Timing is Everything

I was told that a good time to buy a car is January or February. Why? I would guess it’s because many people are financially destitute right after Christmas (because they have not yet been introduced to my blog!) so car sales are down. I do think there is another reason. I think that most people have yet to file their taxes and receive their tax returns (a.k.a. overpayment that they loaned interest-free to the government) with which they plan to make a down payment.

Now it’s March, and many people have already filed their taxes and received said overpayment that we common-folk refer to as a return, and it’s burning a hole in their pockets. This can be good news for you if you have things you want to sell. Now is the time to capitalize on the extra influx of cash.

What do you have around your house that you no longer use that you can sell? Speaking as someone who has done this very thing, I must warn you. Selling stuff you don’t need anymore and collecting the cash can be addicting. I suggest that you take that cash and pay down some of your debt. Paying off debt can be addicting, too. Hey, it’s better than spending money you don’t have or eating an entire Razzleberry pie in one sitting. I may or may not be familiar with one of those obsessive behaviors, but I wouldn’t recommend either one.

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One More–Christmas Experiences Part II

Christmas is just a week away. Hopefully you’ve checked everything off your to-do list and can spend some quality time “experiencing” Christmas gifts with your family. Because, after all, your loved ones will be far more touched by how you made them feel than they will be with what you gave them. This week, I want to share with you my sister, Carey’s, family Christmas experience. “One Christmas, when my boys, now 18, 23 and 28, were little, we gave them an experience that is still talked about now. And it’s something so easily replicated that any family can do it, and it’s not too late to do it for Christmas (even ON Christmas) this year. We drove around our neighborhood and looked at all the homes decorated for the holiday. We took note of the addresses as we numbered them. We talked about what made each ornamented yards stand out. And at the end of the night, we voted for our favorite. I had my sons help me make some of our favorite holiday desserts and, in addition to taking p...

Bon Voyage

Many of you are aware that I like to travel. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a few foreign countries and taking a handful of cruises, and I intend to do more in the not-to-distant future. Because you know me, you know I don’t finance these trips–I plan ahead and save for them. And if you’ve followed my blog for a while, you are also aware that I do use one credit card for which I earn flight miles, and I use this card on the trips where I see the world. There is one thing about my credit card for which I am especially grateful–whenever there is suspicious activity on my account, I get a text notification. The credit card company recognizes that charges abroad MIGHT NOT BE LEGIT, and they send me a message. All I have to do is confirm that it is, in fact, me that made the peculiar purchase, and I’m good to go. If I did not make the purchase, I respond in kind, and my card is deactivated. Note to self and others: one could avoid these potential interruptions if one calls credit car...

The Marshmallow Experiment

In 1972, Stanford did a study about delayed gratification with children. It involved giant marshmallows and testing their patience. You can see a short YouTube video about the study here . Basically, the kids who could sit alone with a giant marshmallow without eating it for a certain length of time were rewarded with a second giant marshmallow. Fun, huh? Some kids could be patient and reap the rewards; some could not. I was a small child when the study was conducted, and I wonder which side I might have been on. I HAVE learned to be pretty patient as an adult. One of the areas in which I’ve seen improvement is in finances. I have become a good money manager–I could be paid once annually and budget so that I won’t run out before year’s end, including having enough money to pay my own quarterly taxes–self-employed people do that. Speaking of taxes, I try not to overpay so that I qualify for a “refund,” because the government does not practice The Marshmallow Experiment. Huh? ...

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