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Lifestyle inflation: How to decide if it’s ever okay
This article is by staff writer Kristin Wong.
Despite that I don’t own it, I like my apartment. It’s got a mountainous view, it’s comfortable, and my neighbors are few but friendly. Sure, I’d like to own a home someday. But, unless I move to another city, that probably isn’t going to happen in the next few years. I’m fine with that. Like my neighbor said, I’d rather live here than anywhere else, at least for now.
If you sense a wee bit of defensiveness in my tone, you’re not imagining it. Part of me is trying to justify something.
How not to approach rising home prices
This article is by staff writer William Cowie.
My wife and I took the dog for a walk the other day in our neighborhood. About half a block up the street we met Heather and George as they were unloading one of those moving PODS thingies. We introduced ourselves and asked their life’s story, or at least the part about buying the house they were moving into.
Turns out they were buying something better than they had before — trading up, in other words, as were the couple who sold them the house. Our direct neighbor, Elsie, works in a realtor’s office and she confirms that this is happening all across town these days. Most of their clients are selling because they are getting something better.
Should cash be part of your emergency fund?
This post is by staff writer Honey Smith.
When I was in college, one of my co-workers at my part-time, on-campus job gave me a funny little gift that I use to this day. What was it? It’s called a “wallet fairy.” According to the note that came with my little talisman, you put it in your wallet and “you’ll never be out of money when you need it.”
I can’t honestly say that the “magic” has been foolproof. I believe I’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions the time I didn’t wash my hair for a month because I couldn’t afford shampoo. And I distinctly remember crying after going to the grocery store on a couple of occasions because I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills after buying food. But I guess if the magic were foolproof, this fool wouldn’t have learned her lesson and started digging her way out of debt, right?
Ask the Readers: How much does a creative costume cost to make?
This article is by editor Linda Vergon.
Whenever I’ve purchased a pre-packaged Halloween costume, I’ve usually been disappointed. They rarely fit and the material and accessories are chintzy. But I take my hat off for the clever people that make their own costumes. Extra points if it’s hilarious. Year after year, these people seem to out-do themselves. I don’t know how they do it!
In 2011, April Dykman looked at Halloween spending for us.
The problem with being goal-oriented
This article is by staff writer Kristin Wong.
A few months before I decided to quit my job and move, I’d made a whole timeline of accomplishments I hoped to reach within the next three to five years. It included a series of backup plans, too, should Plan A not work out (Plan A: become a hugely successful writer, make lots of money, buy a home in Malibu, take many naps). This timeline included mini-goals of what I hoped to accomplish within a month, year, three years, etc. It included a breakdown of expenses. It also included different scenarios. I asked myself: What would it take for me to give up and move back? In short, it was painstakingly meticulous.
Which was fine, but you could read my stress and neurosis all over it. I showed the timeline to a friend of mine, proudly.
“This is depressing,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, grabbing it from her. “These are my goals!”
I want Christmas to be debt-free
This article is by staff writer Holly Johnson.
Fall is finally here, and everywhere I look I see Pinterest-worthy pumpkin carvings, seasonal door hangings, and all kinds of pumpkin-flavored cookies, breads, and pies. Homemade cornstalk creations line doorways and gourds decorate walkways; neighborhood yards are filled with figures resembling ghosts, witches, and goblins.
Even *I* made a homemade pumpkin pie of my own the other day — from a pumpkin straight from my garden. With a recipe from the web up on my laptop, I learned how to clean a pumpkin, prepare it for roasting, whip up a beautiful filling, and make a homemade crust. The kids helped.
Fall is great but…
The Happiness of Pursuit
This article is by staff writer April Dykman.
Historically, personal development has been a big part of Get Rich Slowly. Back in 2012, founder J.D. wrote, “I’m a firm believer in personal development. Self-improvement is part of living a rich life. In fact, when I started this blog … the self-improvement category was one of the first I implemented.”
But not so long ago, I’d never read a self-help or personal development book. In fact, I avoided that section of the bookstore — it was all too woo-woo and mushy for me. Then I got hooked on yoga, and I read a lot of woo-woo titles, like “Living the Mindful Life” and “Yoga and the Quest for the True Self.” Gross, right?! (But I loved them both.)
My experience with alternative healthcare insurance
This article is by staff writer Lisa Aberle.
A few months ago, I shared about my health insurance alternative. As a recap, I belong to a healthcare sharing ministry (HSM) called Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM), just one of several ministries that are ACA-approved alternatives to health insurance. What we belong to is not health insurance; therefore, we don’t pay a premium (although we pay a “gift” each month or what amounts to a deductible, except it’s called a “personal responsibilty”). We chose this option because neither my husband nor I have access to an employer-sponsored plan. The most important consideration for us was cost, followed by coverage options. We opted for the most expensive level, which means that we have a $500 personal responsibility for each medical event that each of our family members experience on an annual basis.
Reader Stories: Can you really get rich quickly from fix and flipping homes?
Some reader stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success or failure. These stories feature folks with all levels of financial maturity and income. Want to submit your own reader story?
Mark Ferguson has been a Realtor since 2001 after graduating from the University of Colorado with a business finance degree. He runs a real estate team of 10 that sells over 200 homes a year, fix and flips 10 to 15 homes a year and owns 11 rental properties. Mark also runs www.investfourmore.com, a blog that discusses Mark’s fix and flips, rental properties, becoming a real estate agent and everything real estate related.
New developments in online banking security
This article is by staff writer William Cowie.
Most banks (especially the larger ones) have been regarded as pretty safe, for all intents and purposes, since the middle of the previous century. But since banks started maintaining our balances in secure data centers at various locations (instead of holding our savings in safes and vaults in their local branches), a bank’s records of what is yours and mine become increasingly visible to people within the banks, but also to some on the outside that have malicious intent.
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