I had an excellent experience with the Capital One Secured Mastercard. I deposited 50 dollars and was given a limit of 200. Every month I made one charge of 20-25 dollars (to keep a low debt-to-limit ratio) and then put the card in a drawer. They allow you to enroll in their CreditInform credit monitoring service as a free bonus to track your score. By 6 months my score had sky-rocketed from 0 (no score) to 720. I was able to qualify for my first unsecured card, and cancel the secured card before I was required to pay the annual fee. Less than 2 years later I have 4 premium rewards cards, like the Amex Blue Cash Everyday, and Chase Freedom. This is a very easy way to build your credit quickly.
My short term financial goals are that we get all of our bills paid, and are able to pay for the needed car and house repairs, as well as our two dogs' annual vet appointments. I would love to be able to pay on our school loans and pay back my parents and my grandma on personal loans (more than just $25 a month, that is), not to mention save for an emergency fund as well as retirement, but that doesn't look good anytime soon.
I love the dollar store, and agree with most of the article, but I have to disagree with buying drinking glasses and mugs there. You will get more for your money at a discount department store. A quick search yields a couple results of a 12-pack of glass tumblers at less than $11.
Wow. Driving an old car while keeping a horse for polo at the club is such a good example, I wished I'd known about it while i was writing the piece! That's perfect.
My short-term goals are to start saving again this year and to add a little more to each monthly payment of my lowest balance credit card to finally get that annoying thing paid off! These are things I can start doing right away and, hopefully, I will have at least $1,000 saved by the end of this year and that credit card will be paid off in six months max.
How do I get into Americorps? Have applied within two divisions and received rejection letters from the division I live in Dallas/ FT Worth. People say "it's easy to find work and pay your student loans off!!!! " NO IT IS NOT!!!! Unemployed since 2008 and STILL Looking for something to get me into this year Not receiving paychecks is hard and then on top of it. No one can tell me how to network or give me any push or pull. Guess I'm not a male or 20 something enough for any work. disturbing and then can't even find work under the degree I received. Tired of calling State Senator offices and also no platform for anyone in my position to get back to work. God Willing I do. Can someone please let me know of a relief support group in hiring women / single/ above 40 and needing help with Student loan interest? Should I keep trying with Americorps to receive education allowance to stop these interest loans from shooting up? PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE ME REASON!
Great advice! I only buy vintage clothes (read used) and drive a car with 120,000 miles and dents, and won't be painting the house's interior anytime soon. I do however save all year to play during polo season at my local club school and keep a horse year around. I don't need a swanky gym membership because "it's not my style" riding and mucking is my style. I also cook better than most restaurants. Thanks for the perspective.
We often use your #1 tip to get the best prices at the farmer's market. When you are trying to book for a family, tip #5 is not so hot. I learned that lesson the hard way. We now book flights as early as possible.
Point #3 is something I just realized I do. When things aren't going my way I set even bigger and (I now realize) unrealistic goals. I don't know what emotional need that fills (setting myself up to fail). Unsurprisingly, I don't achieve that bigger goal and I get angry, depressed, etc... As I just said, I don't know why I do this, but I do realize it's a mistake. This year, I set smaller/achievable goals and celebrate those wins. Thanks for this post.
My short term financial goals are:
1. Increase the amount I save every month.
2. Make extra payments on my mortgage.
3. Don't use credit cards to tide me over at the end of the month.
Great article! I once spoke with an airline employee who told me that it is rare to find "
last minute" deals on flights anymore because the airlines can make more shipping freight, and with super accurate scales, they can just replace the person with cash-earning cargo. Plus, with less people (and no freight to replace them), the airlines spend less money on fuel... But there will always be great deals to be had to keep us coming back :)
I am retired on fixed income. My goal is to pay for my son's community college education, tuition plus $1200 monthly expenses, solely out of my monthly cash flow. My commitment to him is for one year. It is a stretch but I am challenged to try!
My short term goals for the next six months:
1. With my next month's paycheck, I will pay off my remaining student loan balance of $3k. After that, I will be free of years and years of credit card and student loan debt.
2. In March, I will begin putting 15% of my salary into my employer's retirement fund.
3. In April, I will start adding more into my emergency fund each month, with the aim to put a total of $12k over the following months.
I saw Book of Mormon front front row, center after winning the lottery. It was, admittedly, my 7th attempt, but it was totally worth it. If you're going to wait until the last minute, it helps to have flexibility, just in case things don't work out exactly as planned.
My 1st short term goal is to have a no spend month, where I only pay bills and buy necessities~ or preferably a couple of months. My medium short term goal is to save for a trip to Italy~ Short term meaning in the next 2 years. I've been saving extra money that comes in... refunds, stock dividends, rebates.
Two short-term financial goals I've got are to re-build my savings account (to increase my cushion and plan a trip to the UK) and increase my contributions to my 401k. To accomplish these goals, I've got a plan in place to save a little bit more money by cutting back on unnecessary spending and to also increase my income a bit by taking on extra work. So I should be in business in about 6 months or so.
1 To save up to buy a couple of good-quality items for my professional wardrobe.
2. To max out my Roth by April and to start saving for next year's roth contributions. I want to get to the point where I simply plop $5500 into my roth every January 1.
I had an excellent experience with the Capital One Secured Mastercard. I deposited 50 dollars and was given a limit of 200. Every month I made one charge of 20-25 dollars (to keep a low debt-to-limit ratio) and then put the card in a drawer. They allow you to enroll in their CreditInform credit monitoring service as a free bonus to track your score. By 6 months my score had sky-rocketed from 0 (no score) to 720. I was able to qualify for my first unsecured card, and cancel the secured card before I was required to pay the annual fee. Less than 2 years later I have 4 premium rewards cards, like the Amex Blue Cash Everyday, and Chase Freedom. This is a very easy way to build your credit quickly.
My short term financial goals are that we get all of our bills paid, and are able to pay for the needed car and house repairs, as well as our two dogs' annual vet appointments. I would love to be able to pay on our school loans and pay back my parents and my grandma on personal loans (more than just $25 a month, that is), not to mention save for an emergency fund as well as retirement, but that doesn't look good anytime soon.
Living in California, I have seen required lead warnings on glassware (maybe from the etching?). No thanks. Cheaper at Ikea, anyway.
I also would never ever buy pet foods or pet supplies.
I love the dollar store, and agree with most of the article, but I have to disagree with buying drinking glasses and mugs there. You will get more for your money at a discount department store. A quick search yields a couple results of a 12-pack of glass tumblers at less than $11.
My short term goal is to catch up to being current by selling things and cutting un-necessary services.
Wow. Driving an old car while keeping a horse for polo at the club is such a good example, I wished I'd known about it while i was writing the piece! That's perfect.
My short-term goals are to start saving again this year and to add a little more to each monthly payment of my lowest balance credit card to finally get that annoying thing paid off! These are things I can start doing right away and, hopefully, I will have at least $1,000 saved by the end of this year and that credit card will be paid off in six months max.
I have two short term goals this year-- (1) to pay off my smallest student loan (2) save for an amazing vacation to the USVI this coming fall
How do I get into Americorps? Have applied within two divisions and received rejection letters from the division I live in Dallas/ FT Worth. People say "it's easy to find work and pay your student loans off!!!! " NO IT IS NOT!!!! Unemployed since 2008 and STILL Looking for something to get me into this year Not receiving paychecks is hard and then on top of it. No one can tell me how to network or give me any push or pull. Guess I'm not a male or 20 something enough for any work. disturbing and then can't even find work under the degree I received. Tired of calling State Senator offices and also no platform for anyone in my position to get back to work. God Willing I do. Can someone please let me know of a relief support group in hiring women / single/ above 40 and needing help with Student loan interest? Should I keep trying with Americorps to receive education allowance to stop these interest loans from shooting up? PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE ME REASON!
Great advice! I only buy vintage clothes (read used) and drive a car with 120,000 miles and dents, and won't be painting the house's interior anytime soon. I do however save all year to play during polo season at my local club school and keep a horse year around. I don't need a swanky gym membership because "it's not my style" riding and mucking is my style. I also cook better than most restaurants. Thanks for the perspective.
We often use your #1 tip to get the best prices at the farmer's market. When you are trying to book for a family, tip #5 is not so hot. I learned that lesson the hard way. We now book flights as early as possible.
Point #3 is something I just realized I do. When things aren't going my way I set even bigger and (I now realize) unrealistic goals. I don't know what emotional need that fills (setting myself up to fail). Unsurprisingly, I don't achieve that bigger goal and I get angry, depressed, etc... As I just said, I don't know why I do this, but I do realize it's a mistake. This year, I set smaller/achievable goals and celebrate those wins. Thanks for this post.
My short term financial goals are:
1. Increase the amount I save every month.
2. Make extra payments on my mortgage.
3. Don't use credit cards to tide me over at the end of the month.
Great article! I once spoke with an airline employee who told me that it is rare to find "
last minute" deals on flights anymore because the airlines can make more shipping freight, and with super accurate scales, they can just replace the person with cash-earning cargo. Plus, with less people (and no freight to replace them), the airlines spend less money on fuel... But there will always be great deals to be had to keep us coming back :)
I am retired on fixed income. My goal is to pay for my son's community college education, tuition plus $1200 monthly expenses, solely out of my monthly cash flow. My commitment to him is for one year. It is a stretch but I am challenged to try!
My short term goals for the next six months:
1. With my next month's paycheck, I will pay off my remaining student loan balance of $3k. After that, I will be free of years and years of credit card and student loan debt.
2. In March, I will begin putting 15% of my salary into my employer's retirement fund.
3. In April, I will start adding more into my emergency fund each month, with the aim to put a total of $12k over the following months.
I saw Book of Mormon front front row, center after winning the lottery. It was, admittedly, my 7th attempt, but it was totally worth it. If you're going to wait until the last minute, it helps to have flexibility, just in case things don't work out exactly as planned.
Ashley, thanks so much for including my money saving tips post. Also, thanks to Will and Greg for contributing a tip!
Short time goal is to fully pay for the house renovation we are doing this year.
My 1st short term goal is to have a no spend month, where I only pay bills and buy necessities~ or preferably a couple of months. My medium short term goal is to save for a trip to Italy~ Short term meaning in the next 2 years. I've been saving extra money that comes in... refunds, stock dividends, rebates.
Two short-term financial goals I've got are to re-build my savings account (to increase my cushion and plan a trip to the UK) and increase my contributions to my 401k. To accomplish these goals, I've got a plan in place to save a little bit more money by cutting back on unnecessary spending and to also increase my income a bit by taking on extra work. So I should be in business in about 6 months or so.
I currently have two short term goals:
1 To save up to buy a couple of good-quality items for my professional wardrobe.
2. To max out my Roth by April and to start saving for next year's roth contributions. I want to get to the point where I simply plop $5500 into my roth every January 1.
File my taxes early and save my entire refund!
My short term goal is to pay off my credit card!