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Make Your Own Sanitizing Wipes
Dear Mary: I would like to find a recipe to make hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. Do you know of one? — Delores, e-mail
Dear Delores: I have been thinking about the same thing, now that we're learning that products like Purell are …Read more.
7 Simple Ways To Stretch Food Further
Buying groceries on sale and cooking meals at home are excellent ways to keep the cost of food under control, but there are other things we can do. Here, for your enjoyment, are simple ways other "Everyday Cheapskate" readers make food and …Read more.
Why You Can't Afford Credit Card Debt
Last year, the Federal Reserve Board announced new rules for banks that issue credit cards. The rules will remove unfair credit card practices. Months later, Congress passed into law the new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure …Read more.
For You: A Few of My Favorite Things
Last year, a friend of mine had the best idea. She made gift baskets for her friends filled with her favorite things. Taking a nod from her, I'd like to give you a virtual basket filled with some of my personal favorite things.
—Real Salt. I'm …Read more.
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Steps for Keeping Your Financial SanityAlbert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If Dr. Einstein was right, I hear from a lot of insane people. They are not willing to stop living on credit, but they believe that I magically can tell them how to get out of debt. Until they stop doing the same thing over and over again, they are not going to get different results. That's not the end of my mailbag, however. I hear from countless people who are willing to change the way they are managing their money. They're seekers of financial sanity, and for them, I offer these simple yet powerful steps: —Change your mind about credit. Stop seeing it as the way out. You know that using credit causes debt, so stop doing it. Don't allow credit to be an option as you manage the money you have and the obligations you have incurred. Instead, unload your obligations until you are able to pay for your lifestyle with less than the money you earn. —Give and save. No matter how pitiful your financial situation, you have to stop doing what you've been doing over and over again: spending all that you earn plus more, which you haven't earned yet. Here are the two magic bullets that will change your life: giving and saving. Your goal is to give away 10 percent of your income and save another 10 percent for your future. —Create balance. —Commit to cash. You can't use credit if you don't have credit available. Get the cards out of your wallet. Cash your next paycheck, and divvy it up in simple paper envelopes labeled according to your needs: rent, food, gas and so on. Place the amounts you'll need for those items into the corresponding envelopes. Then spend from these envelopes instead of using checks or cards. When an envelope is empty, you're done spending until the next fill-up. The great thing about financial sanity is that it is a choice. You can keep doing things the way you always have done them before and keep your fingers crossed that you'll get a different result, or you can choose to change your attitude by implementing new behaviors. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM ??
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