Comments on: What I learned from being broke

By: Dollie Larmon

Dollie Larmon — Tue, 11 May 2010 11:12:37 +0000

Those look like nice suits you posted. Thank you!

By: di

di — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:03:36 +0000

sometimes being broke is a blessing, well, yes it can be , because it teaches you to be creative with your money..case in point, I am redoing my color scheme for spring/summer, I want green, so I was shopping for fabric, hadn’t found anything I was in love with, so I went to Tuesday mornig, found some new green plates for cheap, they were marked down to 1.19 each, (3 needed) and some green silk Indian fabric for $2.00 All on the clearance aisle. I cut the fabric to make new lamshade covers, and used the rest for a buffet tablerunner, and had a piece left over for a small pillow. Now its adorable, and I couldn;t even find any at WallyWorld for 2.99. One person’s trash, can make lots of little ‘treasures.” Just rethink how you can use your items..its not always what its meant for (in this case, window curtains).

By: EllieD

EllieD — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:01:12 +0000

Some people learn life’s most important lessons early on, while other (like me) make lots of mistakes before finally seeing the light. My own grown sons still haven’t truly learned the ABCs of budgeting, which always includes saving. A financial advisor once told me that if I can save $25 a month, then I most likely can double that without really missing the $$$. In the long run, that worked for me. With interest rates so low right now, it’s a toss-up as to where you put your savings. Just find the best deal you can. Credit unions sometimes offer better rates than banks. You already know the importance of making a shopping list and sticking to it. Do you also keep a mental running tab as you go, to be sure you’ll have enough cash for the bill? Rent/mortgage must always be #1, and paying your bills on time (especially utilities) comes next. Going without those luxury items when things are tight can make a big difference between being temporarily broke and being in trouble. Always allow time to really think about that impulse buy before actually making it! Common sense should be your guideline. Sounds like you’re pretty smart, so please let us know how things are going from time to time.

By: brandy

brandy — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:34:10 +0000

Budget, budget, budget. Set up a Mint account. Categorize EVERYTHING. Set up budgets on the site. Then stay within them. In 9 months of having a Mint account I went from having $0 in savings and $50,000 in debt to having $5000 in savings and $35,000 in debt. Huge difference. I made no other changes except for using Mint, no new job, no raise, nothing. Oh and the best part is it’s completely free, so it fits perfectly into the budget! Ha! I should get paid for advertising for them!

By: jenni porter

jenni porter — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:22:19 +0000

I’m with you on the Overdraft issue! My husband thinks I am INSANE to have overdraft protection on my accounts, but I do that b/c occasionally life sneaks up on me and it gets a little scary at the end of the month. Also, when I deposit a check I make sure to write in my checkbook LESS than the amount I deposited, to kind of fake myself out in how much I have in there… the amount I don’t count is what is taken out of my account every month for different insurances we have, so that I never count that amount as “spendable” and it’s “safe” in my account, ready to be taken out at the end of the month.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:05:44 +0000

I read a really scary article awhile back that talked about how people were actually more careful of paying their credit cards every month than their mortgages these days! The thinking was that if they got fired and had no income, at least they could live on their credit cards for a while or use them for emergencies.