Sunday, February 28, 2010
Trent's 14 Money Rules
I spent the afternoon looking at the blogs of others and when I came across http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ I had to say bravo! Trent has captured the essence of wise money management in these 14 simple rules that would be good to post on your refrigerator, in your checkbook, and to review everyday until they are committed to memory. Check out his site along with the 72,000+ who already have.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
It starts with a good budget
Never made a budget before? Get In The Trenches and get all the charts and information you need to get started. The forms can be set up in excel to make it even more convenient.
Monday, February 22, 2010
A word to renters
What if a forclosure or eviction notice is posted to your door and you know you have been paying your rent on time? What do you do?
Landlords like everybody else have been affected in this economic crisis. Why? Because it is the housing industry that is at the heart of the problem, specifically the banking practices that effect the housing industry. The landlord may have multiple properties. Property taxes are going up dramatically to try and increase county and state revenue. Compounded by that, they may have also been affected by residents that live in the properties they own and have not been able to pay rent due to layoffs, garnishments, and weather expenses.
Sometimes the landlord will get behind on the mortgage payments. If this has occurred the property may be going into foreclosure. Representatives of the bank may be taking photos, and posting notices that you must move out immediately. This is seldom the case however it is unnerving and scary. It is easy to respond in anger or fear without knowing what your rights really are. This is not a good situation for anybody, however, as renters the government has put some protections and help in place for you!
Landlords like everybody else have been affected in this economic crisis. Why? Because it is the housing industry that is at the heart of the problem, specifically the banking practices that effect the housing industry. The landlord may have multiple properties. Property taxes are going up dramatically to try and increase county and state revenue. Compounded by that, they may have also been affected by residents that live in the properties they own and have not been able to pay rent due to layoffs, garnishments, and weather expenses.
Sometimes the landlord will get behind on the mortgage payments. If this has occurred the property may be going into foreclosure. Representatives of the bank may be taking photos, and posting notices that you must move out immediately. This is seldom the case however it is unnerving and scary. It is easy to respond in anger or fear without knowing what your rights really are. This is not a good situation for anybody, however, as renters the government has put some protections and help in place for you!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
In The Trenches - Transportation
When money is tight it's a good time to review how you get from one place to another to see if there is any cost savings or health improvement opportunities. Do you drive your children to school? Can you walk with them? Doing so would save money, give you excercise, and you would have some special time with your children.
How often do you go to the grocery store? Instead of daily can you aim for weekly? If you go prepared this may save you not only on gas but also on groceries.
With spring coming can you drag that bicycle out of the garage? When was the last time you looked at the bus stops and schedules? Or carpools. I recently began carpooling with a gal from work and it saves more than half of what I was spending and the unexpected benefit is now I am always on time!
How often do you go to the grocery store? Instead of daily can you aim for weekly? If you go prepared this may save you not only on gas but also on groceries.
With spring coming can you drag that bicycle out of the garage? When was the last time you looked at the bus stops and schedules? Or carpools. I recently began carpooling with a gal from work and it saves more than half of what I was spending and the unexpected benefit is now I am always on time!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
In The Trenches - Learning
There are many changes going on in America. People are learning to cook more economically, do their own lawn maintenance, stay home on the weekends, and even deal with creditors. When people are In The Trenches it affects most areas of their lives and one of the biggest one is that they learn new things or learn to do something in a new and different way. This can be exciting, rewarding, and fun, but it can also be frustrating, discouraging, and uncomfortable.
I have spent the last few days looking at the blogs of others and I am impressed! I'm finding some exciting, professional, and eye catching artwork, graphics, and layouts. After I came back and looked at mine which I have worked so hard on it seemed like something from a kindergartner. Amateur and not the quality I have seen on the others.
Then I realized, that's how everybody is feeling now as they learn new and different things. The work to make that new recipe only to have their families look at them. Or, they see the look of disappointment as they tell their children they can't go this weekend.
We will get better. We will improve. This time will help us and further down the road we may think of our first attempts and laugh and wonder how in the world it could have taken three hours to do something so simple like make a pie crust or hours with the calculator making a new budget.
As for me, I know how to live In The Trenches. I've done it before. What is new to me is blogging. I'm over 50. I don't even know what an RSS feed is, what it is supposed to do, or, why someone would want one. Somebody told me it would be a good thing so I did it. So, as I learn to blog and improve along the way, I hope you too will progress in learning to live more frugally, more basically, and learn something new everyday. Then, even if money is tight you will be rich.
I have spent the last few days looking at the blogs of others and I am impressed! I'm finding some exciting, professional, and eye catching artwork, graphics, and layouts. After I came back and looked at mine which I have worked so hard on it seemed like something from a kindergartner. Amateur and not the quality I have seen on the others.
Then I realized, that's how everybody is feeling now as they learn new and different things. The work to make that new recipe only to have their families look at them. Or, they see the look of disappointment as they tell their children they can't go this weekend.
We will get better. We will improve. This time will help us and further down the road we may think of our first attempts and laugh and wonder how in the world it could have taken three hours to do something so simple like make a pie crust or hours with the calculator making a new budget.
As for me, I know how to live In The Trenches. I've done it before. What is new to me is blogging. I'm over 50. I don't even know what an RSS feed is, what it is supposed to do, or, why someone would want one. Somebody told me it would be a good thing so I did it. So, as I learn to blog and improve along the way, I hope you too will progress in learning to live more frugally, more basically, and learn something new everyday. Then, even if money is tight you will be rich.
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