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In this post, I wrote about why it is important to track your spending.  Well, this post wasn’t just talk, I’ve been walking-the-walk and tracking my spending for almost half a year now.  I’ve learned a lot, we’ve refined our process for how we track our spending, and I am even more convinced that it is important to do this and that it is helpful to engage in this process.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that tracking your spending carefully is almost more important than having a budget (in fact, we don’t have a budget we only track.)  (more…)

I want to have a job that I love.  I want to do work that I find enriching and rewarding.  I want to minimize stress as much as possible, get along with the people that I work with, make enough money to live, and be happy when I have to go to work.  I know, of course, that this is the goal of a lot of people.  I also know that there are a few lucky people who have this type of situation, and then there are a lot of people who work just to live.  I have made a commitment to myself that I won’t get into a job that I hate, that makes me dread getting up in the morning.  Is that unreasonable, especially at my age?  And what can I do to make this happen? (more…)

I was included in three Carnivals this week.  Please check out The Carnival of Debt Reduction the Carnival of Personal Finance  and of course the Carnival of Twenty Something Finances at Living Almost Large, where my post was an editors pick :) 

When I see how much money DF and I owe, sometimes it is really easy to have regrets.  Neither of us are using our advanced degrees, so when we make $1000+ payments every month, that fleeting thought goes through my head that it would be so nice if that money could go toward a house or a savings account or something that will give us more value now.   (more…)

I am not a proponent of spending money, generally.  At least not unless you have no debts and a good solid savings.  Otherwise, there are very few things that I think are worth the sacrifice to financial freedom.  However, there are a few area’s where I feel like everyone should treat themselves a bit.  Here are 5 recommendations I have to make you feel rich, even if you are on a Raaman noodles budget…   (more…)

My DH and I fought about money for a long time.  Now that we are keeping our money together, things are much better.  This won’t solve the problem for everyone, of course.  Sometimes savers are married to spenders, or one spouse has a completely different idea about budgeting than the other.  But, if you need to get your spouse or significant other to change their financial habits, because it is legitimately causing problems, here are 10 steps to talking to them and getting them to actually change their behavior.   (more…)

A few years ago, Bank of America came out with its Keep the Change Program which played on the old idea of throwing your charge into a jar.  Although I didn’t become a Bank of America customer, I thought the idea was ingenuous.  If you can make saving fun, or at least effortless, then it gives you yet another incentive to save money.  So, here I’ve posted some idea’s or games to play to help making saving some extra money a little more enjoyable.     (more…)

I was inspired by Money Saving Mom’s Baking Day and I decided to do my own little mini-baking day this weekend.  I have been keeping up with my modified once-a-month cooking plan and so I thought a little baking to help be prepared for other meals might be in order.   (more…)