I would have to say the smartest investment we made was building a 1 bedroom apartment off the back of out garage. We we built it 12 years ago for somewhere around 32,000 and have been able to rent it out for $700 a month.
The best investment I ever made was in a new baseball glove for my adult softball league. In my first game with the glove I made a sliding catch in the outfield making a snow cone catch. After the game a lovely young lady approached me from the other team and we struck up a conversation about softball, love and life. Turns out she was a temporary employee at the other team's company. You can guess what happened next: We never did got out on a date but I found her a job at my organization and received a $2,000 referral bonus. Best investment for a $75 glove. Great margin.
hiring a financial planner was the smartest financial move i've ever made. even when i lost a lot of money when my then-employer worldcom went belly-up, she helped me to still eventually retire.
The smartest “investment” I’ve ever made was the cost of an overdraft fee on my first checking account when I was 18 years old. This experience taught me valuable lessons about money, interest and expenses. I realize this is not a typical investment but it sure was an investment in my lifetime financial health. This experience also tought me the importance of maintaining an excellent credit score, the impact of credit inquiries, trade lines, etc.
Common stock of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1982. DEC was a co-developer of the ethernet 802.3 specification and their stock rose and split several times. As HP, surely knows, they are now defunct after having been the second largest computer company in the world!
The smartest investment I have ever made was buying the very first iPod. I use it almost everyday and although the battery is wearing down on me it still works. It has also helped me eliminate all of my CD's.
The smartest investment I've ever made is a subscription to a cooking magazine. Before buckling down to reign in our grocery spending, meals and costs were all over the place. I dreaded mealtime because I didn't know what to make or if it would be in the cupboard/refrigerator. Since subscribing, I cook healthy meals for my family. We have variety. And the most important thing: My grocery budget for a family of five has been $100 a week for *five* wonderful years (the length of time I've been tackling the menu weekly). The magazine that arrives bi-monthly inspires me to meal plan. That in turn has helped the budget! I know that sounds small, but this investment has allowed me to focus energy elsewhere helping me make smart investments in other areas of my life!
I think I could do it, but it would be a painful transition. I really like being connected when trying to coordinate things away from home (e.g., picking someone up at the airport). Also, I feel like my smartphone really helps me to be more productive during the day.
If a newly married couple is serious about retiring together someday this is probably the most important article they can read. No one person should have all the financial data it is a team effort and growing old together means understanding each other inside and out, that means the bank accounts as well.
The smartest investment I have made as a mother (photographer by hobby) has been a great camera Canon Rebel T2i. I have saved hundreds to thousands of dollars on my childrens pictures, portraits, Christmas photos and gifts for Grandparents, etc. I have also used my camera as a way to provide house warming presents for my friends and they love it!
The smartest investment I ever made was my laptop. I've used it to streamline our small business accounting with Quickbooks and I make extra money writing copy for small business websites as well.
The smartest investment I ever made was to expand and renovate my kitchen. In addition to adding value to my home, it has created a comfortable space for me to cook and bake from scratch - saving my family money and contributing to our better health.
I second the comment about meat from a Farmers Market being far superior your Grocery Store options, even if frozen. We buy from a farm 2 counties away that sells for much higher prices at our local coops and isnt available at traditional grocery stores. Plus, their packages all contain processing dates. Full disclosure. Through the relationship I built with them, we were able to order a 1/2 cow - grass fed & organic - for significantly less per pound than we would have paid in grocery store (or even Farmers Market) prices.
Don't over look the meat!
Thanks for the scotch suggestion! And do report back about the Korbel if you try it. I was actually thinking about it more in terms of being a good mixer, like for sidecars, and I'd love to hear how it is in terms of straight sipping.
The best investment I made was staying home with my children. I've seen them grow, go to school, find their own voices, bicker with those same voices, laugh, cry and experience all the ups and downs of life. I've enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, not every minute, but most of them.
My smartest investment is a pair of suede shoes with a thick sole. I bought them with my first real job and they were not on sale--over $100 about 10 years ago. It was quite an extravagance then and was totally for fashionable purposes, but they still look great and I've worn them regularly every year since. Since they're super warm and the thick sole keeps me from slipping, I've never bought a pair of winter boots, even after moving to Colorado. I don't know what I'll do when they finally bite the dust!
My smartest investment has been time and effort in the U.S. Air Force. Military service there taught me discipline, humility, resourcefulness, respect for others, and introduced me to my love of technology. My service also qualified me for federal aid that, in turn, allowed me to get my engineering degree that has definitely paid off thousandfold (is that even a word?)!
What it boils down to, for me, is not the tangible, physical items: a laptop, a home, a car. But the investment of fleeting time in the face of a known end. A few days to hold my dad's hand and just be there are all that it took for me to realize memories are the best returns, ones that I can conjure up during adversity and reflect upon at will.
The smartest investment I can remember making is a lifetime membership to Rouxbe, a phenomenal online cooking school through which I went from "what's a kitchen?" to making some really fantastic dishes. There's no investment quite like one that will help you sustain yourself physically and keep you healthy while allowing you to be more frugal by eating out less. Learning to cook properly is absolutely key.
Physiologically, yes. No problem. But I do like being able to text someone something the moment I think of it instead of having to write it down or remember to e-mail them later. Another reason, I can't really live without a cell phone is because I don't have a landline. My cell phone is my only contact number - aside from a work number that I haven't even memorized.
The smartest investment I ever made, was investing time into learning the ways of personal finance. From reading amazing articles on this blog, to Bogleheads Wiki page, to the Personal Finance subsection of Reddit. I was able to get out of debt and put a savings plan in place. Knowledge is by far the best tool you can arm yourself with in todays economy.
My smartest investment was probably my first house. I was 22, and instead of continue to live in a rental house with a bunch of roommates and buy a new car, I decided to buy a house. I made some 60k profit on that house in 2 years as the bubble was going up - and 110k on the next house in a further 2 years. Sadly, all good things come to an end, and my current home's value has tanked with the housing burst. C'est la vie, it makes a decent home for my young family now at least.
I would have to say the smartest investment we made was building a 1 bedroom apartment off the back of out garage. We we built it 12 years ago for somewhere around 32,000 and have been able to rent it out for $700 a month.
The best investment I ever made was in a new baseball glove for my adult softball league. In my first game with the glove I made a sliding catch in the outfield making a snow cone catch. After the game a lovely young lady approached me from the other team and we struck up a conversation about softball, love and life. Turns out she was a temporary employee at the other team's company. You can guess what happened next: We never did got out on a date but I found her a job at my organization and received a $2,000 referral bonus. Best investment for a $75 glove. Great margin.
hiring a financial planner was the smartest financial move i've ever made. even when i lost a lot of money when my then-employer worldcom went belly-up, she helped me to still eventually retire.
The smartest “investment” I’ve ever made was the cost of an overdraft fee on my first checking account when I was 18 years old. This experience taught me valuable lessons about money, interest and expenses. I realize this is not a typical investment but it sure was an investment in my lifetime financial health. This experience also tought me the importance of maintaining an excellent credit score, the impact of credit inquiries, trade lines, etc.
Common stock of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1982. DEC was a co-developer of the ethernet 802.3 specification and their stock rose and split several times. As HP, surely knows, they are now defunct after having been the second largest computer company in the world!
The smartest investment I have ever made was buying the very first iPod. I use it almost everyday and although the battery is wearing down on me it still works. It has also helped me eliminate all of my CD's.
The smartest investment I've ever made is a subscription to a cooking magazine. Before buckling down to reign in our grocery spending, meals and costs were all over the place. I dreaded mealtime because I didn't know what to make or if it would be in the cupboard/refrigerator. Since subscribing, I cook healthy meals for my family. We have variety. And the most important thing: My grocery budget for a family of five has been $100 a week for *five* wonderful years (the length of time I've been tackling the menu weekly). The magazine that arrives bi-monthly inspires me to meal plan. That in turn has helped the budget! I know that sounds small, but this investment has allowed me to focus energy elsewhere helping me make smart investments in other areas of my life!
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I think I could do it, but it would be a painful transition. I really like being connected when trying to coordinate things away from home (e.g., picking someone up at the airport). Also, I feel like my smartphone really helps me to be more productive during the day.
If a newly married couple is serious about retiring together someday this is probably the most important article they can read. No one person should have all the financial data it is a team effort and growing old together means understanding each other inside and out, that means the bank accounts as well.
The smartest investment I have made as a mother (photographer by hobby) has been a great camera Canon Rebel T2i. I have saved hundreds to thousands of dollars on my childrens pictures, portraits, Christmas photos and gifts for Grandparents, etc. I have also used my camera as a way to provide house warming presents for my friends and they love it!
The smartest investment I ever made was my laptop. I've used it to streamline our small business accounting with Quickbooks and I make extra money writing copy for small business websites as well.
The smartest investment I ever made was to expand and renovate my kitchen. In addition to adding value to my home, it has created a comfortable space for me to cook and bake from scratch - saving my family money and contributing to our better health.
I second the comment about meat from a Farmers Market being far superior your Grocery Store options, even if frozen. We buy from a farm 2 counties away that sells for much higher prices at our local coops and isnt available at traditional grocery stores. Plus, their packages all contain processing dates. Full disclosure. Through the relationship I built with them, we were able to order a 1/2 cow - grass fed & organic - for significantly less per pound than we would have paid in grocery store (or even Farmers Market) prices.
Don't over look the meat!
Thanks for the scotch suggestion! And do report back about the Korbel if you try it. I was actually thinking about it more in terms of being a good mixer, like for sidecars, and I'd love to hear how it is in terms of straight sipping.
The best investment I made was staying home with my children. I've seen them grow, go to school, find their own voices, bicker with those same voices, laugh, cry and experience all the ups and downs of life. I've enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, not every minute, but most of them.
My smartest investment is a pair of suede shoes with a thick sole. I bought them with my first real job and they were not on sale--over $100 about 10 years ago. It was quite an extravagance then and was totally for fashionable purposes, but they still look great and I've worn them regularly every year since. Since they're super warm and the thick sole keeps me from slipping, I've never bought a pair of winter boots, even after moving to Colorado. I don't know what I'll do when they finally bite the dust!
My smartest investment has been time and effort in the U.S. Air Force. Military service there taught me discipline, humility, resourcefulness, respect for others, and introduced me to my love of technology. My service also qualified me for federal aid that, in turn, allowed me to get my engineering degree that has definitely paid off thousandfold (is that even a word?)!
What it boils down to, for me, is not the tangible, physical items: a laptop, a home, a car. But the investment of fleeting time in the face of a known end. A few days to hold my dad's hand and just be there are all that it took for me to realize memories are the best returns, ones that I can conjure up during adversity and reflect upon at will.
The smartest investment I can remember making is a lifetime membership to Rouxbe, a phenomenal online cooking school through which I went from "what's a kitchen?" to making some really fantastic dishes. There's no investment quite like one that will help you sustain yourself physically and keep you healthy while allowing you to be more frugal by eating out less. Learning to cook properly is absolutely key.
Physiologically, yes. No problem. But I do like being able to text someone something the moment I think of it instead of having to write it down or remember to e-mail them later. Another reason, I can't really live without a cell phone is because I don't have a landline. My cell phone is my only contact number - aside from a work number that I haven't even memorized.
The smartest investment I ever made, was investing time into learning the ways of personal finance. From reading amazing articles on this blog, to Bogleheads Wiki page, to the Personal Finance subsection of Reddit. I was able to get out of debt and put a savings plan in place. Knowledge is by far the best tool you can arm yourself with in todays economy.
My smartest investment was probably my first house. I was 22, and instead of continue to live in a rental house with a bunch of roommates and buy a new car, I decided to buy a house. I made some 60k profit on that house in 2 years as the bubble was going up - and 110k on the next house in a further 2 years. Sadly, all good things come to an end, and my current home's value has tanked with the housing burst. C'est la vie, it makes a decent home for my young family now at least.
Moving my cell phone service to PagePlus. I get an android phone, 1200 minutes a month, 300 texts and 100 MB of data for $25 a month.
An excellent pair of running shoes (about every 6 months). Amazing how a nice jog can reset the soul!