I think that many people want to purchase a home as soon as possible because they feel like it’s a responsible thing to do and they’ve generally been told that owning a home is a better financial decision than renting. However, most people have never done the research and run the numbers for themselves to actually confirm this thought, but have simply agreed with it because it “sounds right”.
Drew’s Method
2019 Financial Spring Cleaning
4 minute read
Even though the weather has only shown a few glimpses so far in Indiana, the first day of spring is only two days away. We all know what that means; time for spring cleaning. We’re going to get rid of the junk that we accumulated over the last year that we don’t use (and probably didn’t really needed in the first place) so that we have space for more stuff that we’re going to buy this year and we’ll do the process all over again next year.
I Forgot
2 minute read
I completely forgot to write a blog post on Monday and I didn’t realize until Tuesday afternoon that I hadn’t posted anything about my blog earlier that morning, which is when I typically share. Once I realized that I hadn’t written and posted a blog I thought about it all day, but I just didn’t have any time at all to sit down and dedicate to getting it done. When I got home Tuesday evening I knew I wasn’t going to have time to get to it, so I just let it go. In the end, missing one blog post won’t have an impact on my life just like making one bad financial decision won’t ruin yours.
What My Parents Taught Me About Finances
3 minute read
Growing up, I never thought my parents were very good with money. Sometimes they had to “borrow” money from me when I was in high school to help pay some of the bills (I think that’s usually called rent), but I realize now that a lot of that was probably because they were spending more than they should have on my sister and me for things that we wanted but didn’t really need. Really, they just wanted (and still do) the best for us that they could provide, whether that meant taking on debt or running their bank account on a thin margin. My dad is a blue-collar worker and my mom is a severely underpaid teacher – my job offer out of college was for more than either of them made. Whether how they operated their finances was right or wrong, how could they have been good at money? Neither of them ever had a personal finance class in their lives, even though my mom has a master’s degree, and I’m sure neither of their parents ever taught them much about money. However, I now realize the financial lessons that they taught me that I’ve taken for granted.
What Are You Going To Do With Your Bonus And/Or Tax Refund?
3 minute read
When you receive a large lump sum of cash what do you immediately think of doing with it? Spend it? Save it? Invest it? Pay down debt? There’s no one right answer and there may even be room to do all of the above, depending on your personal financial situation and goals.
Our Christmas Tree
3 minute read
This is what our Christmas tree looked like Christmas morning. It looked nice, but there was probably a little less underneath it than there was under yours. This was intentional.
Thank You (And What Do You Want To Read About?)
2 minute read
No personal finance information here today. I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has read my blog and social media posts throughout the year. I do appreciate the comments, likes, and shares on social media because I believe those are all a means to help get my information to a broader audience that can hopefully benefit from it, but what I appreciate even more is when people they tell me that they read my blog and they value the information I share. That’s the best form of motivation for me.
Free Steak Dinner
3 minute read
A couple of days ago, The New York Times published a story about an insurance salesman who sent mailers to older people preying on fear of the stock market and advertising a free steak dinner if they attended his seminar. The insurance salesman made his pitch during the dinner using shady, outdated information that did not provide an accurate depiction of the product that he was selling to those in attendance. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time he’d done something sneaky and probably not the first time you’ve heard a story like this, but it may have been the first time a personal finance writer attended one of his dinners and called him out for it through a worldwide news outlet.
Black Friday
3 minute read
It’s the time of year where we rush to stores to buy the latest gadgets on sale, save a few dollars, and act like untamed animals which inevitably results in multiple news stories about awful things that people have done to others to make sure they got the deal they were looking for. All for something that we’ll probably forget about in a year or two, if not sooner. There’s plenty of evidence showing that experiences provide much more happiness than material things. However, most Black Friday deals revolve around getting a good deal on a “thing” rather than an experience.
Three Steps to Organize Your Finances & Prepare for 2019
4 minute read
When you’re working on a big project at work, having all of the data and all the documents that you need in one place makes your job a lot easier, leaves you less stressed than if you had to search for everything and get data from multiple different sources, and helps you to get the job done on time with accuracy. When you’re at home cooking dinner for your family, knowing where all of the utensils, dishes, and ingredients are makes things much easier on you and helps you to get dinner on the table when it needs to be. When you’re doing a project around the house, knowing where your tools are helps you get the job done efficiently without having to waste time searching for them.
