Finance « Previous Entries

Introduction

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

What I am going to be talking about here is freedom. Not in the sense of Preserving Our Liberties and Fighting The Great Government Conspiracies, but the things that really impact our personal lives.
Not that government encroachment on our traditional liberty isn’t a worrying trend, and I may touch on it now and then, but […]

Independence Day

Sunday, March 4th, 2007

The best way to maximize your freedom, to give yourself the most choice in how you live your life, is to be financially independent. That’s not quite the same as being rich and it’s a long way from having a high income, though a high income can certainly help you achieve financial independence if […]

The Things You Own Own You.

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

The other day I talked about how a modest lifestyle eases the road to financial independence, and how I was reluctant to spending a lot of money on a new car. That’s because of my nemesis, Fixed Monthly Expenses.
All of us have this monkey…or gorilla…or King Kong…on our backs. Your fixed monthly expenses […]

The Incredible Shrinking Wage

Wednesday, March 7th, 2007

I’m going to be referring now and then to how much time you have to work in order to pay for this or that. When looking at your rate of pay for the purpose of these calculations (or any similar figuring you might be doing on your own) don’t simply use your official rate […]

Home Sweet Home

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007

News stories about the collapse–or at least contraction–of the mortgage banking industry are once again in season. Foreclosures are up and foreclosures are bad for everyone. Families lose their homes and banks get stuck owning houses they don’t want. My sympathies would be with the families, except that it’s partly their fault.
The […]

The Things You Own Own You, Pt.2

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Fixed expenses are only one of the things crushing your financial independence. The other big weight is, as you might guess, variable monthly expenses.
Some of what I call fixed expenses can actually vary quite a bit from month to month (mainly utility bills), but you know that bill is going to be there every […]

Just a Reminder

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

Your bank cannot be trusted. They will steal money from you by any means available, at any time, and call it a ‘fee.’ You can often call and yell at them and get the fee waived, but it’s a pain in the ass and they count on most people not doing it.
But what […]

Whose Money Is it?

Saturday, May 19th, 2007

Ever buy anything on ‘layaway’ or any similar arrangement? If you’re handing over money, but not getting the goods, you’re probably doing something wrong. The vendor has your money, but doesn’t have to provide anything in return. You don’t have your money, or whatever it is you’re buying.
Try this: Instead of […]

What You Save May Someday Save You

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007

Are you doing well right now? Making money hand-over-fist? Living large? Think the good times are going to last forever?
Maybe they will. But then, maybe not. The foreclosure lists are full of people who thought the money would never stop coming.
The most important thing you can do to […]

The Blind Leading the Stupid

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

I see that the mortgagepocalypse continues apace. Perhaps it’s easy for me to point fingers, burdened with only a sensible mortgage and in a housing market that isn’t in free fall, but I feel little sympathy for either the home owners who are losing their houses or the bankers who are losing their […]

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