How I Use Mint.com To Benefit My Personal Finances
July 15, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Spending and Saving, Tools
I have written a few articles in the past about Mint.com and how I think it is the best personal finance web application on the internet. In my opinion, it is the easiest to use, the most intuitive, and its budget and net worth calculators are the best. I also wrote a review about Mint.com that you can read when you get the chance. Mint.com now offers the ability to hook up virtually all of your bank and debt accounts to track your net worth in real time. I now have the following accounts linked up to my mint.com account:
How To Save Money Using Google Shopping
July 14, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Shopping, Spending and Saving
My best friend recently saved over $100 buying contact lenses using Google Shopping and a company willing to price match any internet prices he found that were lower than their prices. I will use his experience as an example, but you can apply this method to any product you are looking to buy, as long as the company you buy from has a price match guarantee.
Step 1: Find a reputable, convenient company to buy from with a price match guarantee.
Do You Still Pay For A Land Line?
July 7, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Credit and Debt, Spending and Saving
Why?
Since I left home at the age of 18, I have owned a land line for two years of out the ten years that I have been on my own. The first time I paid for it, I had gotten rid of my cell phone a year before, so my roommate and I split a land line so I could make phone calls when needed. The second year that I paid for a land line was my first year of marriage with my wife. I traveled here and there for work, and the apartment we rented required a land line to activate the security alarm. We hardly ever used it to call people, and the only people that called us on the land line were our mothers.
How To Avoid Banking Overdraft Fees
June 29, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Banking, Spending and Saving
There are many things that I hate paying for in life, but bank fees are definitely in my top three for most hated expenses. When you deposit your money into a commercial bank, you are already doing them a favor, because that increases their ability to loan more money to other customers and make money from the loan interest. Nickel and diming you with exorbitant fees is not good customer service, yet many banks still try to get away with it. Now with the government sticking their noses in banking interest rates and foreclosure costs, banks will look to fees more than ever to make up for lost revenue.
How To Save Money Buying An LCD TV
June 25, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Investing, Spending and Saving
During the summer, you will find great deals on LCD and Plasma TV’s, because manufacturers and retailers are looking to get rid of their older models to bring in new ones. As with any electronic device, manufacturers roll out a better model with more features every year to make consumers never be content with what they have. Apple does an amazing job with this tactic, and it’s one of the only things that annoys me about their company. The fact that the iPhone doesn’t have an FM radio, MMS text messages, and just recently got video playback is ridiculous. They have been adding one or two features to their iPods for the past five years, when they had the capability of adding all of the features from the beginning.
Seth Green “Cribs” Personal Finance Spoof
June 15, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Real Estate, Spending and Saving, Video
I found this on the Dave Ramsey Facebook page, which by the way, I was really impressed by his Facebook page. It gave me a good laugh:
Five Frugal Tips For Having Fun On a Budget This Summer
June 10, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Frugality, Spending and Saving
Even though school summer breaks are just a distant memory for me, it’s still one of my favorite seasons, because I love the ragged-out, beach feeling, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and barbecues with corn-on-the-cob and watermelon. There’s nothing like it. Summer can also be a really expensive time of the year, because families are vacationing and parents are trying to keep their kids busy while they are out of school. With money being a littler tigher than usual right now, here are some tips for being more frugal during the summer while still having fun.
Don’t Buy Stuff You Can’t Afford
May 18, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Spending and Saving
Here is a great skit from Saturday Night Live making fun of people who have no concept of not paying for something if they can’t afford it. I got a good laugh out of it.
Finding A Contractor You Can Trust
May 13, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under House and Home, Spending and Saving
Getting home improvements done on your home is exciting, but it can be very scary at the same time. No one wants to overpay for a product or service, but so many of us get duped into exorbitant labor costs from contractors that know you will pay whatever price they spit out at you. Don’t fall into this trap, and save yourself some money by either doing the task yourself, finding the trusted little guy, and doing your research.
Should You Do The Project Yourself?
How To Survive A Layoff While You Are Young
May 5, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Spending and Saving
There are plenty of twenty and thirtysomethings being laid off right now, and they probably didn’t anticipate their first or second job resulting in a layoff. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a huge event in your life that has the potential of ruining your financial life. The importance of an emergency fund, staying positive, and seeking alternative sources of income are all important to surviving a layoff.
