Disposable income. The amount of money someone could spend on voluntary or non-essential costs. You know, the money that’s leftover after you’ve paid taxes, paid your bills, and paid yourself. In our house, we think of it as fun money. My grandma loved to call it her mad money. Whatever it’s called, it’s money that … [Read more…]
Buyer’s remorse: A feeling of deep regret when you realize you don’t actually want or need or even like your purchase. As irritating as buyer’s remorse can be, in many situations, there’s a return policy for that. But what about saver’s remorse? Is it possible to actually save money in such a way that you … [Read more…]
No, this isn’t going to be a post about how I put breakfast and booze in my suitcase to save money. That kind of packing isn’t necessary here. We’re taking Mr. P’s favorite kind of trip where he can eat so much that people marvel at his ability to not throw up: an international all-inclusive … [Read more…]
Bill Nye once said, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something that you don’t.” And therein lies the danger of the single source. She’s the mouthpiece of personal finance. He’s the only financial expert Americans need. I shudder when I hear people speak about any singular financial figure and his or her theory as prophet … [Read more…]
Is your budget really as smart as you think it is? One of the first things many people do when they are trying to get their financial fitness on is to create a budget. Undeniably, there is a requisite amount of trial and error involved in the first few passes. A budget should meet everyone’s … [Read more…]
Free tickets in Vegas aren’t a thing of the past. You don’t have to know a guy. You also don’t have to be a high roller or a big spender. In fact, a clever combination of My Vegas Rewards and Groupon allowed Mr. P and I the opportunity to take in a show and spend … [Read more…]
My heart started to hammer as I unloaded my grocery cart items onto the conveyer belt and I started to mentally run the numbers. We might not make it under our $200 grocery budget for the month. How could this be? What was different? Did I buy too much fresh produce? Should I put something … [Read more…]
At the start of the year, I wrote two different posts about debt repayment. First, I talked about how we paid $18,000 towards our mortgage. Then, I copped to the fact that we actually paid $24k towards debt, because Mr. P still had a car loan until one final click paid it off in full. … [Read more…]
My husband doesn’t read my blog. He convinced me to start it, cheered me on enough to actually convince me to purchase a domain name and self host, and that was about it. Except for one day very early on when he clicked and clicked to get my page to 100 views…and promptly got busted … [Read more…]
Over the past month, I’ve gone back to clipping coupons. Not “let’s buy free contact solution even though no one wears contacts” couponing. Not “buried under a mountain of Sunday papers” couponing. I’m not even primarily couponing for things I need. I’m couponing for our food pantry.