Conventional wisdom, at least in frugal personal finance circles says you should wait several days (or even weeks) before making most purchases.  Especially large purchases. Personally, I’m usually a pretty patient purchaser.  I hate paying retail for most things. When I decide I need something (or even want it), I usually start my search on [...]

The last few months have not been kind to my family.  As Dave Ramsey says, “Murphy came to visit.”  Within the last few months, I have had several medical tests run, my computer broke so I had to buy a new one, my husband’s pay was docked $750 for two months in a row because [...]

If you recently bought your first home let me congratulate you. This is possibly the very best time to buy real estate that you’ll ever see in your lifetime. You made a smart move. And because you are a smart real estate investor, I know you’ll be interested in taking advantage of the following 3 [...]

If you’re one of the people who needs them, eyeglasses can be one of the most expensive medically necessary things you will have.  Unless you need some other fancy piece of equipment, your eyeglasses can cost several hundred dollars up to a thousand dollars or more if you decide to go with the name brand [...]

To save money, people usually get the ball rolling by creating budgets. It’s true that a budget is an indispensable part of being fiscally responsible, but it’s generally not enough. To spend less and save a lot more, it’s important to implement as many money-saving techniques into day-to-day life as possible. The good news is [...]

My husband and I recently added up our student loan and credit card debt, and we were shocked at the figure–$58,000!  What was this debt comprised of?  It is made up of nearly $38,000 in student loans, $6,500 on a business credit card for a business that failed and $13,500 of personal credit card debt [...]

Being a frugaler means making some sacrifices.  We sacrifice in order to save a few bucks.  Sometimes, it becomes a bit of an addiction.  We get a small high off of the act of saving.  While you can certainly have worse addictions, even an addiction to saving can be a bad thing at times. Taking [...]

Have you ever watched your family open up Christmas gifts while mentally calculating how much each gift cost and comparing that against the amount you have in your checking?  Have you dreaded opening the bills in January because you know the credit card statement from holiday shopping will be coming soon and you do not [...]

Our culture seems to be one that is centered around dining out.  When you are younger, you meet friends at a restaurant for a night out and to chat.  As you get older and have a family, you may go out to eat because time is short between working, raising a family, helping with homework, [...]

This post is a guest post from FPT Guy.  FPT Guy is a writer, the owner and managing editor of Financial Planning Tips – (Twitter follow: http://twitter.com/fptguy) – attempting to liven up the topic of personal financial planning – while helping to guide folks to financial security and freedom. 12 Ideas For Spending & Splurging [...]