Money Tips Network

As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, I’m participating in an investing competition — well more of just a game than a competition — with several other writers and bloggers this year. The premise of the game is to start the year with $1,000 invested in discount brokerages of our choice, and track the progress throughout the year. It’s similar to the stock market game played in thousands of elementary schools in the United States, only with real money.

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Comparing passive investments
2. Handling mistakes
3. Turning down guardianship
4. Am I being paranoid?
5. Disposable homes
6. How much for retirement?
7. To move or not?
8. Negotiating a raise at work
9. Lease or finance new car?

Right now, it may not feel like spring is approaching; many of us still have snow on our lawns and extra blankets on the bed. But, in a few months we'll be unpacking the shorts and light jackets, and getting ready to tune up the lawn mower. As always, stores are way ahead of consumers when it comes to stocking the shelves. They clear out products you want right now in favor of items you will soon need. But that makes for great bargains, if you know what to look for. (See also: Wise Bread's Shopping Calendar)

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some great articles on having more fun for less money, ways to save $1 a day, and improving your career prospects.

Top 5 Articles

14 Ways to Have More Fun for Less Money — Have more fun for less money by buying discounted movie tickets and using the public library. [Money Talks News]

18 Ways to Save (at Least) $1 a Day — To save $1 a day, video chat to save minutes and use a thermostat. [PopSugar Smart Living]

I don't know about you, but I make a myriad of decisions every day. Most of them are small, like whether to hit the snooze button again or get out of bed and, once I'm out of bed, which breakfast option will work best for the day ahead.

It's pretty easy to make these small decisions, because they don't have much riding on them. It doesn't matter much whether I ate toast or eggs this morning. However, when it comes to bigger decisions, it's easy to become paralyzed, especially when there doesn't seem to be a good option or when there is a lot riding on whatever is being decided. (See also: How to Improve Your Decision-Making Skills)

Here's an email I recently received from a reader:

I have been a long-time renter, but now married with 2 small kids I’m considering buying my first home. I’ve done some research and talked to some banks, but the thing that’s making me hesitate is that I’m worried that houses are overpriced because of the current low interest rates.

The way I’ve approached the home buying process, and the way I think most people do, is to see what kind of mortgage I qualify for, and then use that to figure out what kind of house I can buy. Currently I qualify for about a $500K mortgage at a 4.25% interest rate.  However, if the rate goes up to 6.25%, which is still very low by historical standards, I’d only qualify for about a $400K mortgage, which would mean that the prices of the houses that I could buy would decrease by 20%.

I was stunned by this article in the Washington Examiner that states that Americans waste 133 billion pounds of food each year. That adds up to about 400 pounds of food wasted per American man, woman, and child each year.

If our family met that American average, the five of us would waste a ton of food this year. No exaggeration, either – we’d waste 2,000 pounds of food.

That is a lot of food simply going to waste. Not only does that have a huge environmental and social impact, it has a serious financial impact. Food that you toss instead of eating directly results in money falling out of your wallet because almost all of the food you order or bring into your home has a cost.

This reader story comes from JenB. 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? Here’s how.

I thought I had it all figured out, but the middle-of-the-night panic attacks have started again as a result of a little piece of mail I received this week. You see, I’d finally made the scary decision to quit my job and stay home with our first baby (for at least a year) when – BOOM! – our annual escrow account disclosure statement arrived in the mail.

I’m not a big fan of sweet stuff. I’ve always been the type of person that prefers savory flavors, and my favorite thing in that regard is cheese. I love trying new kinds of cheeses.

Every once in a while, I’ll splurge and buy a chunk of cheese that I’ve never tried before. Extra mature Wensleydale? Let’s try it! Fresh Pantysgawn? What’s that going to taste like? Crottin de Chavignol?

These little chunks of imported cheese can be really expensive. Price tags of $20 a pound are pretty common when you’re splurging on imported cheese. Higher price tags exist, too.

Here’s the thing, though: cheese is a fleeting luxury. It’s a splurge that you consume fairly quickly and then it’s completely gone. The same thing is true of a $5 coffee or a chocolate bar or a pint of quality ice cream.

I don’t need these things for nutrition’s sake. I simply want them as a splurge, no different than a splurge on an entertainment item.