So last month, I set up a fresh budget, and this month I've pretty much stuck to it.  Spent a little extra on some clearance priced food, but it wasn't more than my padding can cover.  And I believe it will help me reduce spending for next month ( Read more... )

Part of the reason I got so carried away with these scenarios is it reflects where I am financially right now. Sometimes it helps you figure out your own situation if you advise a hypothetical stranger. It’s been a while since I laid my budget out bare for the public, so here goes.

Let’s start with my current assetsChecking/EF: $1822.04 ( Read more... )

All debts are gone now. You’re living with your parents, contributing $200/mo, and keeping spending down to $100/mo. Emergency fund is full... Now what? Where should that $700 go? Is it party time?

Maybe a little bit. You’ve made a lot of thrifty choices, and the EF is there to help you navigate sudden change, so it wouldn’t be wrong to allow ( Read more... )

I decided to give an in depth example of Priority 4: Large Debts(Reminder we’re using the scenario of someone living with relatives, who currently has low living expenses and is trying to make more responsible choices with the remainder in their budget ( Read more... )

You can read Part 1 here. On to the example ( Read more... )

I was most active on this blog back when I was maintaining an apartment with roommates, and to a degree, that makes sense. There are a lot more financial issues to think about when you’re running a household ( Read more... )

In our last post on this topic, we tried to establish the idea that the emergency fund was a flexible, living thing to help you deal with emergencies.

In this post, we want to address the reasons for the 6 months living expenses goal ( Read more... )

This video is aimed specifically at Song Writers, but I think the advice is very good for everyone, particularly for any kind of freelancer.

Click to view

I've often found that the more complicated people try to make their budgets, the worse they are with money.  There are exceptions to this I'm sure, but I feel better about my finances when I can keep them simple.  Sometimes you have to forget things like that and relearn them.  I've been stressing for months over how to handle my new(ish) Short ( Read more... )

1000 divided by 12 months is: 83.33333333.  So if you can save $84 each month through November and $76 in December, you will have $1000 more in savings at the end of the year.  Here's a table that shows how it will grow:

January$84 Febuary $168 March $252 April $336 May$420 June$504 July $588 August$672 September $756 October $840 November $924  ( Read more... )