March 2016 Archives - Personal Finance (MB)

Lesson Applied: Lower Prices Usually Return

April 17, 2019March 31, 2016 by Money Beagle

Last year, my dad opened my eyes to a pretty simple theory about prices. It’s a simple theory. It says that if lower prices go away, they will typically return. Remember, no price is set in stone!

That One Time Deal

I learned the lesson last year when we were computer shopping. My wife’s laptop was no longer working well for her online business, so we decided that it was time to get a new laptop. My dad has always been very tech savvy and on top of the latest trends, as well as what is good pricing.

Changing Everything ‘About Me’

April 17, 2019March 30, 2016 by Money Beagle

My dad and a reader both recently pointed out that I needed to change! I haven’t updated my Money Beagle bio information in quite some time.

So as you can see they didn’t point out that I needed to change myself. Rather, that I needed to change the ‘about myself’ page here on my blog. My dad noted that my age was pretty far off from what I am today, and a reader asked why we are saving for my son’s college education, but not for my daughter. As my daughter is now almost 5 years old, I realized that I needed to get on this. Yikes!

Read moreChanging Everything ‘About Me’

12 Items We Always Have In Our Pantry

April 17, 2019March 28, 2016 by Money Beagle

We don’t have a walk in pantry, but we do have some shelving downstairs at the bottom of the stairs that houses our stock-up items and overflow items.

I was taking a look and noticed that there are some things that we always have. They either:

Are used in many planned meals we make
Can be used to throw something together

Why Thursday Night Is Pizza Night (For Now)

April 17, 2019March 24, 2016 by Money Beagle

Tonight is pizza night for us. And Thursday nights will be for a while, at least the next couple of months. And, it all has to do with….swim lessons!

How Swim Lessons Beget Pizza Night

Both of our kids have attended a not-for-profit co-op preschool during their age appropriate years. In order to keep tuition low, they do various fundraisers, and the biggest one has always been a silent auction held in March.

One of the items that has always been donated is a month membership to a nearby swim school. We have bid on it and been lucky enough to win every year. It usually saves us a bit of money for at least the free month compared to the regular tuition, plus we get some accessories like goggles and such.

Money And Health: Money Should Never Be Top Priority

April 17, 2019March 21, 2016 by Money Beagle

Money is important. I don’t focus this blog exclusively on money or finance related articles, because I’ve been doing it for quite a few years now. I just don’t have it in me to crank out post after post about why everybody needs an emergency fund or how to get a mortgage. Those are great topics. But, there’s so much more, including some hard looks about money and health.

Sometimes it takes life to remind you that while money is certainly important, it isn’t your number one focus in life.

The Phone Call

A week ago Sunday, the family was out for breakfast when my phone rang. I looked and saw it was my parents. I sensed something was odd because we typically don’t talk during the daytime hours. We usually reserve our chats for the evening so that it’s a good chance that everybody is home and settled in.

How to Borrow Money with Bad Credit

April 17, 2019March 18, 2016 by Money Beagle

When you have good credit you have all types of lending options, from credit cards to personal loans. Those who have bad credit will have much less in the way of options for lending, but that does not mean that finding money to borrow is impossible. Even with bad credit, there is a way to find extra money when you are in need. If you’ve had money problems, here’s some help on how to borrow money with bad credit.

Finding a payday loan

If you have bad credit one of the first places that you can turn to is the payday loan. Payday loans do not check credit. Most payday loans will require your personal information, including name, address, and job information. Once you have applied, the loan will typically be approved immediately and dispersed by the next day. The fees and interest for payday loans can be high, but if you need quick cash, they present a real possibility.

7 Steps To Improve Your Credit Score

April 17, 2019March 17, 2016 by Money Beagle

Few things are worse than finding out that you have a bad credit score. Many people know that they have this hanging over their head, where others are taken completely by surprise when they go to take a loan or just do a check.

If you have a bad credit score, then don’t wait to start fixing it. Every step you take can count and help improve your score, and the faster you get started, the faster you can see your score move in the right direction.

Check your credit report for accuracy.

The first thing you should do is check your credit report to make sure that everything is accurate. A bad score can come about with inaccurate information or if you’ve been the victim of identity theft and there are items that you don’t even know are there.

Why I Visited 1,132 Personal Finance Blogs (And What I Learned)

July 24, 2019March 14, 2016 by Money Beagle

I’ve always had a slight obsession with, every now and then, doing a ‘complete’ review of something. Over the years I’ve done things like:

Read every book in chronological order from a particular author
Listened to every single CD in my collection
Played every video game I owned for a particular console.

I think I do this because I always find something interesting when I do so. I’ll rediscover a book that I had forgotten about, I’ll realize that I really like a particular CD (or sometimes realize I made a really bad purchase), etc.

Saturday Sprinkle #1

April 8, 2019March 12, 2016 by Money Beagle

I’m going to try something new and post some random thoughts that aren’t big enough to justify their own blog posts, as well as mix in some links to other blog articles that I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks.

Weather – I don’t know about you, but we have had a heck of a warm finish to winter. Here in Michigan, we did have a couple of February snowstorms, but that was about it for the year. Now, our temps have been 10-25 degrees warmer than average for awhile. No complaints, but just keeping our fingers crossed that this doesn’t come at the expense of warm summer days!
Income Loss – Not many people would find it in them to write an inspirational post after losing half of their household income, but Kristen at Joyfully Thriving does so, which is why this is one of my new favorite blogs to read!
Frugal Moment of the week – Last Saturday, we wanted to get the kids out of the house and go do something. The kids couldn’t agree on an activity, so we split up. I took my son to a local place where he could build Lego for a couple hours. Since we have a membership, it was free. My wife took my daughter to a movie. The local theater has a thing going on in March where they show a second run kids movie all weekend, and it’s free for kids and $1 for adults. Our grand total for a couple of hours of entertainment was $1.
Self-Escrow – Megan at Counting You Pennies wrote about something that I do but have never been able to come up with a good name for. Assigning your money to particular funds is a technique I’ve employed for years, so this was a great read for me.
Water and RVs – We’ve had our RV for a few years now and the one thing that constantly terrifies me is water. Water and RVs just don’t mix. Last year we had a leak in our storage compartment that got under the flooring and ran all the way down to the other side of the unit, leaving a floorboard that’s softer than I like. This year, when I went to check on it, no leak, but a tarp that I’d left in there had condensation underneath, which I now understand the reason for. Not as big of a deal, as it was on top of the linoleum only, but it keeps that nagging fear alive!
Entitlement – Aaron at Three Thrifty Guys noticed a trend in a recent traffic situation that made him wonder if having more money leads to people acting poorly.
Dating – It’s been over ten years since I was out of the dating pool, but Christina at Adventures in Frugal gives a great idea that I had to share for any single guys reading. This is a move I definitely might have tried (well, I’d have talked about doing it anyway) had I read this ten years sooner!
Weekend Plans – This weekend is supposed to be in the 60’s here in Michigan, so we are planning a trip to the zoo. They’ve got a brand new $20 million dollar penguin exhibit that’s set to open soon, so we’re hoping that maybe we can catch a glimpse if they try a soft opening. We also have to work on a project for my son’s spring fair. He has a great imagination, so I know that once we get started, this is going to be awesome.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Is Forex Trading Safe?

April 17, 2019March 11, 2016 by Money Beagle

Due to the rather poor performance of many open markets this year, countless investors have been turning their attention to the exciting world of the Forex industry. Considering that a massive $5.3 trillion dollars is said to change hands every day, this should come as no surprise. Words such as profit, liquidity, movement and fluctuation are often associated with currency pairs. Such concepts have left many wondering if Forex trading is a safe form of investment. To answer this question,let’s examine a few concepts in more detail.

Appreciating Liquidity

The Forex markets are currently the most liquid investment field in the world. Liquidity naturally equates to higher potential profits within a short period of time. However, it is also wise to know that such movements canlead to substantial losses if the correct strategies (and electronic platforms) are not chosen. Prudence is therefore a key strategic concern before investing. The mechanics of trading should be studied carefully. This can be likened to sailing across an ocean. Navigation and understanding nautical principles are critical to avoid capsizing.