By 2 Cents on September 13th, 2010 | Category: Money Psychology |  A bend in the road is not the end of the road . . . unless you fail to make the turn. ~ Author Unknown
Update: This article was selected for the Best of Money Carnival – 10 Things I Like about Autumn posted at Green Panda Treehouse. Thank you!
Like a bend in the road, change can be painful, or it can offer tremendous opportunities. It all depends on a few variables:
What kind of shape is our vehicle in heading into the turn? How fast are we driving? How we perceive the bend: Is it something that has caught us off-guard, or are we prepared to slow down and navigate the turn safely? Do we feel like a victim of the change, or are we confident it’s a challenge we can meet? How we react to the change: Will we adapt to [...]
Read on and enjoy … Welcome to the Post Consumerism Era: Will You Make the Turn?
By 2 Cents on April 13th, 2010 | Category: Life Balance | Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well; . . . and not today’s pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man.
~ James H. West
Update: This article is featured in the Money Hacks Carnival #112 posted at Mrs. Nespy’s Frugal World. Thanks!
Is your life balanced? I happen to be someone who consciously or unconsciously asks this question almost constantly. I’m hardwired to do it. It can be both a blessing and a curse.
Continual analysis can sometimes lead to a lack of decision-making and action. Constant action without deliberation can lead to disarray and imbalance. I suffer from the former malady, and Mr. Cents tends toward the latter. Together, we balance each other out.
I’ve written about Your Balance Sheet and Net Worth [...]
Read on and enjoy … Your Life Balance Sheet
By 2 Cents on January 19th, 2010 | Category: Budgets | The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
~ John Pierpont Morgan (Yep, it’s that J.P. Morgan)
Update: This post is included in the Money Hacks Carnival #102 at Passive Income Now. It’s also in the carnival Personal Finance: Third Edition. Thanks!
A lot of people hate the idea of budgeting. They say it’s too constraining. They need more flexibility. I’m not going to lie to you and say I love working on the budget. But I do love it when it’s done. And I love it when an expense pops up and I don’t have to get stressed out about it because our emergency fund covers it. I love it when my kids ask for something and I can tell them definitively whether or not we can afford it and [...]
Read on and enjoy … How to Make a Budget: Your One-Stop Shop
By 2 Cents on January 18th, 2010 | Category: Budgets | Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm .
~ Winston Churchill
There is no single right way to make a budget. Like most other aspects of personal finance and life we just need to figure out how to make the one that works best for us. Usually, this will mean trying a bunch of different things before arriving at the one that suits us the most. The only thing that is certain is that we do need some type of budget. The key is not to give up after the first few tries. Persistence pays. Here are 5 factors to think about as you prepare your budget:
1. Your Income Structure
The way in which money comes into your income statement is critical for planning cash flow. Here are some [...]
Read on and enjoy … Your Budget: 5 Factors That Will Determine What It Looks Like
By 2 Cents on January 15th, 2010 | Category: Budgets | If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
~ Lawrence J. Peter
Budget. Just uttering the word can make people cringe, squirm, and head for the hills. Even noted personal finance expert David Bachclaims that budgets don’t work. Rather, he says that we should “toss out the budget and make it automatic” using his (I think originally David Chilton’s) pay yourself first principle. The idea is that you would decide to save, say 10% of your pay and just live on whatever is left over.
I have 2 issues here. First, everybody needs some kind of budget. Second, even if you only pay yourself first, you are still practicing a form of budgeting, albeit a weak one. Mr. Bach has some good ideas, but I have to disagree with him on this point. Here are a few ways a budget – any [...]
Read on and enjoy … Do You Need a Budget?
By 2 Cents on January 13th, 2010 | Category: Book Reviews | Sometimes people who save their money are shown as the colorless folks, the conservative ones who don’t dare. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, people who save are the ones who dare to dream, the ones who have big ideas – and who make real plans to make those dreams happen. In our opinion, savers are the ones who taste life at its richest.
~ Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi, All Your Worth, p. 182
I’ve read quite a few personal finance, investing, and trading books. Almost all of them provide some value. They often deliver similar messages in different ways. I have yet to read a few of the real classics, but they’re up next on my list and I’ll post some reviews as I finish them. Having said that, I would say that this is the best personal finance handbook I [...]
Read on and enjoy … Book Review: All Your Worth
By 2 Cents on January 4th, 2010 | Category: Debt |  Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.
~ Oprah Winfrey
OK, so you overindulged. You read all of those articles warning about moderation or complete avoidance. You intended to follow that prudent advice. But you didn’t. I could easily be talking about alcohol consumption or debt consumption. Either way, over-consumption will put you in a precarious position.
If you’re not in that position on either front, congratulations. If you are, you’re not alone. Debt has been in the news a lot lately and if you read my post on 2010 What Ifs, you know that I think it will be a big topic this year. Sovereign debt problems are simmering in many parts of the globe and are coming to a full boil in others, particularly the PIIGS countries. This has led many to ask the question: Read on and enjoy … 6 Remedies For a Debt Hangover
By 2 Cents on December 30th, 2009 | Category: Economics |  Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
~ Hal Borland
Yesterday we looked at some notes that I had made at the beginning of 2009. Today, we look at possible problem areas for 2010. Again, these are obviously not predictions, as I’m too chicken to stick my neck out on what I think will happen. Further, I don’t have any idea what will happen, nor do the thousands of pundits making their “here’s what ‘s going to happen in 2010 lists”. This is meant to be food for thought, and nothing more. (I don’t know about you, but I could use a little more of that kind of food rather than the calorie-filled sort I’ve indulged in over the past week!)
Debt: I think this [...]
Read on and enjoy … 2010 What Ifs
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