Featured Articles

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    Be Frugal, But Don’t Be A Cheap Bastard.

    I always talk on here about watching your spending, staying out of debt, to stop spending on useless “stuff” that doesn’t bring real benefit to your life, etc.. But that doesn’t mean you should be a cheap bastard with your money, either.

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    The Big List: 1,019 Different Ways To Save Money.

    OK, times are tough – We all know it. Right now, you might be worrying about how to pay for groceries or the gasoline in your car, and we can use all the help you can get to stretch each and every dollar. Luckily, I have a few friends that have plenty of tips for saving money and I asked them to send them all to me so I could assemble a list for you – the person looking to save money.

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    35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite.

    At my house, basic digital cable TV cost over $69 per month (plus taxes) and we watch maybe 10 of the 150 channels that they provide to us, meaning that we pay for many channels that we have no interest in. While the price of just about everything headed skyward, paid cable and satellite TV is sometimes one of the first things to go from someone’s budget

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Lemonade the Movie: A Free, Must-Watch Documentary To Inspire You.

If you haven’t already seen, or possibly haven’t even heard of, Lemonade the Movie, you need to go watch it ASAP. I watched it online last week for free and was terrifically inspired by the 35 minute film. It is about what people who were once paid to be creative for a living do when they’re laid off – it was great. Way too often I hear people complain about the fact that they hate their job or their boss, yet they stay in the very place that drives them crazy for years and years. Well, most of the people featured in this documentary got laid off from jobs they actually liked…and used it as a catalyst to discover things they enjoy even more. It’s about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?”. This same little voice plagued me for years in the corporate world before I finally had enough and just said “enough” – and walked out the door without a backup plan. And I haven’t looked back since. Sure, sometimes things are tight and sometimes they are going really well…but I work for myself, doing something I enjoy, and there is still food on my table and a roof over my head. What more could a person ask for? Well, the people in this film are doing practical things that they love and making it work. It should be a “must-see” for everyone as a reminder that you don’t have to stay in a job you hate – you have other options if you start brainstorming a bit. Take a look at the trailer for the film:

I absolutely love hearing stories of people doing something different with their life than they were “used” to doing…and succeeding. So this was a great reminder that no matter what happens in life, you DO have other choices. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And even if you like the lemons you have, what else could you be doing that may be even better? Watch Lemonade the Movie over at Hulu.com and be inspired by these stories.

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Money Quote Friday – Bible Quote Edition.

If a man has enough to live on, and yet when he sees his brother in need shuts up his heart against him, how can it be said that the divine love dwells in him?” – John 3:17

I am by no means a religious person – I don’t even consider myself agnostic or atheist. But this quote rings so true for me that I had to share it with you guys. Too often people only look out for themselves, including some of those who preach the “word”, which is supposedly the exact opposite of selfishness. Let’s hope that changes as we evolve.

Have a fantastic weekend.

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I Changed My Mind – Go Ahead And Walk Away From Your Mortgage.

Back in February of 2008, I wrote a post titled Do You Think It Is OK To Walk Away From A Mortgage You Cannot Afford? that got a lot of attention and comments. In it, I said “I gotta say that I think it is kind of crappy – I mean, people should take some responsibility for what their financial decisions, right?” – and at the time I fully believed that. In fact, I still do – but not when the banks are taking advantage of us who have saved them from failure. And with our government telling banks to start working with homeowners facing foreclosure instead of taking people’s homes, what are the banks doing? Not much – the help is just not coming to people who need to refinance and/or restructure their mortgage…so homeowners are starting to walk away from mortgages in droves. And I don’t blame them anymore. From the NYT:

“People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,” Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?”

After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan modification plan raised the expectations of many but satisfied only a few, a large group of distressed homeowners is wondering the same thing.

New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying.

This isn’t about having your credit score ruined or not being able to get another mortgage for a few more years. It also isn’t about a moral choice anymore, as I thought it was back in 2008. This is about people who have gotten screwed over by the very banks that we have been paying to keep in existence. The banks get all the help they need while the people get nothing – it’s a messed up system right now. I fully believe in personal responsibility (I know, surprising for a liberal, right?) and doing the right thing, but in these cases where a home isn’t worth much of anything anymore and banks are not willing to work with borrowers to keep them in their homes, I tend to side with the regular folks. If the banks and Wall Street can be unethical in how they conduct business, well… so can the people.

Unless, of course, you directly caused the problems you are in like, say, credit card debt from too much shopping. Please do the responsible thing and pay them off without filing for bankruptcy.

:)

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