Bills. Expenses. Stagnant income. The rising costs on just about everything. Our retirement portfolios see-sawing up and down. Being “financially strapped” is becoming more than a problem; it’s an epidemic.
But as I read through a few popular articles and posts, I wonder if we really have the right artillery to fight this battle and defend ourselves. For example: Here are just a few money-saving strategies that people are resorting to:
• Skimping back on regular household products. No more dish soap, paper towel, fabric softener??
• Making your own clothes.
• No more hot showers.
• No more eating out.
• Canceling the TV.
• Living on less than $12,000 per year.
• Ditching the car altogether.
• Moving back in with the parents (and not in your 20′s).
Some of these might be silly, but this is what we offer up in retaliation. This is what our society is resorting to as a way of combating these economic pressures.
More and more, there seems to be a rising trend of people who are deciding to live WELL below their means on or at near-poverty level income. And their proud of it! It’s their way of being frugal. But to me, it’s just plain ridiculous.
Darn! The year was off to such a great start for us investors! But then worries about Greece and the Euro spoiled the party. If you were following conventional wisdom and investing in Index Funds, then you’ve basically 
The ‘arrival’ of summer means that the days are longer and the nights are warmer – so there’s more time to be out and about. For a lot of us, this also means that there’s more time for us to be out spending money.
Recently a coworker and I were discussing how his wife would not be returning to work simply based on the fact that child care was too expensive. At the rate it would cost her to place the child in daycare and go to work, she’d actually be “losing” money.
In today’s global economy, transferring money to other countries is a fairly commonplace practice. Thanks to internet banking, an international money transfer is no longer a complicated transaction but can be processed quickly and easily.
Cheers! I’m writing you today from England. The last time I came here, I published a short post about how different the prices were between the UK and United States. I thought it might be fun to share those observations again. Note: This post was originally published 12/02/2011.
Well, wish me luck. I’m off to England today for a business trip. That’s 11 hours of travel plus a 5 hour time change. In other words, by the time I start to feel sleepy, we’ll probably be landing and it will be morning outside.
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