Money Tips Network

When I was growing up, money was scarce. My father worked in a factory some of the time and my mother was a stay-at-home mom, so even when he was working there wasn’t a ton of money, and when he was laid off… things got tight. My father was a jack-of-all-trades and a pretty good small-scale commercial fisherman on the side, so we managed to muddle through. Scarcity was a real thing, though, especially when I was younger. (My father eventually moved up into a pretty stable position that paid well when I was older because he was willing to take on some training for a more complex job that some of his coworkers wouldn’t do.)

In my own professional life, there’s never been a situation where there wasn’t enough money coming in to keep the bills paid and food on the table. Scarcity isn’t something I’ve had to directly face.

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Bridgett, McKenzie, and Jennifer for winning this week's contest!

If you want healthy, frugal meals, cooking at home is the way to go.

Link for teaser title: 

https://www.wisebread.com/15-tips-from-people-who-paid-off-an-incredible......

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. Medical debt late in life
2. Three best personal finance books
3. Best use of a raise
4. Books like Wisdom of Frugality
5. Adjusting budgeting methods
6. Annual cost of dog ownership
7. Regular versus Roth?
8. Obsessing over finances actually stress?

The following is a guest post from The Master Dukes of Dollars. The two bloggers held court frequently, delving into lifestyle and personal finance discussions as they searched for ways to live an optimal life, eventually deciding to invite a global audience into their mindsets by establishing their own blog together. They believe anyone can build their financial kingdom – start building today!

In our adventure through life, we are constantly making decisions. In fact - a study was done that left me flabbergasted. I mean, who would have thought on an average day, adults make an estimated 35,000 decisions every day!!

Make Independent Decisions Through Rational Thinking

If your medical or credit card debt is so crushing that your best debt repayment efforts can’t seem to make a dent, it might be worth considering bankruptcy. It’s something of a last resort, but bankruptcy can offer relief and a chance to start over.

The trouble is, filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically requires you to hire a bankruptcy attorney — at an average cost of $1,100 to $1,500 or more. And if you had a spare $1,500 on hand, you might not need to file for bankruptcy in the first place. In fact, each year, thousands of Americans wait until spring and use their tax refunds to finally hire a bankruptcy attorney they couldn’t otherwise afford.

The other day, Sarah and I were coming home from visiting some friends in another state. Typically on a road trip, we plan ahead a little and pack sandwiches and beverages for a meal on the road or in a park or something because it’s really inexpensive and filling and easy to do on the road. This time, however, we were empty-handed and also trying to hurry to get home, so we didn’t have the time to stop at a grocery store and get items for sandwiches and assemble them.

So, when we stopped for gas, we were right next to a fast food restaurant, so we drove right over into that parking lot and got into the drive-thru. It was a Taco Bell.

As I looked at the menu, just before we were about to order, I found myself wondering what kind of value I was getting here. What am I exchanging my hard earned money for?

Obviously, I’m hungry and I’m a little thirsty, too, and I’m pinched for time. Those are needs.

I am both a money nerd and a book nerd. Naturally, I get a little giddy when I find old books about money I’ve never heard of before.

While browsing Oregon’s best used bookstore earlier this year, I stumbled on a 1989 book called How to Retire Young by Edward M. Tauber. Tauber retired at the age of 43 from a tenured full professorship as Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern California. He’s written a number of marketing textbooks, but this was his first (and only?) foray into the realm of personal finance.

When you see the term “permanent life insurance,” does that lead you to believe that it will cover you for your entire life? That’s an honest mistake, but a potentially costly one.

“Permanent life insurance,” as Tamara Holmes at InsuranceQuotes points out, is an umbrella term for insurance that covers you for a long period of time. Unlike term life insurance, which only covers a fixed period of 20 to 30 years or so, permanent life insurance comes in several tiers.