It’s snow joke. (Sorry!)
saving
Everyone knows to put money aside in a cash savings just in case something goes wrong… don’t they?
Status anxiety is the enemy of financial independence. Here’s some high-calibre ammo to help you FIRE back.
Forget peak oil and other abstract catastrophes, you need to grab motivation juice from the personal financial disaster lurking around the corner.
Saving is a long, hard journey and it’s all too easy to give up or go astray. Here are some simple tactics that will help you fulfill your goals.
I lived like a well-off student doing a Masters degree for about 20 years past the date on that lifestyle packet. It saved me a fortune!
Simple strategies for spending more time on holiday for less money while enjoying it more.
Sacrificing consumption now in order to save for the future is meant to be hard. But you can relieve much of the pain by devising a budget in line with how you want to live your life rather than how you’re told to live your life.
Compound interest increase your fortune spectacularly if you give it enough time. So start. Start saving and investing right now.
How to dramatically increase your savings rate to match the most stretching of investment goals.
Free up cash to invest by casting off social pressure and purchasing substitute goods that cost less and mean more.
For my money Hamlet is the character from literature with the best grasp of existential reality. But for the more prosaic day-to-day truth, Mr Micawber has it nailed.
When saving seems like a slog, cheer yourself up with a few thoughts on just how much you’re benefitting from your journey to financial freedom.
It’s the age old question — do you buy a bikini or new pair of Ray-bans now, or do you put the money aside for a nice cardie or a new pair of glasses when you’re 70?
Being a ‘rate tart’ and moving your money to follow the best interest rates may sound nerdy, but it substantially boosts returns.
My friend suspects I’m wealthier than him just because my money is in shares, while his is in property. He’s wrong.
Your emergency fund should be in easily accessible cash. Also, under no circumstances is a half-price trip to the Maldives an emergency.
Back in March 2008, I asked if rising interest rates at Zopa, the British peer-to-peer lender, were an opportunity for cash-rich savers or an accident waiting to happen: In the A*, 24-month market, I seem to be in the zone with an interest rate of 10.5%, which Zopa estimates will give me 9.5% after bad [...]
Anyone who reads personal finance blogs is clearly more interested in money than the average person. If you write a personal finance blog, you’re even more interested in money (even if blogging won’t make you any). Can you be too interested? Are we deluding ourselves into thinking we’re being economically literate, whereas really we’re just [...]
Just when peer-to-peer bank Zopa was getting interesting again thanks to higher rates, it’s somewhat annoyingly announced plans to limit the kinds of loans you can make with your savings. The new regime will see one, two and four-year loan terms scrapped, with only 36 or 60 month loans being offered to borrowers. This means [...]
A quick update to my post of last week discussing Zopa rates rising because of the credit crisis. Rates have now come down – my main lending offer to A* customers is now out of the ‘Zone of Possible Agreement’ (ZOPA), which in English means people can get such better rates from other Zopa lenders [...]
I’ve just been checking out my Zopa savings account, where I’ve noticed interest rates are going up. I only ever lend to A and A* borrowers (people with great or better than great credit records) and the rate Zopa is quoting me as competitive is much higher than usual. In fact, in the A*, 24-month [...]
We can’t wish away the credit crisis. However sensible you or I have been with our investments, borrowing and spending, we can’t wind back the clock and stop bankers throwing money at poor people who’ll never be able to pay it back, and who are often now paying a far higher price – repossession, dislocation, [...]
The safest place to hold your money in the short-term is in cash. Sounds obvious, but cash is money. Shares, property, bonds, gold and pension funds are all assets whose value constantly fluctuates according to the whims of their markets. You can only be certain what such assets are worth when you come to sell [...]
Last night Alastair Darling, the UK Chancellor, guaranteed 100% of savings in Northern Rock – and indeed the Financial Services Authority has since gone further, stating this guarantee extends to other troubled financial institutions that might emerge in coming days. Given the scenes we’ve witnessed since Thursday’s news that Northern Rock required a lifeline from [...]