Budgeting & Savings

Is There A Natural Spending Vs Savings Balance?

Balance is one of the keys to greater happiness. But, when it comes to money it can be hard to find the right balance between spending vs savings. We are constantly bombarded by marketing campaigns and ads tempting us to spend, spend, and spend some more. Perhaps there is a natural spending vs savings balance […]

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A Great Way To Save More Money: Visualize Your Broke-Ass Lonely Self

If you want to get rich or simply just grow your wealth, first you have to be willing to save more money. Then, you have to be willing to smartly invest that money to beat inflation and benefit from compounding returns. But, perhaps you’re in need of motivation to save more money. Funny or not,

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Why Do Some People Consistently Spend More Than They Earn?

As a personal finance blogger, it frustrates me that some people consistently spend more than they earn and then complain why they can’t build wealth. Uncontrolled debt can quickly spiral you into bankruptcy. Control your spending! Yet, this doesn’t scare people enough to stop their overspending habits. And it’s not just hoodlums that spend more

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Financial Samurai Passive Income Update 2014-2015

Welcome to my annual passive income update. I don’t do these updates more often because nothing changes too much on a month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter basis. Do you really want to see that I increased or decreased my passive income by $1,000 from the month before? I think not. Here are some immediate reasons I can

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Get A Free Financial Consultation With Empower

Over the years, a number of you have asked me to write a review about what exactly goes on with a free Empower (previously Personal Capital) consultation. Personal Capital was purchased by Empower in 2000 and made the firm even better. The consultation is worth $799 according to them. Common questions include: Is the consultation

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The Three Jar System Of Money To Discuss Our Financial Insecurities

Greetings from London! While I’m away, please enjoy the following guest post from illustrator and writer Colleen on the three jar system of money and financial insecurities with money. Perhaps you have some financial insecurities as well you’d like to share in the comments section.  I was going to write a post about kids allowances. But,

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What’s So Bad About Bank Of Mommy And Daddy, Cry-baby?

We’re back again with what’s turning out to be a really entertaining series showcasing curiously angry comments from readers who find my site through online search. Just to give you some background, roughly 75% of this site’s ~500,000 pageviews a month comes from new readers through search engines such as Google. Many of these visitors

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Use A Credit Card To Protect You From Everything Bad

I don’t understand people who don’t use credit cards. Not only do you get an interest free loan for 30 days, you also get rewards points. Perhaps even more importantly, you get fraud and conflict protection. In “When Saving Money Is No Longer Worth Your Time But You Do It Anyway,” I called up my

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