It always amazed me growing up how much my father knew about money and finances. Even to this day when he is nearing retirement, he knows more than almost every person I’ve met. He is still planning and evaluating his portfolio, always tweaking and always adjusting. He’s continues to make regular contributions to his retirement fund and never misses or is late with paying his bills. He knows how to manage money.

Part of me thinks that my interest in proper money management stems from his passion for it. When I was younger I would continually probe him for information from his past. I asked him how he knew when to change certain funds from low risk to high risk and vise versa. Before the market crash in the late 1980’s he successfully avoided a loss by adjusting his portfolio a few months before everything hit the fan. He did so in early 2000 and again before this most recent downslide. When tens of thousands of people were losing half of their savings and losing their homes he managed to protect all of his portfolio and pay off his mortgage in 15 years.

Read the rest of this entry

The Dollar Stretcher Blog

Written by: Gary Foreman

I recently bought a certified pre-owned vehicle at a dealership. Although I am not struggling to make my montlhy payments I would like to know what my other options are. I’m kind of having regrets buying the car. I don’t really want to pay for the car anymore. This was my first time purchasing a vehicle and the decision was based irrationally.

My loan is $28,000, 6 year, around 10% interest rate. The car is a 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan.

My boyfriend is bugging me about adding his name to the title. He said he would help me with the monthly payments by matching my monthly payment. By doing this we would be paying off the vehicle faster. He also says that by doing this, it would increase his credit score. Is this true? And what are some benefits to me by doing this?

Michelle Read the rest of this entry

I think it’s time to go back to school. Okay, you don’t actually have to jump on the bus, buy a new school bag and lug around a few pounds of paper and pens and dodge spit balls, but It’s time for a little personal finance help. Here is a fun quiz for you to go through to find out how well you know your finances.

1. It’s always better to choose the longest amortization period with your mortgage because you will have a lower monthly payment.

a: True

b: False Read the rest of this entry

The great debate about money rages on. Depending how you view it, money can a good thing but it has the potential to be a bad thing as well. Money is good because it allows you any type of lifestyle you want. It can fund your goals such as going on vacation or allow you to retire early. Money provides the chance to have a family, live in the neighborhood you want and do just about anything you desire. Proper money management is the simplest form of personal finance basics.

The down side to money is if you live for it. If you spend the majority of your life slaving away at a job that you don’t like to earn money that makes it bad. Money misguides people enough to become workaholics and desert their friends and family.

Without question money has more pros than it does cons. The bad things that are associated with money are usually tied with misuse and greed.

What is Money to you?

Read the rest of this entry

What should you do with your hard earned money? There are many choices we face on a daily basis that can confuse as well as sway us in any given direction at any time. There are many things that we should and should not do when it comes to our finances and how to manage money. Let’s go through a few of the most important ways you can start saving and put your money where it belongs.

1. Know when you should stop

The problem many of us face when knowing how to manage money is knowing when it is time to stop. This may be a Read the rest of this entry

Its 10:00 am. The loud hum of the vacuum cleaner quickly lifts my head off of my pillow, which unfortunately is only mildly warm right now. I struggle through the typical waking questions, like “where am I?” and “what the hell is that noise?”, and as I piece together the complex events of what is going on, I come to the realization that my wife is not even home. It also dawns on me that despite the fact that it is past 10 a.m. I have only been asleep for just over 2 hours. Is this some kind of joke? Am I really awake? And what the heck is that noise?

We all have goals and dreams that we would like to accomplish. I, like many people, have goals in life that require freedom of time and money. So, naturally my main goal is to become financially independent. To do this requires sacrifices along the way, one of which is living with other people.

The story at the beginning illustrates what literally happened to me this morning. I currently work for the government as a water/wastewater operator. Read the rest of this entry

Sometimes its hard to make sense of it all when it comes to your personal finances. Do you know what type of bank accounts are right for you, how long of a mortgage you should have or what type of credit card is right for you? There are plenty of decisions you are forced to make and the more informed you are the better you will know how to manage money.

Here are a bunch of FREE banking tools that can help you make the right decisions:

Read the rest of this entry

If you are like most people you probably feel as though you don’t make enough money and don’t know what to do with the money you have. The ultra rich know how to manage money and are able to manage they lifestyle we all dream of. Here are several tips that you can turn your finances around and make you far more wealthy than you imagined.

Better Time Management at Work

There are ways to use your time more wisely at work. Many of us love the water ‘cooler meetings’ but are they the most productive use of your time? Probably not. Rather than gossiping about the latest episode Read the rest of this entry