Money Tips Network

They say it takes a village to raise a kid, but the truth is, it takes a village to get through life in general whether you have kids or not. And to exist in a relatively peaceful village, you have to ensure that you're surrounding yourself with the right people — especially for emergency situations.

I'm sure you can think of plenty of folks in your own life who lend a helping hand when you need it. That's great; keep them around. If you don't have these people, however, it's time you let your guard down and let some new folks in; you never know when you're gonna need them, but when you do, you'll be glad you found each other.

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some awesome articles on essential steps to take before a job interview, reducing stress in your life, and making money for your monthly bills.

Top 5 Articles

10 Essential Steps to Take Before a Job Interview — Before a job interview, turn off your phone and take deep breaths. [PopSugar Smart Living]

Reduce the Stress in Your Life — Eating right and exercising can help reduce the stress in your life. [Parenting Squad]

History divides penny-pinchers into three categories: the frugal, the misers, and the savers. They make for entirely different types of stories.

There is overlap, of course, but the media also loves to find billionaires in blue jeans instead of Armani suits and label them skinflints. The world's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, has lived in the same six bedroom house for 30 years and still drives himself to work, albeit in a $300,000 Bentley. Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, worth $62 billion, still lives in his hometown in a house he bought in 1955 for $31,000.

This article is by staff writer Kristin Wong.

I’m not usually a fan of gimmicks. But if the sole purpose of a gimmick is to save some extra cash, I guess I’m OK with it.

We talked about this recently, but there seems to be a heightened interest in frugality lately. Maybe that’s why I’ve noticed a whole crop of money-saving challenges popping up all over the Internet, from personal finance blogs to Pinterest.

And then, the other day, my boyfriend asked: “Have you heard of this thing called the 52-week challenge?”

I was a little surprised. My boyfriend doesn’t spend much time on the Internet, and he doesn’t keep up with personal-finance trends. Turns out, a friend of his mentioned the challenge during a recent hangout, as he and his wife are giving it a go.

We have a nephew who lives in Switzerland whose wife recently gave birth to their second son. She stayed in hospital for an entire week and the blessed event cost them … nothing. Contrast that with this report from the New York Times, detailing the high cost of childbirth in the States. Obamacare is an attempt by the Government to “do something” about the problem. Whether you’re a fan or hater of Obamacare, there can be no doubt that the real problem isn’t the political party on either side of the argument — it’s the high cost of healthcare in America. That’s why I started to look beyond Obamacare to find other solutions.

The Problem

This article is by staff writer William Cowie.

The face of getting rich slowly is changing right before our eyes, even as the status quo is failing. Before this year’s State of the Union address, the President’s media supporters, fretting about his low approval rating, fumed: “…never during his time in office has the state of the economy been better — yet rarely has he gotten such low marks from the public for his handling of it.”

Recently, I was in a doctor’s office waiting for an appointment with my youngest son (who had a strange rash that he apparently contracted during a hike in the woods). As he sat at the kid’s table and played with a few toys, I flipped through a magazine.

While browsing, I came across a brief article about toothpaste. This article lauded some new toothpaste that contained a new cleansing agent and was incredibly gentle on the teeth while getting “astounding” cleaning results. The catch was at the end of the article – it cost something like $15 per tube.

Today’s guest on the Consumerism Commentary is author Zac Bissonnette. Zac last appeared on the show four years ago, and he’s back today to talk about his new book, Good Advice from Bad People: Selected Wisdom from Murderers, Stock Swindlers, and Lance Armstrong.

The study of hypocrisy seems to be infinite, but it is particularly evident in the self-help and motivational genres — and you don’t have to look far from personal finance advice to find some of the most egregious examples of experts and gurus living by rules different than those they preach. Zac’s book is a fascinating read about the lives of notorious people who, if judged by their words of advice alone, should be saints.

Cliff ONeill

“Well, if I’m going to cook an authentic Argentinian meal, I’m going to have to buy grass-fed beef,” I said to myself. “But the spousal unit is totally going to kill me when he sees how much this meal cost.” It’s thoughts like that that almost derailed the personal challenge I had taken to to [...]

Turn tantalizing foreign cuisine into budget meals from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.

This blog was posted by Cliff ONeill