Money Tips Network

It's a GRS tradition! Each year on Halloween, I publish a story about planning for death. Usually these are general articles about estate planning. This year's story is personal.

When my best friend died in 2009, one of my biggest regrets was that I hadn't made time to travel with him.

Sparky had previously asked me to join him on trips to Burning Man (in 1996) and southeast Asia (in 1998) and Mexico (in 2003). I'd declined each invitation, in part because I was deep in debt but also because I thought there'd be plenty of time to do that sort of thing in the future.

Turns out, there wasn't plenty of time to do that sort of thing in the future.

At various points in my life, I’ve been really into the idea of getting myself into shape. I bought gym memberships. I bought exercise equipment. I bought workout videos. I bought exercise clothes.

In the end, the single most successful thing I’ve ever done in terms of personal fitness is to go on walks, to stretch, and to do some bodyweight exercises, like holding my body in a plank position or doing some squats.

At various points in my life, I’ve been really into studying the bible as a way to figure out my spiritual yearnings. I bought bible translations. I bought study guides. I bought notebooks. I bought pens. I bought highlighters.

In the end, the single most successful thing I’ve ever done in terms of bible study is to simply sit down and read a few chapters each day and share my thoughts on them in a private social media group.

Congratulations, you're pregnant! Even if this is exactly what you wanted, finding out you're pregnant can be stressful. After all, a new baby changes your life forever. You may need to rearrange your home, move, buy a new vehicle, and more.

I’ve long been an advocate for getting the most value for your dollar. I am very price conscious when I shop for most things. I constantly joke with my kids about how I’m a “store brand connoisseur,” and when they go to the store with me, they know I’m going to inevitably swap their breakfast cereal choice for the store brand version and that half of our cart will have store brand labels on it. I buy lots of small appliances and sporting goods used. I’m just generally very careful about how I spend my money.

However, I don’t go for the cheapest version of everything that I buy. There are many things for which I don’t buy the cheapest version or go the cheapest route.

For me, this isn’t a case-by-case basis situation. There are a handful of principles that guide me toward choosing a higher quality item than the minimal cost entry level version.

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Lynda, Chrissy, and Dana for winning this week's contest!

Many of us started 2018 with a list of goals we wanted to accomplish by the end of the year.

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Tax impact of income loss
2. Consolidating secured loans
3. Bluetooth headphone recommendation
4. Thoughts on Ryze
5. Doubt about financial success
6. Winter storage for a lawnmower
7. Legitimate investment manager
8. Programmable slow cookers and safety

The following is a guest post from The Finance Twins.

A CNBC headline from earlier this year touted that the average car payment in the U.S. is now a staggering $523. It says the average total amount borrowed is a whopping $31,453. Both are record highs.

At the same time, there are also a record high number of people who are unable to make a $400 payment in case of an emergency. If so many people are living paycheck to paycheck, but the average car payment is $523, then clearly there is a huge problem.

America has a new-car addiction, and the problem is only getting worse.

Our recent three-part discussion on choosing quality over price has been interesting. (If you missed it, here's part one, part two, and part three.)

It's clear that most of you money bosses value quality, but not all of you are willing to pay a premium to obtain it. And some GRS readers don't think it's ever worth paying more to buy the best. (In fact, some folks think this philosophy is foolish.)

One thing we all seem to agree on: It's always best to pay less.

A week ago, I wrote an article entitled Friendships and the Financial Turnaround, in which I discussed the challenge of building and maintaining friendships when you make a major financial turnaround in your life. In that article, I discussed a few broad strategies for doing just that – building and maintaining friendships as an adult without spending a lot of money doing so.

Several readers wrote in with follow up questions that were worthy of the Reader Mailbag. Collectively, those questions pointed strongly toward an article outlining how exactly I have built friendships as a financially careful adult. What exactly did we do to build those friendships?