.
Actually, I think the real point is that the "to hell with all that" attitude can actually have a negative impact on a woman's work relationships. We've been told recently by career and money gurus to throw caution to the wind and negotiate hard, but this study shows that that isn't yet a good tactic (perhaps not in every situation anyway).
I got my first card when I was 18, my parents wanted me to build credit, and I only had a $200 limit. Ive rotated through quite a few cards since (Im 30 now). I actually wrote an article on my experience with certain cards out there right now, and which ones I recommend, and which ones I don't. Check it out.
My husband and I decided at the begining of our marriage not to have a credit card and to spend only the money we had. We had some hard financal times during the begining of our marriage and I am so glad we did not have a credit card at the time. It would have been too easy to get into serious debit.
I didn't get my first credit card until the age of 29, after the birth of my first child. We decided to get a low limit credit card for the purpose of making purchases online. We did not feel comfortable using our debit card for online purchases. Four years later, it is still our only credit card. Recently, I use it less often. I opened a bank account with a debit card that I only keep a small amount of money in. I use it online instead of the credit card. It is an account completely separate from our main accounts. This way, even if someone got a hold of the debit card number, they would only have access to limited funds.
The 10 dollars I pay for the gym is DEFINITELY worth it. While it looks like money is being WASTED or whatever it is, joining the gym or rec center DEFINITELY helps with gaining weight or being FAT and helps with longetivity...
Of course there are some gyms that charge arm and leg for membership BUT rec center charge 10 to 15 dollars or even have membership like 110 for the year. The earlier the society take charge of their health, the better it will be for everyone!
I got my first credit card right after graduating college. I didn't have a full-time job yet, but still needed to build credit, so I got it for small purchases that I was already making (gas, groceries). It had a really low limit ($500), but I paid it off in full every time, and haven't changed that practice since. My parents taught me to live within my means and that they would never bail me out of stupid financial mistakes (i.e. in college...sorority dues over textbooks...really dumb.) It's been 6 years now and I have cards with much higher limits, but only use them to earn rewards. To this day I've still never carried a balance, always pay in full, and never charge unless I have the money to back it up. Rewards have earned us airline tickets for our honeymoon! (One less thing to pay for!!!)
My fiance on the other hand received a credit card freshman year of college from his parents to "build his credit" that they would pay off. He was told to put everything on the card from books to food to gas. Little did he know they NEVER paid on time. EVER. His entire 4 years of college. Once he graduated and discovered said atrocity he had the bills sent to him and his parents removed from the card. Still gets my blood boiling just thinking about it. Grrrr!
Wow alot of Target/Walmart chatter. I think each store and location is different. Some stores are older and need updating. Like in Birmingham, AL... the Target store on Hwy. 280 is a pig stye compared to the newly renovated Walmart down the street. I also believe management sets the theme for either of these stores. A good manager will see that all staff are treated fairly, and respected no matter what job they perform. Speaking with firsthand knowledge, i can say Target pays poorly, and since the recession..they expect double work from the team members. Yes, ETL's get great pay, but the team members that do the work, are at poverty level. So many team members have to get 2nd jobs just to make ends meet. The store i work at, runs on favortism, thats how you get promoted to better positions in our store. The manager of our store may get great pay but according to him,he was a punk/thug as a teen. He bragged at a team huddle one morning about his many brushes with the law, when he was younger...Assault/Bulling..destruction of property and even arson was some of his tales. It was quit shocking to learn the store leader has a criminal background. I think he should not be telling his employees his past. I walked away from the huddle thinking omg why is he in charge. I do think each store is different, depending on location, the age of the store and the people who are left to run it. We have some great people at our store but we also have some very wrong things going on. With the recession tho, people are afraid to do much about anything. One thing is for sure...retail isnt easy, and all people deserve enough pay to at least be able to feed their families. Pay raises at our store also run on favortism, Target pays team members very poorly. We do have insurance which we pay dearly for, and vacation time..lol the vacation time is given to you alittle at a time..like an hour or 2 per pay period, depending on the # of hours you work. Anyways i think each store is different and i hope and pray the economy will improve so some of us can find better work and pay. Till then we just put one foot in front of another and try n make it another day.
Thank you, so much for this great comment. It puts it "all into words". Im in Energy engineering right now, but i LOVE art. I only did it b/c im tired of our "so called green revolution" that isnt happening! and b/c my dad thinks its best for me.
I would love to just make oil paintings/drawings and push the boundaries of art for the rest of my life, I can still hold my current job and go to art school in the city. You're right, I know i can make much better use of my efforts in art than something that involves tons of math/physics (something I could care less about).
You're absolutely right, Helen. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't fix your own brakes. It was meant to be sarcastic. I in no way, shape or form recommend anyone changing their own brakes, unless they have the proper experience. My point is this; given Charlie Sheen's interviews and posts, he probably shouldn't be his own publicist.
My apologies if the sarcasm wasn't as blatant as I would have liked it. But, truly, don't change your own brakes or re-wire your house without extensive training.
(Only Charlie Sheen can re-wire his own house, change his brakes, be his own publicist and be a chocolate milk pusher.)
My car is a ratty beat up 10yo car with junk screwn around. The fact I put my laptop and other expensive things laid haphazard and underthings helps out. Living in a lower income area, I call it "urban camouflage" security. I could afford to fix somethings on my car and house but it'd be for ego cosmetics and not structural necessity.
I got my first credit card around age 18, I did run it up a couple of times. But you get the hang of it. I don't regret any of it. I did build my credit very quickly and now at age 23 I have an excellent credit score which helped me purchase my own house and car in the past couple of years.
I love hearing about the deals people get at Costco - it can be hard to spot in-store deals sometimes. I got my dad's 'extra' card off the membership, so we're stretching that membership. Only issue is that if I want to pay by credit card, I'd have to use the Costco AmEx and it would go on his account. Ones I like and have compared prices on are the Kirkland Organic tortilla chips, the 1L of Jack's Fresh Salsa or Pace Salsa (depending on what I feel like), bruschetta, ravioli, couscous salad (yum!), Starbucks frappuccinos (12 for CAD18), juice boxes, juice (especially specialty kinds like mango/veggies), milk, lemon juice (2L for CAD4), Neutrogena Dry Touch sunscreen, the occasional makeup deal, and, believe it or not, condoms. I live on my own, so there's a limit to what I look at when I'm in Costco. Always worth checking out the clothing, too. Looks like I should be getting my shredded cheese there.
I have a friend who gets her pet food from there, and another one who goes for edamame & razor cartridges. My dad likes the seafood and packages of naan or raisin bread.
I have been eating daily one or two regular carrots peeled and chopped to inch size pieces that fir in my tupperware...
after 2 years of regular carrots today I got baby carrots for first time and they taste very different...out of curiosity searched and landed on this page...nice learning on baby carrots and I might go back to my regular carrots for that natural taste...
Yeah. . .I am not buying it. Sure, breastfeeding, strictly financially speaking is cheaper. However, as one commenter already mentioned, there is a time cost. Breastfeeding can also cause a lot of stress and physical pain for the mother. The cost of formula is not as outrageous as it first looks. First of all, you can buy generic, which is half the price of name-brand and just as nutritious. Secondly, you can sign up for formula checks from the name-brand companies. You can trade for coupons with other moms online. Or, you can buy unexpired, sealed cans on Ebay from mothers who bought too much formula. Breastfeeding, though great, was not for me and certainly not for everybody.
Lovely article, but please, please, please, don't encourage people to fix their own brakes. I mean, come on, not everyone is mechanically inclined, and these are BRAKES.
@ MARY OSTYN... I love the spinach idea... Might get some veggies into my granddaughter who absolutely refuses to eat her veggie. He parents allow her to eat what ever she wants but I think if I do that she will not know & will help some... At least make me feel better knowing she gets some in her on the weekends.
I also stretch my meats out by adding some bread or rice to ground meats... My kids grew up on it & still love it...
I wrote a post a while ago on how any sort of financial commitment makes your household vulnerable, by making your household finances brittle:
http://www.wisebread.com/how-debt-fools-people
But just declining to make any financial commitments is a poor solution. Lots of things are cheaper if you can make a commitment. I wrote a pair of pieces that look at that tension, and provide tips for managing it:
http://www.wisebread.com/living-cheaply-for-the-long-term
http://www.wisebread.com/the-best-way-to-avoid-the-worst-financial-problems
I'm sure some people just overspend, but that's not a large source of bankruptcies. Most bankruptcies come from either large, unplanned expenses (usually medical, but also other kinds of losses) or from drastically reduced income (due to job loss, divorce, business failure, etc.).
Actually, changing brake pads is not difficult at all. If you can follow instructions, you can change brake pads. If the rotor needs replacing, then you'll need a professional.
OMG, getting people to take down a craigslist ad for sold items is like pulling teeth. I've written back to people who say, "Sorry, it sold" with a note saying "Well, then take down your ad", and I always get a response like "It won't let me."
It just proves that so many people on the internet don't deserve to be on the internet.
If people would live frugally in the beginning, most bankruptcies wouldn't happen. I know there are some circumstances that are beyond a person's control such as medical expenses and unexpected things, but most of the time, that is not the cause of financial woes. It is overspending. Thinking that you "need" or "deserve" a newer car to drive when the old one you have works just fine. ("Deserve" is the most overused word in our language at the moment, you don't "deserve" anything! You "need" food, clothing, and shelter, but the rest is just gravy.) Because of people who spend what they don't have, it ends up costing me in the form of higher prices. Don't spend the money unless you have it in your hot little hand and bankruptcy won't even have to be considered most of the time!
The car sharing idea is good... I know thats popular on college campuses. The only thing to keep in mind, is that we are talking about business travel. Car sharing may not allow the same flexibility as renting your own car...I could see that idea working for a personal vacation though.
I have a fledgling personal finance blog of my own, come check me out!
www.moneyistheroot.com
I haven't had this experience, myself. My fasting sugars are always pretty low. It could be because you lack blood sugar control while sleeping, but it really depends on what medications you are on and how much you exercise.
In the case of controlling fasting sugars, I would talk to a doctor. I know people who take long-acting insulin before bed to control morning sugars. There are a couple of other medication options as well. I'm not sure if the more natural remedies are helpful in that situation.
Actually, I think the real point is that the "to hell with all that" attitude can actually have a negative impact on a woman's work relationships. We've been told recently by career and money gurus to throw caution to the wind and negotiate hard, but this study shows that that isn't yet a good tactic (perhaps not in every situation anyway).
I got my first card when I was 18, my parents wanted me to build credit, and I only had a $200 limit. Ive rotated through quite a few cards since (Im 30 now). I actually wrote an article on my experience with certain cards out there right now, and which ones I recommend, and which ones I don't. Check it out.
www.moneyistheroot.com
My husband and I decided at the begining of our marriage not to have a credit card and to spend only the money we had. We had some hard financal times during the begining of our marriage and I am so glad we did not have a credit card at the time. It would have been too easy to get into serious debit.
I didn't get my first credit card until the age of 29, after the birth of my first child. We decided to get a low limit credit card for the purpose of making purchases online. We did not feel comfortable using our debit card for online purchases. Four years later, it is still our only credit card. Recently, I use it less often. I opened a bank account with a debit card that I only keep a small amount of money in. I use it online instead of the credit card. It is an account completely separate from our main accounts. This way, even if someone got a hold of the debit card number, they would only have access to limited funds.
The 10 dollars I pay for the gym is DEFINITELY worth it. While it looks like money is being WASTED or whatever it is, joining the gym or rec center DEFINITELY helps with gaining weight or being FAT and helps with longetivity...
Of course there are some gyms that charge arm and leg for membership BUT rec center charge 10 to 15 dollars or even have membership like 110 for the year. The earlier the society take charge of their health, the better it will be for everyone!
I got my first credit card right after graduating college. I didn't have a full-time job yet, but still needed to build credit, so I got it for small purchases that I was already making (gas, groceries). It had a really low limit ($500), but I paid it off in full every time, and haven't changed that practice since. My parents taught me to live within my means and that they would never bail me out of stupid financial mistakes (i.e. in college...sorority dues over textbooks...really dumb.) It's been 6 years now and I have cards with much higher limits, but only use them to earn rewards. To this day I've still never carried a balance, always pay in full, and never charge unless I have the money to back it up. Rewards have earned us airline tickets for our honeymoon! (One less thing to pay for!!!)
My fiance on the other hand received a credit card freshman year of college from his parents to "build his credit" that they would pay off. He was told to put everything on the card from books to food to gas. Little did he know they NEVER paid on time. EVER. His entire 4 years of college. Once he graduated and discovered said atrocity he had the bills sent to him and his parents removed from the card. Still gets my blood boiling just thinking about it. Grrrr!
Wow alot of Target/Walmart chatter. I think each store and location is different. Some stores are older and need updating. Like in Birmingham, AL... the Target store on Hwy. 280 is a pig stye compared to the newly renovated Walmart down the street. I also believe management sets the theme for either of these stores. A good manager will see that all staff are treated fairly, and respected no matter what job they perform. Speaking with firsthand knowledge, i can say Target pays poorly, and since the recession..they expect double work from the team members. Yes, ETL's get great pay, but the team members that do the work, are at poverty level. So many team members have to get 2nd jobs just to make ends meet. The store i work at, runs on favortism, thats how you get promoted to better positions in our store. The manager of our store may get great pay but according to him,he was a punk/thug as a teen. He bragged at a team huddle one morning about his many brushes with the law, when he was younger...Assault/Bulling..destruction of property and even arson was some of his tales. It was quit shocking to learn the store leader has a criminal background. I think he should not be telling his employees his past. I walked away from the huddle thinking omg why is he in charge. I do think each store is different, depending on location, the age of the store and the people who are left to run it. We have some great people at our store but we also have some very wrong things going on. With the recession tho, people are afraid to do much about anything. One thing is for sure...retail isnt easy, and all people deserve enough pay to at least be able to feed their families. Pay raises at our store also run on favortism, Target pays team members very poorly. We do have insurance which we pay dearly for, and vacation time..lol the vacation time is given to you alittle at a time..like an hour or 2 per pay period, depending on the # of hours you work. Anyways i think each store is different and i hope and pray the economy will improve so some of us can find better work and pay. Till then we just put one foot in front of another and try n make it another day.
I love the term, "urban camouflage" -- a perfect descriptor. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, so much for this great comment. It puts it "all into words". Im in Energy engineering right now, but i LOVE art. I only did it b/c im tired of our "so called green revolution" that isnt happening! and b/c my dad thinks its best for me.
I would love to just make oil paintings/drawings and push the boundaries of art for the rest of my life, I can still hold my current job and go to art school in the city. You're right, I know i can make much better use of my efforts in art than something that involves tons of math/physics (something I could care less about).
I think you mean warlock. Not a weasel.
You're absolutely right, Helen. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't fix your own brakes. It was meant to be sarcastic. I in no way, shape or form recommend anyone changing their own brakes, unless they have the proper experience. My point is this; given Charlie Sheen's interviews and posts, he probably shouldn't be his own publicist.
My apologies if the sarcasm wasn't as blatant as I would have liked it. But, truly, don't change your own brakes or re-wire your house without extensive training.
(Only Charlie Sheen can re-wire his own house, change his brakes, be his own publicist and be a chocolate milk pusher.)
My car is a ratty beat up 10yo car with junk screwn around. The fact I put my laptop and other expensive things laid haphazard and underthings helps out. Living in a lower income area, I call it "urban camouflage" security. I could afford to fix somethings on my car and house but it'd be for ego cosmetics and not structural necessity.
I got my first credit card around age 18, I did run it up a couple of times. But you get the hang of it. I don't regret any of it. I did build my credit very quickly and now at age 23 I have an excellent credit score which helped me purchase my own house and car in the past couple of years.
I love hearing about the deals people get at Costco - it can be hard to spot in-store deals sometimes. I got my dad's 'extra' card off the membership, so we're stretching that membership. Only issue is that if I want to pay by credit card, I'd have to use the Costco AmEx and it would go on his account. Ones I like and have compared prices on are the Kirkland Organic tortilla chips, the 1L of Jack's Fresh Salsa or Pace Salsa (depending on what I feel like), bruschetta, ravioli, couscous salad (yum!), Starbucks frappuccinos (12 for CAD18), juice boxes, juice (especially specialty kinds like mango/veggies), milk, lemon juice (2L for CAD4), Neutrogena Dry Touch sunscreen, the occasional makeup deal, and, believe it or not, condoms. I live on my own, so there's a limit to what I look at when I'm in Costco. Always worth checking out the clothing, too. Looks like I should be getting my shredded cheese there.
I have a friend who gets her pet food from there, and another one who goes for edamame & razor cartridges. My dad likes the seafood and packages of naan or raisin bread.
I have been eating daily one or two regular carrots peeled and chopped to inch size pieces that fir in my tupperware...
after 2 years of regular carrots today I got baby carrots for first time and they taste very different...out of curiosity searched and landed on this page...nice learning on baby carrots and I might go back to my regular carrots for that natural taste...
Yeah. . .I am not buying it. Sure, breastfeeding, strictly financially speaking is cheaper. However, as one commenter already mentioned, there is a time cost. Breastfeeding can also cause a lot of stress and physical pain for the mother. The cost of formula is not as outrageous as it first looks. First of all, you can buy generic, which is half the price of name-brand and just as nutritious. Secondly, you can sign up for formula checks from the name-brand companies. You can trade for coupons with other moms online. Or, you can buy unexpired, sealed cans on Ebay from mothers who bought too much formula. Breastfeeding, though great, was not for me and certainly not for everybody.
20
Lovely article, but please, please, please, don't encourage people to fix their own brakes. I mean, come on, not everyone is mechanically inclined, and these are BRAKES.
When I was 20, I got a Texico gas card. It never got me into trouble.