Are Spending Habits Impossible To Change?

Predestined To Spend Or Save And There's Nothing You Can Do About It

by in Personal Finance on May 2nd, 2012

Instead of buying new clips for a rubber bumper that was falling off Moose for $25, I decided to buy some super glue at the convenience store instead.  I’ve had a fascination with super glue ever since I accidentally glued my thumb and middle finger together in the 6th grade.  I remember telling everyone that I was in meditation pose so they’d leave me alone.  Didn’t happen.

While at the convenience store, I had to choose between a stick of brand name Krazy Glue for $4.99, or a six-pack of generic super glue for just $3.  Six times as much for $1.99 less!  What a steal!  Of course I decided on the six-pack and away I went to not only super glue my loose bumper, but also my rear taillight, and my friends broken sunglasses!  I was a super glue machine and went through two sticks in two seconds.

NO MATTER HOW MUCH I MAKE I WILL NOT CHANGE Read More

Controlling Spending The Fun And Easy Way

Making Sure You Don't Go Overboard This Holiday Season!

by in Personal Finance on Nov 25th, 2011

With holidays sales galore, it’s very easy to go overboard on spending.  You work so hard saving your money all year only to blow it on some trendy tickle me Elmo doll that goes unplayed just a month later.  Computer gadgets seem to be particularly popular as companies such as Apple discount their Macbook Airs by an uninspiring $100 dollars, and their iPad 2s by an even more unexciting $50 dollars off.

I’ve got a perfectly healthy 3.5 year old Macbook with 4 gigs of RAM and a 120 gig hard drive.  Even though I just spent $29 to upgrade my OS to Snow Leapard to improve the operability of my computer last week, I still almost couldn’t help but buy a MacBook Pro for $100 off!  Shopping is like crack where one saves more if they buy more.

Recognizing I have a problem with spending, I wrote out a list of things I wanted to buy: socks, shoes, cards, ties, toys for the kids, Macbook Pro, 40″ LED TV, round-trip to Hawaii, and a 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo in black.  You know, the usual list of things every minimalist needs to have.  Hey, gotta throw something really sweat in there right?  Adding up the items excluding the Porsche, came out to a not cheap $3,500.  Yikes!  That’s a lot to spend in one weekend.

COMING UP WITH A FUN GAME PLAN Read More

Why Reduce Debt?

The Perks Of Cash Flow

While there are some Yakezie members that started financial websites to talk about good money habits and become a resource for readers, I was not in that group.  I was (and still am) more about the whole “On the ground” portion of the finances, as I’m still struggling forming good habits and getting out of debt.

Some started out with good financial habits, and I started out my adult life ignoring the good financial habits that I was taught.  I guess I’m one of the people that always has to learn the hard way.  Since I was always in debt but reading about others who were able to right the ship, my habits have gotten a lot better.
Read More

I Can’t Help You Budget If You Can’t Help Yourself

Personal Responsibility and Loved Ones

by in Personal Finance on Jul 6th, 2011

I thought I’d share some situations involving loved ones and money where I just finally gave up. Maybe you can relate to some of these stories; you may have some of your own.

The main takeaway is that success in personal finance is due to work. Not necessarily hard financial work with calculators and miles of spreadsheets, but actually having a plan and executing it yourself.

“Can You Help Me With A Budget?”

I like helping people. I like spreadsheets (yes- I really do), so when people asked me to help them out by creating a budget, I was excited. I took time to create something that would work for them, not just a standard template.

My new policy now with budgets? I just don’t do it anymore. I’ll send you a template or a link to Dave Ramsey’s Gazelle Lite tool. It’s not worth the hassle and most of the time (9/10) it’s just pointless as I noticed the same people keep coming back.

Reasons Why The Budget Doesn’t Work Read More

Do You Live For Money Or Use Money To Live?

How do you spend your hard earned money?

This post comes from Eric.  Eric blogs about personal finance at Narrow Bridge Finance.  His personal Twitter account is @DenverEric.

As a personal finance blogger, guy with two finance degrees, former banker, stock market enthusiast, and someone who once enjoyed rolling around in a big pile of money, you might call me a finance minded individual.  Most of the Yakezie members, like me, think about money a lot.  We think about earning money, we think about saving money, we think about frugal use of money, we think about spending money, we shudder at the idea of wasting money, and we are sickened at the idea of losing money to fees and credit card interest.

My Focus on Spending vs. Saving Read More

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