Sometimes the simplest strategies are the best.
Writing at Wise Bread, Thursday Bram reveals how she’s used the most elementary of savings tools — the piggy bank — as a way to sharpen and improve her financial life.
When I was a sophomore in college, my dad gave me a piggy bank for Hanukkah. I couldn’t figure it out at first — had my dad forgotten that I was all grown up and didn’t need a piggy bank for my pennies anymore? It was an adorable little pig, though and I put it on my desk as a decoration. Pretty soon, the pig was full. I wasn’t sure how it happened, really, but who was I to turn down the $20 I had in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters? I took it with me to the bank and deposited my change — I wasn’t about to roll all that change myself.
Your credit score is becoming more and more important.
Not long ago, a credit score of 720 — on the scale of 300 to 850 — would qualify you for the best rates for mortgages, credit cards, etc. Now you might not get the best rates if you’re at 750, financial experts say.
Kiplinger.com deputy editor Janet Bodnar gives a good overview of credit scoring and strategies for improving your score in a video posted today. Go here to view it.
Some of this advice is pretty straightforward, and may be familiar: Pay your bills on time. Use less than half — or even just a quarter — of your available credit. Don’t open a bunch of new accounts at once.
If you’ve got two items that are plentiful about now — packing peanuts and plenty of time indoors — here’s a suggestion for something fun for the kids.
Erin Huffstetler at Frugal Living says the shipping nuts, plus a little water, can be turned into a source for creativity, on long snowed-in days. Read about it here.
Do you have anything you turn from trash to toys?
Our attitudes toward money sometimes feel instinctual.
Some people spend compulsively. Some cringe at the thought of spending anything.
Neal Templin, who writes the Wall Street Journal’s Cheapskate column, explores his own tightwaddity in response to a reader who questioned whether his family might not celebrate his death, due to his excessive cheapness.
If the question is whether I ever completely forget about money and just do whatever the heck I feel like — no matter the cost — the answer, I’m afraid, is no.
We’ve raised three kids on one salary, and it seemed wrong to me to spend money we don’t have. On top of that, I hate waste. And paying too much for something makes me a little ill.
How do you talk to your kids about money, the holidays and tight times?
A lot of people struggle with the balance between indulging their kids and showing some restraint around the holidays. The added stress of a tough economy brings in another element. Karen Blumenthal, writing the Family Money column in the Wall Street Journal, says it’s a good idea for parents to get comfortable talking to their kids about money all the time — and that makes it easier to convey values when important decisions come up.
“(R)ather than spell out the nitty gritty of paychecks, mortgages and bills, which might overwhelm children, focus on defining and reinforcing your money values. In our house, for example, we had limits on toys and electronics, but not on books. Also, consider which values you would most like your children to have as adults. For instance, do you believe in paying for all your kids’ education or do you believe they should pay for all or part of it?
Time’s running out on the year 2008 – and on your flexible spending accounts.
Bankrate.com has a list of suggestions for ways to be sure you spend all the money you’ve set aside in a flexible medical account through your employer. Some plans have deadlines of Dec. 31 for expenses – though not all. I know mine has a grace period of several months, so it’s time to be thinking about it but not exactly crunch time yet.
In any case, you don’t want to leave unspent money in FSAs, or you lose it. Here’s an excerpt from the Bankrate.com piece.
One of the most common uses of FSA money is paying for dental work. Although time is tight, it’s worth a try to get into your dentist’s office now.
On the other end of the age spectrum, older patients who have dentures can take advantage of the account money to ensure that their dental health is good. Patients of all ages should squeeze in another appointment in the next few days, especially if it’s been a while since your last visit to the dentist.
Tracey Gist, an accountant in Sewickley, Pa., near Pittsburgh, used to eat out five nights a week with her daughters, 9 and 11. She started eating in when gas prices went sky high — she drives 40 miles each way to work — and has kept it up. “It starts with the gas prices, and then the price of food and then the heating bill,” she said “and the fact everyone is on the verge of unemployment makes you not want to spend because of the uncertainty of the economy.” Her children haven’t been happy about it. “ ‘We want to eat out,’ ” she said, mimicking them. “ ‘We don’t like your cooking.’ It doesn’t matter what it is if it doesn’t come on a menu.”
Here’s an excellent piece from Smartmoney.com – a roundup of web resources aimed at helping you get your financial house in order in 2009.
The article, titled “Financial Resolutions for the New Year,” includes advice and resources to the theme of seven resolutions:
1 – Take control of your investments
2 – Turn economic lemons into lemonade
3 – Improve your credit score
4 – Put savings to work
5 – Stay on top of your accounts
6 – Stick to a budget
7 – Seek out discounts
The list comes with a lot of great resources, from tips on what to do now with your investments (link) to advice on whether to take advantage of new, lower mortgage rates (link) to ways to build your credit (link).
What’s your financial New Year’s resolution?
It’s an eternal family conflict, like dark meat versus light meat, or whether you open your gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.
How big do you go on Christmas?
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Neal Templin explores the tension in his own family.
By the time I arrived on the scene, the entire family — more than 20 people — would gather at her grandmother’s house in Mexicali, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. Around 10 p.m., Santa (my future brother-in-law in a costume) showed up with an enormous bag of presents and stepped into a roomful of children shrieking with joy.“It was all about the children,” says Clarissa, who thought the experience was priceless. And she has spent hundreds of dollars on presents every year to duplicate it.
I, in turn, kept trying to relive my childhood. When our oldest son turned 5, I got him a used bike for $35. He seemed happy enough with it.
Templin, who writes the Cheapskate column, does not seem to be winning his battle.
How do you strike a balance in your family? Do you like to lavish the kids with gifts, or keep things simple?
The economy’s not hitting everyone hard. Times are good at McDonald’s (Nod to The Daily Beast, which headlined the following item “The Recession Makes You Fat.” Scroll down…)
The fast-food restaurant’s worldwide sales were up 7.7 percent overall in the month of November – a month in which virtually every economic indicator was on a downward slide. Full post here.
If you’re still out there hunting for gifts – and if you’re already done, just keep it to yourselves – Kiplinger.com has a little guidance in this post: What’s Cheap Now?
The doldrums running through the retail economy means good prices on just about everything. TVs and electronics are cheaper than last year, high-end clothing is being discounted and households items are cheap, too, the story says. Here’s what it has to say about toys:
If you’re still looking for the right gifts, there are a whole lot of suggestions out there.
Newspapers, web sites and blogs are full of holiday suggestions – from the best gifts for your pet to the best gifts under $5.
Here are a few we’ve compiled. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it might give you some ideas.
— 25 Gifts Under $25 – The New York Times compiled this one, and all the items are kind of New Yorkey — stylish and modern and looking like they’d be somewhat unavailable in Spokane. But they’re all available on web sites. Link.
Money magazine, reporting from the Department of Looking on the Bright Side:
If you’re struggling to see a silver lining in the beaten-down real estate market, consider this one: It may be a rotten moment to sell your house, but if you’ve postponed a much needed renovation project on your home - replacing a rotting deck, repairing a leaky roof or updating an antiquated bathroom - now just might be the best time in years to tackle that task.
Everyone knows – or at least pretends to know — that money doesn’t buy happiness.
But can saving money make you happy? Truly happy?
The proposition seems faintly ridiculous to me. But a column in today’s Wall Street Journal takes on the question thoughtfully:
Tough times can be good for you. That’s a commonplace idea lately, as people go looking for the silver lining in the cloud. But it’s also one that anyone who’s suffered – whether it’s poverty or personal loss – can attest to.
It’s not a new idea, of course. If you had a mother like mine, she continually reminded you of how much you had to be thankful for and how she grew up being perfectly happy with less.
It’s not just your imagination. Christmas really is getting more expensive – from swans-a-swimming to turtle doves to partridges in pear trees.
The annual CPI – Christmas Price Index – is up by a whopping 8.1 percent, according to PNC Financial Services. The firm has calculated the holiday index for 24 years by measuring the cost of the items in “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Everyone’s got a different idea of the line between frugality and lunacy.
This post – from Wise Bread – might tell you a little bit about where you draw that line.
As I type this article, dozens of other weary holiday travelers are hunkering down in chairs and on the floor inside Albany International Airport. Sure, the lights are bright, the cleaning crew loud, and the temperature cold, but it could be worse. There is pleasant classical music coming from the ceiling, the chairs, if you are in one, are comfortable, and it is warmer in here than it is outside.Sleeping in airports is a basic skill for frugal travelers. I say skill because with some experience and preparation, it is not something that must simply be endured, but a way to save money and time.
Online retailers are going after shoppers with a vengeance, a new study suggests.
A survey by Shop.org shows that more than 80 percent of online retailers expect to offer deals for “Online Monday” – a response to Black Friday. Last year, only 72 percent of online retailers offered such deals, according to this story at the Wall Street Journal.
“Due to the economic circumstances, it’s extremely competitive for every dollar somebody’s going to spend,” says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. “Retailers need to be aggressive with promotions.”
How much is organic food worth to you? SmartMoney broke down the cost of an organic Thanksgiving and found it was more expensive.
No big surprise. But how much more might be a surprise. The analysis found an all-organic meal ran about $120 more.
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