I recently received a question about budgets that I’m guessing may be applicable to many other people. Here’s the issue in the person’s own words: Yes, we have put together a budget, but making it work for us is a different story. Do you have an easy-to-use system for spending money each month? Our problem […]
Author Archive | Matt Bell
The Ugliest Dog in the Personal Finance Pound Finally Gets Some Respect
Budget. The mere mention of the word makes people cringe, gnash their teeth, bang their head against the wall, or slump in their chair. When I ask workshop participants who comes to mind when they think of a budget, I get responses like The Grinch, Scrooge, and Dwight from “The Office.” One person even said, […]
Requiring Kids To Earn Their Allowance
When it comes to allowances, there are those who say you should just give kids some money since they’re part of the family. Others say they should earn it. Dave Briggs is in the earn it camp. “I do not believe just giving kids money prepares them for the real world,” he explained. “When you […]
Financial Regrets: Who Hasn’t Had a Few?
The personal finance blog Watson Inc asked a great question recently: what do you wish you had done differently financially? The author named four of his own financial regrets: financing a car, taking out too much in student loans, not getting started with investing earlier, and not delaying grad school until he could better afford […]
The Scared-to-Invest Generation
The recession has left workers in their 20s and 30s wary of the stock market. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the percentage of workers between 25 and 35 who say they have saved for their retirement has fallen by over 20 percent in the last decade. A Newsweek article about the research noted […]
Holiday Shoppers Planning to Leave Credit Cards at Home
The recession is prompting more people to pay cash for their holiday gifts this year. According to a study by the market research firm Morepace, 40 percent of people plan to avoid using credit cards for any of their holiday gifts this year – up from 35 percent last year. For those making less than […]
Million Dollar Questions for Couples
Are you engaged or married? See if you can both answer these three questions: If the chance of getting a disease is 10 percent, how many people out of 1,000 would be expected to get the disease? If five people all have the winning numbers in the lottery and the prize is $2 million, how […]
Google Hangs Up On GOOG-411
As of today, Google’s free telephone directory assistance service, GOOG-411, is no more. Launched in 2007, the voice-recognition service allowed for free directory assistance calls for business listings by calling 1-800-GOOG-411. Just say the name of the business you’re looking for, and the city and state where it’s located, and the service would connect you […]
Avoid These Holiday Shopping Traps
As we move into the retail industry’s most important season of the year, Consumer Reports is out with some helpful guidance on what to watch out for. The biggest trap, according to the magazine, is purchasing an extended warranty. These are significant profit generators for the stores that sell them, but are rarely a good […]
I Will Not Overspend, I Will Not Overspend…
Navigating the many temptations of the holidays can be a challenge. It’s a time when a lot of people overspend, overeat, and miss out on all that makes this time of year so meaningful. When I teamed up with the Market Research firm Synovate a couple of years ago to conduct a Holiday Regrets survey […]