There are plenty of things to consider when buying a used car: the vehicle's make, model, mileage, and accident history.
Nothing screams summertime like a day spent floating around in a pool. Installing a swimming pool in your own backyard might seem like a great idea, but unfortunately, the costs can add up quickly. Not only are pools expensive to build, but they're also costly to maintain.
A 600 FICO score isn't awful. Since credit scores can run from 300 to 850, it's easy to see how much worse things could be. A score of 600 puts you about in the middle.
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This week's topic: Having a Mid-Year Financial Checkup!
“After graduating college in 2014, I took out a $7,500 loan to get a new car. I already had about $23,000 in student loan debt. So, post-graduation, I was looking at a total debt load of roughly $30,000.
My first full-time job out of college paid a bit over $30,000 annually. So, I picked up a part-time pizza delivery side hustle for about a year until I found a new job in a new town. My new job came with great benefits and a nice pay increase, but my rent was considerably higher than what I’d been paying before. So, I picked up more side hustles.
I did some freelance radio play-by-play work, drove an Uber, jumped into Airbnb for the extra bedroom in my apartment, did some churning with bank accounts and credit cards, and a few other odds and ends.
I spend a lot of time talking with people who have retired early or are otherwise financially independent. From a purely anecdotal point of view, I’d say most of these folks are well-adjusted. They work to maintain balance in life, and especially with their personal finances.
That said, I’ve noticed that a lot of retirees — early retired or otherwise — struggle to know how much they should spend. I believe this dilemma exists for a couple of reasons:
I’d rather play soccer at the park with my kids than drive a Lexus.
I’d rather eat homemade rice and beans for supper than go to the fanciest restaurant in town.
I’d rather take a nap in our backyard hammock than go to Disney World.
The key? I want to do all of those things without money stress and without job stress seeping away at the edges.
That’s my financial goal. I want to be able to do those ordinary things without worrying about work or about money or about any of those stressors. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and do whatever I wish to do without worrying about the professional or financial ramifications of it.
Shopping for clothes on the cheap is easy, but picking the right cheap option isn’t.
Throughout my adult life, I’ve taken an almost relentlessly frugal approach to buying clothes. My best suit was made in 1947 and purchased at a vintage store for $150. My most durable pants are Kirkland Jeans purchased at Costco for $13. My wardrobe is filled in with socks, t-shirts, button-downs, and other articles purchased at stores that, for several reasons, weren’t their first destination.
Conflicts in the workplace are tough. They can lead to a very stressful work environment, a lot of sleepless nights, and some people even quit their jobs over the issue.
Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup!
Many people hold misconceptions about travel that are born out of rumors, misinformation, and a fear of the unknown. Most imply that you need to be rich, that only certain privileged people can travel, and that common life situations make it impossible to see the world.
You're touring an open house and the real estate agent running the event walks over to say hello. What should you say in return? Well, you can say hello right back. But other than that, it's best to stay pretty much mum.
The agent at an open house is a seller's agent.
We recently sold our house to buyers who were eager to move in. No problem; we scheduled a quick closing date and began making arrangements. We called the bank to request a payoff statement, something that's usually accomplished in a matter of minutes.
"Sure," they said.
Just when we thought our non-mortgage debt was paid off, we remembered about our 401(k) loans …
I've talked a number of times about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I recommend it regardless of whether you feel you need help with your finances or not. (My wife and I learned a lot more than we thought we would!)
I credit Financial Peace University for getting us into the habit of budgeting. We have a very simple mostly-pen-and-paper method for budgeting that we've stuck with.
401(k) loans? Still at Baby Step 2
Part way into the course, we thought that we were rocking through the Baby Steps.
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It was early July 2006, and my wife and my infant son and I were traveling to Minnesota for a camping trip. We had just begun our financial turnaround and, instead of going on the expensive vacations that had filled the summers of the early years of our marriage, we were simply driving a few hours north to visit family and do some super-inexpensive camping in a public park.
That day, we listened to a radio program that really influenced my thinking over the last decade or so. It was an episode of NPR’s Talk of the Nation featuring Daniel Gilbert as a guest for one segment, in which he discussed how our brains are wired to consider and respond to short term threats and problems and give a lot less importance in the moment to the long term.
Here’s that very episode, if you want to listen to it or read the transcript. I think this is the real core of the segment:
For three years running, career site Glassdoor has named the same job the ‘Best Job in America’: data scientist. With an average base salary of $110,000, high job satisfaction, and a very strong demand in the job market, it’s not hard to see why it consistently tops the rankings.
To me, data science is the new kale. A few years ago I’d never even heard of it, and now, it’s everywhere. But how many of us actually know what a data scientist does?
I decided it was time to find out, so I spoke with Kyle McKiou, founder and chief data scientist at Data Science Dream Job. A former lead data scientist at Anheuser-Busch InBev, McKiou has held several other data science roles as well.
In 2017, an American Research Group survey found that American shoppers planned to spend an average $983 on holiday gifts. Though we don't yet know what this year's average will be, it will likely go up. Do you have an extra $1,000 stashed away for the holidays?
Winter is finally over, and the summer vacation you've been counting down to has arrived. But before you head out for your trip, you need to pack the right clothing and the right gear.
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