envelope system

I recently read an article in The New York Times (hat tip for bringing it to my attention: MAPping Company Success) about the increasing trend of using real money to pay for virtual goods. The article also addresses the rise of credit, via a company called Kwedit.com, to pay for virtual purchases online. This article [...]

If you read enough personal finance blogs, you’ll see a common theme and the number one answer to your financial dilemma — “Spend Less than You Earn”. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done, otherwise, we wouldn’t have this rampant debt problem in our society. Fortunately, I went through this myself, and over the years, I’ve [...]

Impulse buying can be the end to all financial plans. Accounts are most likely overdrawn by the end of the month or purchase decisions are regretted. This is the reason for a sinking fund for all planned or major purchases. Sinking funds are simply savings put in one particular place for a specific thing. For [...]

Following up on my how to create a budget article, I want to share with you a budgeting method called the cash envelope budgeting system. The envelope system of budgeting has been around for long time (it’s believed to have started during the Great Depression). However, it became more popular when Dave Ramsey preached it [...]

Here’s a good video podcast by Dave Ramsey. In just 5 minutes, you can improve your chance of financial success — how can you say no to that? In this video, you’ll learn what Dave Ramsey is all about and what he teaches. I thought the segment on Baby Steps and Debt Snowball was particularly [...]

My son is almost a year old, so I am interested in the topic of teaching children about money management. I think teaching them about money can build a solid foundation that will result in a lifetime of financial well being.  I have been reading various articles on this subject and here is my spin [...]

On Friday, I wrote “Discover your money values and financial demons.” The idea was to keep track of every pennies spent in order to learn about your spending habits, priorities, and money leaks. I have never been a big fan of budgeting because it is tedious — as long as I have money to spend [...]