5 Reasons Why Some People Never Get Ahead Financially (And Others Do)
Meet John. John’s a nice guy, has a stable job and is making a good income.He’s got a good marriage, has two kids and a dog. He drives a newer car, lives in a nice neighborhood and plays golf a couple times per week.From the outside, it looks like John is living the ultimate American dream.But a quick peek under the hood will reveal that things aren’t always as they seem.He’s got some credit card debt – “Nothing major”, John would say about his $5,000 balance. “That’s less than the average right?”He also has a mortgage and a Home Equity Loan he took out to pay off some earlier debt. In fact, he and his wife are

How to Bag a Bargain on Black Friday
Getting ready to go into a shopping frenzy? The holiday shopping season kicks off this Friday, with retailers offering huge sales on everything from electronics to clothing. But if you want to survive the holiday season without regrets and a miserable debt hangover, spend a few minutes now figuring out how to bag real bargains on Black Friday.Here are some tips provided by bargain bloggers, ConsumerWorld, the Better Business Bureau and others.1. Make a list. Even Santa needs a list to keep track of who he needs to buy for and what they want. Going into a mall without one is dangerous, with all the shiny objects vying for your attention. SmartCookie Sandra Hanna tells

Fewer Americans using credit cards for the holidays
In yet another sign that Americans are still cautious -- and growing more so -- about their spending, new research shows that fewer of us will be using credit cards to make our holiday purchases this year. According to a survey conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation (as reported here by Reuters), the number of consumers using credit cards for holiday purchases will drop more than 10% this year. Only 28.3% of shoppers say they'll use credit cards to buy presents, down from 31.5% last year.What are we doing instead? Paying cash. The number of survey respondents who said they'll be using cash to buy holiday gift this year rose by almost exactly the

A simpler way to save: The 60% Solution
Twenty years of complicated budget calculations have led me to this one simple conclusion: By limiting all essential spending to 60% of total income, savings will soar. By Richard JenkinsHow many of you have tried budgeting and think it's a waste of time? Come on, let's see those hands. OK, that's just about everybody.I've kept a budget of one kind or another, first on paper and then with the help of various software programs, for about 20 years -- despite a strong suspicion that I was wasting my time. The illusion of control, I argued to myself, was better than none at all. My approach to budgeting was to carefully track my spending dur

Crazy Easy Wall Art!!!
To see article with picture demonstrations go to: Frugel Home IdeasI saw this idea in a Lowes Creative Ideas magazine and thought it was amazing. I wish I had thought of it myself! In the Lowes magazine, they used high quality stainable wood boards. I opted for the more economical canvases:Step 1. Paint your canvas that you got at JoAnne's for 50% off of $15.99 (or at least pretend like you're painting it because you forgot to get a picture of actually painting it. Don't forget your fake candid picture smile!)2. Step 2- Align your rubber doormat that you g