-
Quick trick to pay off debt faster
Check this out… it’s one of my favorites! If you do this with your 30 year mortgage, you’ll shave 5-7+ years off of your term and save five-figures of money that you’d otherwise pay towards interest. Jay and I have been doing this for years and we are far ahead of where we should be.… Read more
-
2020 is almost 1/2 over. how’s your 401k?
Just a friendly reminder to check your 401(k) as we are now halfway through 2020. -If your employer matches your contributions up to a certain percentage, make sure you’re taking their money. Wages are already low enough…don’t leave their free money on your table. -Expecting a raise? Increase your contributions. If your raises are percentage… Read more
-
you can save $600 by xmas eve. Here’s how.
Starting today, if you saved $20 each week.. you’d have OVER $600 in savings by Christmas Day. Guaranteed. Jay and I stated saving for Christmas 2020 on New Years Eve 2019 and we’ve got $529 saved specifically for holiday cheer as of this morning. You don’t have to apply this tip solely for Christmas… give… Read more
-
do you have life insurance?
Don’t plan on a GoFundMe funeral to bury you or your loved ones. Talk to somebody about life insurance. Jay and I got life insurance (enough to cover our mortgage + a year of salary & final expenses) when we bought our first home. We probably should have got it before then, but better late… Read more
-
“I’m tired of always feeling broke. What do I do next?”
When I look back at my Facebook memories, I notice all the various declarations/attempts to become debt free that I posted starting in 2011 before I actually DID it in 2016. Hindsight is 20/20, and the reason I didn’t succeed for so long was that I had no plan. “It’s difficult to aim for a… Read more
-
“We have X dollars and Y bills. What happens now?”
More than once in my adult life, I’ve had to sit down and have this conversation with myself and/or with my husband. In my household, we agree that we have “four walls” that we must protect: 1. Housing2. Utilities3. Transportation4. Food Did I ever tell you about the “doomsday list” that Jay and I came… Read more
-
5 tips to avoid being “finessed” during the upcoming economic bailout (the checks being mailed to you).
1. There are 329’ish million adults in the USA. The government isn’t going to contact you via text, Facebook, email, or phone calls to “sign up”. Uncle Sam ain’t got time for that. 2. The government operates with taxpayer funded money (simply stated). They are not going to charge you a fee, ask for a… Read more
-
PSA: Does somebody know where the will, life insurance, passwords, and other items are?
Be the hero that your family needs you to be through life, and death, alike. Take a minute this weekend to organize your documents.
Here’s how my father’s efforts saved my family.
-
Recession is coming. Are you saving money or spending it?
For half of the decade, they’ve been calling for a recession. Not 1929 or 2008 style, but a standard cylindrical cooloff. I never got spooked, however, last winter I noticed large companies were gearing up for an economic downturn. So I started doing the same to my own personal finances and started stacking my cash… Read more
-
Can’t afford to make an extra payment? Do this, instead.
Mortgage rates are the lowest they ever been in American history right now, but interest paid is still almost always money lost, right? Here’s the fix. I have known the tip of “make 13 payments” for ages, but I’ve never had an extra payment just lying around to pay as a lump sum, so I… Read more
-
Freeze your credit reports for free directly from your phone. Here’s how and WHY you need to.
Did you know that the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) are not government entities… they’re for-profit companies that aggregate your personal information and sell it to others? Point blank period. So, they don’t really care what happens to your identity…because they’ve already got theirs. Okay sure, we can fine them millions of dollars… Read more
-
PSA: Don’t fall for those ”sexy” investing articles. It is entertainment, not investment advice.
Blockbuster and Netflix.Any stockholder and Apple.That one guy and Bitcoin. Like… what’s the actual point, here? There’s a LOT of sensationalism in investing and personal finance because it’s sexy to win and shameful to lose…but have you asked yourself if all this noise is purposeful? Blockbuster would have taken a huge gamble to buy Netflix… Read more
-
We know not to compare ourselves to others. But, are you comparing others to yourself?
One thing I’ve learned over my time is that there is SO much more to personal finance than simply saying “cut your spending/invest/save money”. Before savings, Jay and I live off less than $45,000 per year. That’s $10.81 per hour, per person. We work to minimize our expenses, but at a certain point… you hit… Read more
-
Yes, my husband and I have talked about divorcing and how it will impact our finances.
Yes, my husband and I have talked about divorce. One of the primary pillars in our marriage is transparency. Not the “lol i’ll tell you anything” but rather, serious and raw transparency, and no topic is off limits. I lovingly refer to it as “spousal privilege” — giving him the first right to know something…because… Read more
-
How I turned auto loan “denials” into “approved” without a down payment.
When Jay and I were newly dating and neither of us had any cash, nor any credit, but we were in need of a second car… we were at a crossroads and we had to do something.
Here’s my crash course on finance/lending that turned our situation around.
buildingwealthnotdebt.com 