Well, Christmas has come and gone, 2019 is drawing to a close and New Year’s Day (and new resolutions) are right around the corner. Approximately one-third of the resolution-making population sets their sights on saving more and spending less. It’s a great idea, right? Unfortunately, 80% of those resolutions will fail. According to Business Insider, there are three reasons behind this: The resolution is not clear enough The resolution uses negative language The resolution is not personally meaningful If you REALLY want to work on becoming financially independent in 2020 and want to set a resolution to do so, try this: I am only using funds I have to make purchases this year. I am getting organized. I am implementing an easy-to-follow debt-reduction strategy. (And we’re going to help you with that!) This resolution is clear. This resolution is set using positive language that describes what you ARE doing, not what you’re going to do (a good mind trick), and...

Christmas is right around the corner and not only have you not finished shopping for everybody on your list, but you’ve been a good budgeter and you’re almost out of cash. You are NOT alone!   There are some things you can do to stay within your monetary limits and still hit everyone for whom you’d like to get a present; it just might not be as extravagant as you’d hoped. Here are some ways to save on last-minute Christmas gifts. Food–what are you famous for? Do you bake? Put your talents on display and take some goodies to a few of your family members. Cutesy “neighbor” gifts–Christmas-colored hand soap in a pump bottle, a dollar-store mug with hot chocolate or towel with a candy bar, there are lots of ideas online of cheap, quick, and easy things you can do to share your holiday spirit. Just include a little handwritten card with some curling ribbon. If you can write a poem to go with it, even better! If prose is not your thing, just ask Google. If you are crafty or a...

Technology has come a long way in the last thirty years. There are so many wonderful things we can do that two generations ago would have considered impossible. But with modern conveniences often comes new problems. Having your identity stolen is one of those issues. And it’s more involved than a thief pretending to be you to access your ATM with your PIN. If someone takes out a credit card in your name, you are not liable to pay the bill; banks have insurance to cover fraud. However, taking care of the legalities surrounding such a problem is time-consuming and stressful. Resolving the issue can take over your life. This is the major reason to get identity theft insurance, more commonly called ID theft protection. Check out what a company offers before you enroll; many offer reimbursements for losses and time-spent on recovery efforts, and some go as far as offering a representative who will clean things up on your behalf. Decide what you want and find a company that fits th...

Earlier this year, a very large public storage facility near where I live had an accidental fire that caused over a million dollars’ worth of damage. While it was troublesome to the facility itself, it was extremely costly to many of those who had personal property in the facility because many of them did not have renter’s insurance. You might say, “Well, the owners of the storage facility should cover their losses! I mean, the facility itself has insurance, right?” While the fact that the facility itself is required to have insurance is true, the law prohibits the storage facility from covering the contents of the storage units themselves. Why? Because you cannot insure something you do not own. In the case of life insurance, no, you don’t own the other person, but you have a vested interest in them. Life insurance has its own set of rules. If you are renting a home or facility to store anything of value to you, do yourself a favor and get renter’s insurance. It’s ve...