Most people would agree that it is essential to have an emergency fund set aside for unexpected money sucking surprises that pop up from time to time. Findings from Bankrate.com showed that only 37% of Americans are able to cover a $500 to $1000 emergency expense, which is not even that much. There is a lack of education available to teach people how to save money and how much should realistically be put aside for emergencies. Whenever such questions are asked people are given lame responses like, “Emergency savings aren’t usually measured in terms of dollars — rather, it’s months of living expenses that money could cover. For that reason, everyone will have a different dollar amount, and everyone will have a different need.” Come on really? Someone came to you looking for advice and you’re going to throw up a weaksauce answer like that? Others may just throw out erroneous numbers like $500 or $1,000 which are way under target, and those providing the answers can’t even provide a good argument as to why those numbers were chosen. So today that’s what we are going to do, help you understand what costs you need to should consider when building an emergency fund. [Read more…]
WHAT’S BETTER THAN A $20K PAY RAISE?
What do you do when the CEO of your company pulls you aside and says “You’re not getting paid enough, we want to give you a raise, how much do you want?” Holy shit balls! Is this for real? Am I being pranked? This has got to be a trick question, right? [Read more…]
THE GREAT FOOD CHALLENGE: UPDATE 1
For 2017 I set a financial goal to cut food expenses by 53% by purchasing more groceries, cooking at home and eating out less often, especially for lunches. By cooking larger quantities of food each night I should have enough leftovers for lunch the next day. At least once a month I will post a list of recipes with the intended amount of servings I will make for a week along with a list all of the groceries that were purchased and the prices paid for the ingredients. I hope these examples motivate you all to eat healthier and challenge yourself to reduce your own food expenses as well. [Read more…]
THE GREAT FOOD CHALLENGE
When it comes to setting a budget, food expenses are very unique, as the amount we spend to fuel our bodies can vary drastically amongst households depending on the types of food we choose to consume, where we choose to purchase our food from, where we live, and what produce is currently in season in our region. I recently wrote about my financial goals for 2017, one of which was to reduce our food expenses by at least 53%. This is going to be my biggest challenge for 2017. In 2016 I became too comfortable with a higher income and more money in the back. I became lazy when it came to preparing lunches at home the night before, and I indulged in more high-end restaurants, which were unnecessary. The irony is that I had intended to reduce our food expenses by subscribing to a weekly meal subscription service and cook dinner at home more often, but in reality, my expenses more than doubled. [Read more…]
CHARTING A MAP FOR SUCCESS: 2017 GOALS
December is one of my favorite times of year for personal finances. As a big data analysis nerd, I like to review my spending habits and saving achievements from the past year. I then look for opportunities to refine my budget and seek out bigger investments. If you want to advance in life you need to continuously develop challenging goals for yourself. Goals help us focus our attention and provide direction for long term success. When we challenge ourselves, we learn to push our limits far beyond what we previously believed to be impossible and help us take control of our life’s journey. [Read more…]
