Money Tips Network

This post comes from Anthony Fontana at our partner site Quizzle.com

It wasn’t too long ago that shopping actually required people to get off the couch and fight through crowds at the mall. That isn’t the case anymore. In fact, online shopping is easier than ever. Just last week I bought two pairs of jeans and a couple shirts, all within a matter of minutes, by using my smartphone.

Back in 2010, near the Great Recession’s nadir, the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) released a finding many regarded as troubling in the extreme.

That discovery was that even if Americans worked until age 65 and annuitized all their assets, including the proceeds from reverse mortgages on the homes in which they lived, fully 53 percent of U.S. households were at risk of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standards of living in retirement.

The announcement got a lot of play in 2010, and fit the prevailing doom-and-gloom outlook of that day. But that was then and this is now. Right? We now have entered a new era of economic vitality, with growing consumer confidence, a more robust jobs picture and renewed hope for the future. Right? So there should be a much brighter picture of retirement readiness. Right?

Au contraire, buster.

JC Penney’s will be luring customers into its stores with pants priced at under two bucks this holiday season.  I do give them quite a bit of credit on that one.  Among discounted Blu-Ray players, large screen TVs, and laptops, pants at better than thrift store prices is so … ordinary.  But so practical!  If I were to try for one (or a dozen) of these, I might have a shot.  I wouldn’t have had to start lining up a week before Black Friday.

“We’re all hurting.  Let’s make sure everyone else hurts more.”

I have no clue what each pair of Izod pants costs JC Penney’s.  It could be that they’re not losing a whole lot of money on those items.  But in general, loss leaders are called that for a reason:  they sell for less than cost.  The store is counting on the loss leader to result in offsetting, profitable sales.

I am an amateur wood-worker.  Right now, I am working on a few Christmas gifts for friends and family.  I thought I’d share a few of the tools that rock – and make wood-working fun.

Last year, I purchased the PORTER-CABLE 20-volt Lithium Ion Impact Driver. Man, this is one awesome tool. It is powerful – and perfect for outdoor jobs. I used mine to build a deck for my shed. Works great.

We continue to use the envelope system to manage our cash.  We also have three kids, who get paid for some chores – so we always have change around our house.

It’s almost Christmas!  I cannot believe (he says, in old-man voice) just how quickly this year has flown by.  It’s almost 2014.  Wow.

This year has been an interesting year for our family.  We continue to move forward with our financial plan – paying off mortgage and saving for the future – and we are excited for the next year.

My wife and I have created a list of financial goals for 2014.  I’ll share details in a future post, but they include: (continuing) to eliminate mortgage debt, increasing side-income (is that a word?), and saving for the purchase of a car (for our oldest, who is now 14!).

I want to thank you for continuing to read No Credit Needed.  Posting has been sporadic, as we all adjust to my new work schedule and our busier-than-ever-yet-very-blessed lives.  Thanks for hanging in there.  You guys rock!

We all do it: sign up for services that suck money monthly from our accounts, then forget about them. How much are you wasting on things you could pay less for or drop entirely?

One of the surest ways to lose money in the long run is to play the lottery every week.  The more you play them, the more likely you are to meet the overall probability of the game you’re playing.  The odds are never in your favor.

Regardless of where the money raised from the lottery actually goes, it boils down to a tax.  A tax on people who don’t understand, or who willfully ignore, statistics.

One of my teachers in high school played a pick-three game.  He had a number of theories he relied on to pick his numbers.  Some of them were based on whether or not the previous few days had any repeating digits.  He told me about this, and I said that what the number were yesterday has no bearing on what they are today.  (Even as a high school student, I got this.)

Retailers are.

A Facebook friend snapped a picture from his local Walmart.  The sign read  “Days Until Christmas: 47.”

When I was young, I made an advent chain out of red and green construction paper.  I hung it on one of the lights in my room, and tore off one link of the chain each day until Christmas.  If I did my math correctly, that last link would be Christmas Day.

I’m pretty sure the earliest that I started this chain was Thanksgiving, though.  We haven’t even hit Veterans’ Day and the stores are counting already.  And although the picture was from Walmart, I’m positive that Walmart isn’t the only store that is trying to get its customers into the holiday shopping season as early as possible.  Costco had some Christmas decorations for sale in late summer.

Pushing harder than ever