Money Mindset

Money Lies We Tell Ourselves That Make Us Poor

Ok, level with me…when it comes to finances, have you ever told yourself a “little white lie” to justify spending or debt? If I were to ask you why you owe money to your credit cards, auto loans, or your friends, you would probably have an answer ready for me. It’s probably the same answer you tell yourself whenever you think about your debts. Whatever those answers might be, are you being totally honest? If you are lying to yourself, you are hurting your chances for financial success. Today we’re going to face some of those money lies and break out of the financial traps they create.

If you're not honest with yourself about your finances, your money lies will keep you poor. Here are 7 money lies we tell ourselves and how to face them.

I feel pretty certain that most of us go through a stage in our lives when we try to justify our spending habits that then spiral out of control into mounting debt. I know that I have done it myself and the way I justified my actions was to try to fool myself, lie to myself if you will. When I did that, I temporarily would feel a little better about the debt. But, deep down inside, I knew what I was really doing. It sometimes takes a serious wake-up call to make your behavior change for the good.Continue reading“Money Lies We Tell Ourselves That Make Us Poor”

Insurance

A Smile Is NOT the Best Insurance Umbrella

Just let a smile be your umbrella,
On a rainy, rainy day
And if your sweetie cries, just tell her,
That a smile will always pay
Whenever skies are gray,
Don’t you worry or fret,
A smile will bring the sunshine,
And you’ll never get wet!
So, let a smile be your umbrella,
On a rainy, rainy day!

When it comes to insuring your family's finances, you may need an umbrella policy. I explain what an umbrella policy does and why you might need one.

“Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella” was a popular song written by famed Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal and Francis Wheeler. The song was published in 1927 and successful early recordings reached the charts of the day in 1928. Wouldn’t it be really great if just a “smile” would really protect you?

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Taxes

2019 Year End Tax Tips That Help Your Bottom Line

Amazing at it may seem, 2019 is quickly fading and it’s actually time to start making those year end tax moves to get ready for April…now!

As we're reaching the end of 2019, it's important to follow these year end tax tips now to make sure you're in good shape to file your taxes next year.

As you’re putting the finishing touches on your financial and tax planning for this year, there’s a lot to review. The second tax year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 has brought to light some additional considerations that were either unclear or overlooked in 2018. Sometimes, when laws like this one come along you learn from them slowly. So here are some year end tax planning strategies for individual taxpayers, Schedule C taxpayers and business owners to carefully consider.

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Food

Elite Supermarkets Can Be Money Savers, Too

Grocery shopping should be a very simple task, but it isn’t. First of all, it’s pretty much a requirement for you or someone in your family to do it—every week. They should be making a list, heading out to the store, buying what you really need, then coming back home to unload and put it all away. It’s very similar to washing your hair, according to the instructions, repeat the process, and do it all again next week…forever.

Even if you shop at one of the elite supermarkets, there are still ways to save money. Check out my advice and scoop up the deals at your local stores.

You may think you’ll be making a quick trip to the grocery store, but two hours later, you come home with tons of grocery bags and hundreds of dollars gone from your bank account. So then, how can anyone suggest that big name elite supermarkets (like Whole Foods or Wegmans) can ever be a way to save money?

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Personal Finance

5 Key Financial Planning Questions (and Answers) to Better Your Financial Future

For today’s guest post, please welcome Kyle from Financial Wolves, a blog about making money with side hustles to help you achieve financial freedom.

Let’s be honest—money decides how we live our lives most of the time. The kind of house you live in, the model of the car you drive, and the colleges your children will go to, all depend on money. To make our future better, we need to ask ourselves the right financial planning questions.

To insure your financial future, careful planning is key. Here are 5 financial planning questions and answers to help guide you.

Not all of us can afford a financial advisor to answer such questions. According to a CNBC study, 75% of Americans manage their finances on their own. Whether you are living on a paycheck to paycheck basis or have a healthy portfolio of financial assets, planning your finances can go a long way in delivering your future goals.

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Family & Relationships

What Do School Kids Know About Money?

You can’t have lived on planet Earth and not have heard or seen anything about the hit TV show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” It was a game show in which adult contestants answer questions as if they came from an elementary grade school quiz, and actual 5th graders helped them and usually outdid the adults with more correct answers. The host, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, starred on the show beginning back in 2007 and after 2009 it ran in syndication and still appears on TV to this day.

It's our responsibility to teach kids about money, but they often aren't learning about it in school. Here are some money questions to ask your kids.

That whole thing got me to thinking. If 5th graders can answer some pretty basic questions about science, math, history, and the like better than adults, what can they do when the questions turn to money and finance? It just may be that they may know a lot, and forgive me for saying it, but they forget most of it by the time they turn into adults.

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Retirement

“Will I Ever Be Able to Retire?”

Most people just took it for granted. What was it? The fact that when you’re young, you’ll go to college and get a great quality education that lands you a good job and starts a great working career. Or, perhaps you will take up some kind of trade after high school or even join the military and that will be your career path. The choices you make, they may eventually lead to—over the course of forty or so years (if you’re smart, frugal and make good money at your work)—your accumulation of enough money to retire comfortably at the age of 65 or so. That was then and this is now. Is it still true? You may wonder, “Will I ever be able to retire in the 21st century?”

If you're wondering, "Will I ever be able to retire?", you're not alone. But it's important to face where you're at and get started planning and saving!

A Cold, Hard Look at My Retirement – When It Happened

I made it. I am retired, albeit I didn’t do it with the full intention of retiring when I was forced to because of my health at the age of 62, eight years ago. A not-so-funny thing happened to me on my way to retirement and it’s called a heart attack, type 2 diabetes and CHF (congestive heart failure). Believe me when I tell you it wasn’t then—nor is it now—any fun.

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Shopping

Black Friday Sales and Smart Money Prep

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The biggest shopping event of the year is fast approaching: Thanksgiving weekend. Whether it’s Black Friday sales, the Saturday and Sunday afterwards, or the “Cyber Monday” sales that are the big internet shopping days, they are the markers for most retailers that take them from being in the “red” each year to being into the “black” and profitable!

To get ready for Black Friday sales, you need to do a little preparation to get the best deals. Here's my advice on how to score the best bargains.

Actually, they should call the entire weekend “green weekend” for that very reason!

Black Friday weekend kicks off the first of the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas that will determine a retailer’s fate for a successful holiday season. One thing for sure is that saving money and getting a really great deal is totally possible. But also possible is that you can get caught up in the whole crazy shopping experience and make some purchases you regret or even worse, purchases that you just can’t really afford! That’s the reason the phrase “buyer beware” is so appropriate even during this, the time when you are most involved with shopping and saving’s glee!

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