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Budgeting

Determine What You Can Spend During the Holidays

We talk a lot about not overspending during the holidays—but that’s hard to control if you don’t really know what you can afford to spend in the first place. Here are five guidelines that can help you avoid moving into the overspending zone.   Your spending shouldn’t require use of …

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What You Lose Betting on Future Income

    Tell me if any of these statements sound like things you’ve said or thoughts you’ve had recently:   I’ll opt into the 401(k) after my next raise. I’ll start contributing to an IRA once I make more. Sure, I’ve got a little debt now, but eventually I’ll be …

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Making the Most of Low Gas Prices

At the time this blog post was written, gas prices had dropped significantly and were expected to fall even further. This is an event worth celebrating, for sure, but it can also be the perfect springboard toward a bigger savings account balance. However, in order to allow lower gas prices …

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Do Your Expenses Reflect Your Values?

Much of what we know about past cultures is thanks to the efforts of archaeologists. By discovering historic artifacts and studying them, these scientists can reconstruct a prior culture’s entire way of life and give us tremendous insights into the civilization’s values and priorities. While it may seem impossible, archaeologists …

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What to Do When You Can’t Afford Rent

According to a 2014 report by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, 21.3 million people are spending more than the recommended 30 percent of income on rent. Twenty-six percent of these people are spending more than 50 percent of their income just to keep the rented roof over their heads. …

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Five Spending Changes to Make in 2016

The money you spend is money that can’t be used to pay off debt or increase savings, so it stands to reason that spending less is one of the most important steps you can take to improve your overall financial situation. Here are five simple changes you can make to …

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