Have you been looking for ways to cut your TV cable cord, but can’t quite find a service that will be comparable? If so, then I have good news for you: There are now plenty of good ways to watch TV without cable. And they’re reasonably cheap! Believe me. Finding good alternatives to cable TV was something we’ve been struggling with for years. As part of my quest to save more money and do more with less, we’ve been looking for a way to drop this $180 anchor. We like our screen-time just like anyone else. (Apparently, most of us do. According to the NY Times, the average American adult watches 5 hours and 4 minutes of TV per day!) We’ve enjoyed other services like Netflix and Amazon over the years for movies and some … [Read more...] about How We Watch TV Without Cable and Save $1,140 Per Year
Savings & Budgeting
5 Secrets About Money That the Rich Know and You Don’t
How is it that the “Rich” become rich? Were they all born into money and given trust funds as early adults? Or is there something more systematic about how they got there? Believe it or not, it has been said that 80-86% of all millionaires in the U.S. are self-made. The same figures apply to decamillionaires (those with a net worth of $10 million or more) as well. So then, what is it? What are the secrets to money that they seem to know and the rest of us don’t? In this post, we’re going to take a look at some of the strategies that the Rich and Wealthy use every day to advance their position. In many cases, I think you’ll see that becoming rich is all a matter of tipping the financial equation in your direction. The more money … [Read more...] about 5 Secrets About Money That the Rich Know and You Don’t
Yes, You Can Use Your Roth IRA as an Emergency Fund – Here’s the Proper Way How
If you’re struggling to save for both retirement as well as be prepared for whatever life throws your way, then here’s something useful for you to know: You may be able to use your Roth IRA as an emergency fund. Yes, because of the unique withdrawal rules for Roth IRA’s, they have the potential to serve double-duty and accomplish both goals. You can be well-prepared for the unexpected as well as work on building up your future nest egg. Since these two types of accounts are generally best kept separate, there would be some potential pitfalls to watch out for if you choose to use this strategy. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both sides. Advantages of Using a Roth IRA as an Emergency Fund Assuming you’re not … [Read more...] about Yes, You Can Use Your Roth IRA as an Emergency Fund – Here’s the Proper Way How
How to Turn Your Kids Into Millionaires in the Future
Wouldn’t it be great if you had the ability to turn your kids into millionaires? As parents, we want our kids to have the best. We want them to be happy, healthy, and successful in life. And one of the best ways I can think to help aide them in building security is to set them up on the path for financial excellence from an early age. This of course does not mean winning the lottery or transferring over your wealth. I’m talking about passing on the knowledge and skills necessary to help build wealth from scratch over the long haul. With both of my children becoming teenagers and (within the blink of an eye) young adults, I’m thinking about this topic more and more. In particular, I’m trying to decide how best to present … [Read more...] about How to Turn Your Kids Into Millionaires in the Future
Travel Hacking Chapter 4 – How We Got an All-Inclusive Trip to Los Cabos, Mexico for Just $95!
What’s better than getting your entire summer family vacation to Florida for almost-free? How about ALSO getting a second vacation to the warm sandy beaches of an all-inclusive luxury resort in Los Cabos, Mexico ... for just $95 out-of-pocket? Yes, it’s true! After strategically travel hacking our way to a whole bunch of Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points and scoring nearly-free flights, a hotel, and rental car, we decided to go “all-in” and maneuver our remaining points towards yet another incredible vacation for barely any money at all! Here’s the back-story … As many of you already know from my previous Travel Hacking Chapters 1-3, originally our goal was to reduce the amount of money we were going to spend in 2017 by trying out … [Read more...] about Travel Hacking Chapter 4 – How We Got an All-Inclusive Trip to Los Cabos, Mexico for Just $95!
Travel Hacking Chapter 3: Getting the Hotel and Rental Car for (Almost) Free!
Hello and welcome to another edition of what is becoming both an exciting hobby and lucrative financial opportunity: Our conquests in travel hacking! For anyone unfamiliar with this term, “travel hacking” is when you attempt to get free or near-free deals on your travel expenses. You do this by taking advantage of big credit card sign-up offers and optimizing the rewards points to get the best deals possible. As I mentioned in the original post, I decided to give travel hacking a try after looking over our expenses for the year and concluding that we needed to find a way to save money on our annual family vacation. We really enjoy our vacations and enjoy traveling to new places. So if I’m able to apply even just a few of the travel … [Read more...] about Travel Hacking Chapter 3: Getting the Hotel and Rental Car for (Almost) Free!
Our Next Travel Hacking Scheme: How to Get a Free Hotel Stay
Hello! And welcome to the next phase of my attempt to become a travel hacker. For anyone who's not familiar with that term, “travel hacking” his when you get to travel for free or at a seriously reduced price by strategically signing up for various credit card offers and optimizing the value of your points. In my last post on this topic, I wrote about what a steal I got by scoring free flights for the entire family next year to Orlando! All it took was signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card where I was awarded nearly 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points as part of the sign-up bonus, adding another user, and meeting the purchase requirement. By combining this with the bank of Chase points I already had, this enabled me to … [Read more...] about Our Next Travel Hacking Scheme: How to Get a Free Hotel Stay
How I Got Free Flights and a Great Travel Hacking Resource
Guess who just scored a set of FREE flights for next year’s vacation? That’s right – me! And I’m very excited about it. This year, after spending almost $2,000 on just the flights alone for our annual family vacation, I became extremely determined to find a way to do better when we book our trip to Orlando next year. And I wanted to do this without sacrificing the quality of our travels. You know … do more with less! Just like we did already this year with our mortgage refinance, Sprint cell phone bill, and even our property taxes. That’s when I found a pretty incredible resource: A free ecourse and website that is all about “travel hacking” - different strategies you can use to get some deeply discounted or even free … [Read more...] about How I Got Free Flights and a Great Travel Hacking Resource