How rich is rich?

January 5th, 2009 LivingAlmostLarge

We all understand that it’s your net worth that defines how wealthy you really feel. So you can be rich while making $30k but feel broke making $300k!  I figured since the year is starting out, perhaps now would be a great time to dream big and perhaps make “reach” goals.

But I was reading old MP Dunleavy articles and she wrote about “Just How Rich is Rich, Really?”  How much would you need to be earning to really feel rich?

The answers are not surprising but here they are from a 2003 Gallup Poll.  Only 2% of Americans describe themselves as “rich”.  And rich is defined as income more than $120k or assets more than $1 million.

However, when they interviewed MSN money board readers (of which I’m one of the 11,000), most said it would take at least $5 million for them to feel rich.  That’s how I feel, at least $5 million.  $1 million doesn’t far nowadays it seems.

Oprah Winfrey

January 5th, 2009 Ashley

Here’s the first woman in my self made men (and women!) series.  Oprah. Love her or hate her, there’s no denying her power.  She was recently named number one on Forbes Top 100 Celebrities, earning a whopping 275 million in 2008.  From a six year old girl wearing a potato sack dress to a millionaire at age 32, she has an amazing story to tell.

Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 to two unmarried teenagers.  She was raised by her grandmother until age six.  Her grandmother was a huge influence on her life and was the source of great encouragement.  At age six she went to live with her mother in Milwaukee.  Her Uncle, cousin, and a family friend began molesting her at age 9.  At age 13, tired of the abuse, she ran away from home.  At age 14 she gave birth to a son, but he died as an infant.  Her mother then sent her to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, in Nashville.

Painless Ways To Trim The Budget

January 5th, 2009 Kristy

Here at Master Your Card we talk a lot about budgets and something we mention whenever budgets come up is ‘trimming the fat’ to help you save money. What we don’t do is give you some ideas on WHAT to trim. There’s the standard issue “cut the trips to Starbucks” that everyone mentions, but let’s face it, sometimes you need to cut more than that. So, here’s a list of seven things you can cut and trim from your budget.

# 1 - Luxuries

This one definitely includes things like going to Starbucks, but that’s not the only one to consider. This also includes giving up name brands when generic will do. I realize this will start a bit of a debate, but I didn’t say EVERYTHING had to be generic. I am one of those who refuses to eat generic cereal because I can taste the difference. In this instance, generic simply won’t do. However, here’s a few of the store-brand items I’ll buy to save a few bucks!

- Dairy (eggs, milk, etc.)

New page

January 5th, 2009 Ashley

Hey guys… real quick.

I’ve added a new page to site with links to all the recipes I’ve posted in the past.  See the link at the top of the post in the blue stripe, it says Frugal Recipes.  See it?  That’s it.  If you are reading this in your reader come by and check it out.  Or click here.

If you have a recipe that you think belongs on that page send it to me and I’ll try it out.  Or if you have a blog and have posted a recipe or two… or bunches, let me know.  I would be happy to link to it.  I know I’ve seen some delicious looking frugal meals out there.

Until next time…

Do I Stay or Go? One Woman’s Struggle To Step Out On Her Own (Video)

January 5th, 2009 Ginger

How likely are you to leave a bad marriage if you have no education or poor career prospects? I realize there may be other factors such as children, years put into the marriage and each party’s willingness to work things out.

But let’s put that aside for the moment.

I have always always said that I wouldn’t want a lack of education or financial viability without my husband to stop me from leaving should things go sour.  While I value the sanctity of marriage, my sanity comes above all else and if it’s bad, I have to go.  God forbid I ever get to a point where I want out, I don’t want my future to be dependent on a random divorce settlement arbitrarily determined by a judge.

If you’ve been keeping up with me on Twitter, then you know I watched the movie This Christmas at least 3 times this weekend LOL  I had no idea it was that good!  But a few scenes caught my eye and I immediately thought of this post because this is a message I want to drive home to women.  Do not let your lack of career prospects or financial viability without your husband stop you from leaving a bad situation.  If this is the case then get in a position where you have options.  This also happens to be the central message of this blog, teaching women how to take charge of their finances so they are able to make decisions not bound by  financial limitations.

Weekly Carnivals

January 4th, 2009 LivingAlmostLarge

So this week I’m starting a turbotax giveaway.  Subscribe to my RSS or Email feeds in the left sidebar, and EMAIL me the secret word; subject turbotax.  I will change the secret word every sunday (Saturday night) for the next 2 weeks.  So everyone will have 3 chances to win.  I’m giving away 3 copies of turbotax and will draw the winners 1/25/09.  I will mail it out asap as long as you get back to me with your contact info.

But here are the last carnivals I participated in

• 184th Carnival of Personal Finance
• 157th Festival of Frugality
• 12-29-08 Carnival of Twenty-Something Finances
• 39th Carnival of Money Hacks
• 90th Carnival of Money Stories
• 12-22-08 Carnival of Credit Report Stories
• 16th Carnival of Bankruptcy and Debt
• 12-20-08 Carnival of Financial Planning
• 2nd Everything Credit Carnival

I admit to not really reading blogs during my vacation, so I’m sorry.  I did however have a great vacation.  I’ll talk about it more this week.
Secret Word - Bichon Frise

2008 Net Worth Wrap Up

January 3rd, 2009 LivingAlmostLarge

So this is the end of the year and december wrap up for our net worth.  It’s been a bad year obviously for investment but at least we still are working and contributing.  Things could obviously be worse.  We’re debating contributing to our Roth IRA this month, instead we are considering waiting till the end of 2009.  This is due to the fact that my DH is considering starting his own business and would rather keep the cash for start up costs.  If he doesn’t start the business we’ll contribute to the Roth IRA sooner.

As you can see we basically kept our Net Worth the same over 2008. Not a great thing considering we maxed out a 401k @ $15.5k, 2 Roth IRAs $10k, and a 401k match of $6k from the company. So we should have increased by contributions alone our net worth by $30k in our retirement account. We also paid off $7500 of our mortgage, which was close to negating our increase in student loan debt of $8500.

TurboTax Giveaway!

January 3rd, 2009 LivingAlmostLarge

So I promised a turbotax giveaway and I’m doing it a day late.  Here’s how it’s going to work.  You have to subscribe to my Blog Feed and EMAIL me the word posted at the end of the posts.

I’ve got 3 turbotaxes to give away and for 3 Sundays in January, the 4th, 11th, and 18th will give people an opportunity to enter the contest.  So you can have up to 3 entries into the Drawing.  I’ll draw the winners 1/25/09 and mail it out ASAP.

The turbotax giveaway is for the business edition so a free $50 to something most of you readers buy anyway.

So to enter, you have to EMAIL me at livingalmost at gmail dot com, subject turbotax, and tell me the secret word.   The secret word will change on each sunday and you have 3 chances to enter each!  So please spread the word and enjoy.

New Meetup: Visualizing Your Financial Success via SMART GOALS

January 3rd, 2009 Ginger

The DC Chapter of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds is having their first meetup of 2009!  Check it out:

2009 is upon us and we’ve talked about goal setting being an integral part of achieving financial success. Specifically SMART goals:

Specific

WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc.

Measurable

Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific! “I want to read 3 chapter books of 100 pages on my own before my birthday” shows the specific target to be measure. “I want to be a good reader” is not as measurable.

Attainable

Shop for next year

January 2nd, 2009 LivingAlmostLarge

Well it’s the day after New Year’s and I’m sure many people have the day off to make it a long weekend.  So what are you going to do this long weekend?  My suggestion, though it’s going to be tough to do is shop more.  Yikes!

To be honest I’m dreading shopping myself, but right now it’s a great time to shop and stock on dirt cheap prices on gifts for next year.  Also since you just saw people, perhaps you’ll have it fresh in your mind what they might be hoping for next year or mentioned loving in general.

Also now is the time to buy decorations, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, boxes at significant discounts (50-75% off in many cases) in preparation for next year. I always hated going shopping, but my mom would buy this year’s deals for next year and the cycle would continue the next year.  She would always “pre-buy” holiday gifts, decorations, etc.

By stocking up now, she was also able to get presents done over Thanksgiving weekend instead of waiting to go shopping, then wrapping, then mailing off gifts.  Instead she got to do them early before the rush, then relax during the holidays, then start preparing right after the holidays are done.