Author: Staff (Page 3 of 14)

Making a smartphone pay for itself

October 20, 2014 / Staff

You can save plenty of money using apps on your smartphone, so in effect the phone can pay for itself over time. Check out the video above for tips like:

– Using Google Shopper to compare prices
– Bank ATM finder app for free ATM machines
– Track spending with apps like Mint to create a budget and sticking to it
– The Field agent app will actually pay you to scan pricing info!

There are other suggestions in this video worth learning about. The key is there are plenty of ways to use a smartphone to save or make money. It’s more than just a texting machine for your friends and hookups!

Budgeting, Deals, Frugality, Personal Finance

apps to save money smartphone

Can you afford your used car?

October 17, 2014 / Staff

Many people choose to purchase a used car for obvious reasons – it’s cheaper than buying a new car of course. Still, that doesn’t mean every used car purchase makes financial sense, particularly when you are borrowing to pay for it.

This article explains why many people can’t really afford the used cars they are buying.

Budgeting, Frugality

used cars

What’s next for gold?

October 10, 2014 / Staff

What’s next for gold? Who knows? The only certain thing is that you shouldn’t be getting advice from right wing nuts and Tea Party nuts who tried telling you the world was coming to an end. Did you see all those stupid commercials on Fox News when Glenn Beck was selling this stuff?

Here’s a good article that takes a hard look at where gold might go next after crashing the past three years. If you’re thinking of investing in gold, don’t take advice from clowns who are trying to convince you to buy it.

Investing

gold

Mortgage debt moving in right direction

December 14, 2013 / Staff

U.S. mortgage holders almost back in the black | http://t.co/oBeuUkHPst pic.twitter.com/fvn0a7RWQK
— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) December 13, 2013

Henry Blodget highlighted this interesting chart from Bloomberg, which notes that American homeowners are nearly back in the black when it comes to aggregate mortgage debt. Read the article and you’ll see it’s still a complex picture, but rising home prices and the slow process of de-leveraging mortgage debt are definitely heading in the right direction. For many families, this will have a significant positive effect on their personal balance sheets.

Personal Finance, Real Estate

de-leveraging mortgage debt Henry Blodget housing prices mortgage debt mortgages personal balance sheet

Should you borrow money to pay for your wedding?

July 12, 2013 / Staff

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The answer to this question is simple . . . No!

This was recently addressed recently in a newspaper advice column, and Teresa Dixon Murray gave a very logical answer. Starting off your marriage with debt is a terrible idea. Consider eloping, or instead a very frugal wedding.

Now, nobody is saying this will be easy. Grooms will have to deal with their bride’s fantasies about what their wedding should entail. But that also offers a perfect opportunity to discuss a budget. Many young couples don’t deal with this before marriage and that leads to a host of problems. Having these discussions now is critical and both of you will learn things about one another and how you might be able to manage money together.

Once you have a budget, you can do all sorts of research to find deals or creative ways to handle different aspects of the wedding.

These are big decisions, but taking the easy way out by getting a loan is the wrong way to handle it.

Budgeting, Frugality, Personal Finance

borrowing for wedding frugal wedding going broke on your wedding planning your wedding wedding budget wedding cost wedding deals weddings