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spending

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

October 7, 2021 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: How gratitude can help your financial life. Also in the news: What’s being fixed with student loan forgiveness, a new Smart Money podcast deep dive on investing strategies, and what happens when you’re too sick to pay your credit card bills.

How Gratitude Can Help Your Financial Life
Taking stock of what you have.

Student Loan Forgiveness: What’s Getting Fixed?
Public service loan forgiveness is being repaired.

Smart Money Podcast: Nerdy Deep Dives: Investing, Part 3
Exploring investment strategies.

I Was in a Coma and Couldn’t Pay My Credit Card Bills
After a medical emergency, your card issuer may be able to make accommodations to lessen the financial strain.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: credit card bills, Credit Score, gratitude, illness, Investing, investment strategies, public service student loan forgiveness, Smart Money podcast, spending

Friday’s need-to-know money news

March 29, 2019 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: There’s more than one way to slay a debt. Also in the news: How to know when it’s OK to spend, 3 steps to spring cleaning your credit card debt, and what to do when you desperately need help with medical bills.

There’s More Than One Way to Slay a Debt
These key points could help.

How to Know When It’s OK to Spend
Loosening the purse strings.

3 Steps to Spring-Cleaning Your Credit Card Debt
Time to shake the dust off.

What To Do When You Desperately Need Help With Medical Bills
Looking into medical debt forgiveness.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: credit card debt, debt, debt forgiveness, medical debt, spending, tips

How to know when it’s OK to spend

March 26, 2019 By Liz Weston

Some people are much better savers than spenders. That can become a problem.

Certified financial planner DeDe Jones recalls clients, retired schoolteachers, who loved to travel but kept putting off the trip to China and Southeast Asia they’d always wanted to take.

“The husband started having health issues, and they missed the opportunity,” says Jones, managing director of Innovative Financial in Lakewood, Colorado. “The widow is doing fine financially, but is feeling regret.”

The ability to delay gratification is important for building wealth. But in my latest for the Associated Press, why gratification delayed too long can leave us unhappy with the results.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: spending, tips

Q&A: How to cut back after spending a windfall

March 12, 2018 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: I inherited a substantial amount of money when a relative died. I put most of it in retirement funds, but as a few stray accounts were found, sometimes I just deposited them in my bank account and lived comfortably on $1,000 to $2,000 over my normal income. I have no debt, but I’ve grown accustomed to this extra cash. What’s the best way to reel back into a lifestyle I can afford on my $62,000 annual salary?

Answer: Those windfalls represented a substantial increase to your regular income, so cutting back may be painful. It’s so much easier to ramp up our lifestyles than to crank them back.

Start by tracking your spending. Once you understand your patterns, you can figure out where to cut back.

Don’t automatically assume that the luxuries you were able to buy with the extra money are now off limits. If you traveled more and enjoyed it, for example, that should still have a place in your budget. You could cut elsewhere to make sure travel is part of your life. If some of your spending didn’t bring you much joy, though, pay attention to that as well. You may have started eating out more only to find your health suffered, or you didn’t enjoy it that much, and you’d be fine doing that less often.

Your goal with any spending plan should be identifying which expenditures are important to you and which aren’t — then reducing the latter so you can have more of the former.

Filed Under: Budgeting, Inheritance, Q&A Tagged With: budgets, Inheritance, q&a, spending, windfall

Wednesday’s need-to-know money news

November 29, 2017 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: 3 reasons to be petrified of Bitcoin. Also in the news: A ‘Born Spender’ goes on a spending fast, how to stop your grown kids from ruining your retirement, and how to hide gifts from your partner when you share bank accounts.

3 Reasons to Be Petrified of Bitcoin
The cryptocurrency reaches an all-time high.

How I Ditched Debt: ‘Born Spender’ Goes on a Spending Fast
Changing their ways.

How To Stop Your Grown Kids From Ruining Your Retirement
Protecting your future.

How to Hide Gifts From Your Partner When You Share Bank Accounts
Tips for holiday giving.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: adult children, BItcoin, budget, cryptocurrency, gifts, holidays, Retirement, Savings, spending

‘Smart’ money moves that aren’t so smart

May 23, 2017 By Liz Weston

The odds of winning a lottery are infinitesimal. Yet inevitably, someone does. Inspired by the idea of a huge payoff, millions of people burn money on lottery tickets.

The financial strategies below aren’t as much of a long shot as the lottery. More than a handful of people may actually benefit. But many who are tempted to use them don’t understand how high the odds are stacked against success. In my latest for the Associated Press, what seem like smart money moves on the surface may hide perils underneath.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: money moves, Savings, spending

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