As featured in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and more!

Planning

Evaluating My Progress Towards 2009 Goals

by Luke Landes

Now that the halfway mark of 2009 has passed by, it wouldn’t hurt to review the financial mini-goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year and determine how far I have strayed from my path. For me, these goals are only milestones. They help my gauge my progress but numbers in my ... Continue reading this article…

5 comments Read the full article →

Goals Bring About Real Results

by Jeff

Do you have a 5-year financial plan? What about just a general idea? Do you know where you want to be financially in 25 years? Have you ever set a financial goal? If you decided you wanted to save $5,000 this year, could you do it? Far too often we get into situations where we ... Continue reading this article…

2 comments Read the full article →

How To Be Twenty Times Better Than Barack Obama

by Luke Landes

I offered to write articles for Quicken occasionally, and the first of these articles was published yesterday. It focuses on trimming budgets and expenditures. President Obama has proposed cutting the federal budget by $17 billion. That’s a large amount of money, but it’s a tiny slice, 0.5 percent, of the total federal budget. Here is an ... Continue reading this article…

4 comments Read the full article →

Money Basics: Budgets

by Luke Landes

April is National Financial Literacy Month in the United States. In most cases, schools do not extensively teach financial skills. Teenagers, highly susceptible to messages from the media, often do not have guidance from teachers, who are not trained to teach financial skills, or from parents, many of whom do not model healthy financial behavior. ... Continue reading this article…

14 comments Read the full article →

Flexo’s Financial Goals and Resolutions for 2009

by Luke Landes

One lesson I learned this past year, after setting financial goals for 2008 and evaluating my progress as of last week, is that I shouldn’t set goals that are heavily dependent upon forces beyond my control, such as the stock market at large. My main target of a $210,000 “modified net worth” assumed the stock ... Continue reading this article…

19 comments Read the full article →

Evaluating This Year’s Progress Against My Goals

by Luke Landes

In December 2007, I set a number of financial goals or targets to be accomplished by the end of this year. In some cases I was successful while in others I fell short. It’s important to keep things in perspective; when I set these goals, the economy was in a significantly different state. The goals ... Continue reading this article…

7 comments Read the full article →

Take Control of Your Finances Part 7: Set Goals

by Luke Landes

Last month, I began writing about the process of taking control of one’s own financial condition. It’s common to outline any process by describing a series of steps, and that is the form I have chosen for writing about this particular process. The steps I’ve described roughly follow my experience as I learned to take ... Continue reading this article…

9 comments Read the full article →

Finance, Goals, and the Internal Locus of Control

by Luke Landes

This morning, I posted an article on one of my favorite blogs about personal finance, Get Rich Slowly. The article follows my ongoing transformation from an external to an internal locus of control philosophy and explains why an internal point of view is more beneficial to achieving financial goals. Please read Financial Success Comes From ... Continue reading this article…

0 comments Read the full article →

No More Credit Card Debt: Now What?

by Smithee

In about 6.5 months, I will be free of credit card debt for the first time since 1998. Much like Inigo Montoya and the “Revenge Business”, now that it’s over, I don’a know what to do with the rest of my life. Readers of Consumerism Commentary have proven their wisdom many times over, so I’d ... Continue reading this article…

14 comments Read the full article →

If Monthly Budgets Don’t Excite You, Try This

by Luke Landes

I have never been a fan of a monthly budget. In early 2002, when I admitted I was spending more than I was earning, I forced myself to enact categorical limits for my expenses. It helped for a short time, but it wasn’t long before I found myself with a new spending philosophy and more ... Continue reading this article…

6 comments Read the full article →

Turbo Charge Your Financial Transformation

by Guest Author

About the author: This is a guest post by the anonymous author of the blog Father Sez, a father of four children who wishes to share with and learn from other parents with the goal of preparing children for facing the world independently. You know your financial life is in a mess. You know the ... Continue reading this article…

9 comments Read the full article →

Actual vs. Budget Report, January 2008

by Luke Landes

For the first time in several years, I decided to design a budget for myself. I’ve never been a fan of budgets. While I used one when absolutely necessary to get myself on track initially, after recovering from low income and high expenses, I decided to ditch the idea when I was comfortable spending significantly ... Continue reading this article…

16 comments Read the full article →

Flexo’s Financial Goals: First Check-Up

by Luke Landes

As January comes to a close, it might be a good idea to take a look at the year-long goals I created for myself at the beginning of the year and my progress so far. Goal 1: $100,000 in additional income. As of today, I am right on track for earning $100,000 outside of my ... Continue reading this article…

10 comments Read the full article →

Helping Mom Retire, Part 1: Conquering the Stack

by Sasha

My mother and I have recently started the journey to retirement together. By together, I mean that she’s starting to consider retiring in the next few years, while I’m realizing just how much help she’s going to need in order to get there. I’m up to the challenge, but it’s going to be a lot ... Continue reading this article…

4 comments Read the full article →

Flexo’s Budget for 2008

by Luke Landes

I decided this year that a rudimentary budget would help me further analyze my spending beyond my monthly income and expense reports. Since moving to my new apartment last July, my discretionary expenses have been increasing. Perhaps designing a spending plan and evaluating my real expenses against the budget each month will help me rein ... Continue reading this article…

6 comments Read the full article →

Importance of Budgeting Relates to Financial Condition and Habits

by Luke Landes

Businesses use budgeting to forecast income and expenses for the year. With a budget, individuals who manage companies’ money will have a decent of idea of how much cash they need at any time of the year to meet the company’s obligations. Personal budgets work the same way. At the beginning of the year, it’s ... Continue reading this article…

6 comments Read the full article →

5 Stupid Financial Mistakes I Made in 2007: Failing to Establish a Spending Budget

by Sasha

Unlike my first mistake, Failing to Utilize the Energy Tax Credit, my next mistake is one where I at least have a second chance. It’s not too late to fix this one for 2008. 2. Failing to Establish a Spending Budget I tried to spend less, consider my purchases more, and get the best deals ... Continue reading this article…

7 comments Read the full article →

Morning Roundup: Goals Across the Web

by Luke Landes

Now that I set my financial goals for 2008, I have to start taking steps to achieve them. This is only the second year I’ve set goals like this for myself, and after good results last year, I’m feeling confident. Do you set goals for yourself? Feel free to share them within the comments, particularly ... Continue reading this article…

18 comments Read the full article →

Flexo’s Financial Goals and Resolutions for 2008

by Luke Landes

I noted recently that most people fail at financial new year’s resolutions. That may because of the tradition that the typical “resolution” is a light-hearted attempt at improving one’s self, many times uttered in a drunken state, without much of a plan for attainment. If you want to succeed, set a real, solid goal, devise ... Continue reading this article…

4 comments Read the full article →

Full 2007 Goal Review: How Well Did I Meet My Goals?

by Luke Landes

On December 30, 2006 I officially announced my financial goals for 2007. Before I set new goals for 2008, I should take a look at my progress this year. Below, I’ll cite the goals I set a year ago and evaluate my progress. Income: Generate $40,000 in revenue outside of my day job. I think ... Continue reading this article…

33 comments Read the full article →
Page 2 of 3123