Jun 27: Best from the Blogosphere

June 27, 2016

By Sheryl Smolkin

I was noodling around the internet today when I came upon Rock Finance, which scans 200+ articles about money and daily and links to the best ones they think will motivate and inspire readers. Cait Flanders who formerly blogged as “Blonde on a Budget” has partnered with j.money (Budgets are $exy) to populate this site.

Here are a few of the “best money blogs” they have featured recently:
In Revisiting the Latte Factor: The Power of Daily Routine Trent Hamm says giving up your latte and bagel once and saving $8 isn’t a big deal. However, if you cut out 250 purchases, it adds up to $2,000. That’s why he says examining your regular routine and finding ways to save on recurring purchases is important.

Is it ethical to return stuff to the store like the dress you only wore once to the prom or unopened packages of food? When J. Money was a student he gave a used boombox back to Walmart several months after he bought it because he was flat broke and the store had a 90 day return policy. Nevertheless he was very embarrassed and made a vow not to return goods he purchases in future unless he immediately realizes he made a mistake or the goods are damaged.

Mrs. Frugalwoods has WAY more willpower than I do. She says she hasn’t purchased any clothes in 2.5 years and counting. Her initial reasons for enacting a ban on clothes-buying were financial, But then she realized she frequently used to buy clothes more for fun than anything else. And the unexpected benefit of her continuing decision not to buy clothes is that she is increasingly less concerned with her appearance. “I’d much rather save money than buy into the notion that I need to fix my appearance,” she writes .

Mr. Money Mustache offers wealth advice that should be obvious. Some of his colourful suggestions are:

• Don’t try to gamble your way to wealth.
• When you get a windfall, it should go straight to your highest interest debt.
• Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford and don’t need.
• Don’t pay to have stuff stored.
• Don’t look at restaurants as an ongoing source of food.
• Stock up on reasonable amounts of things you use when they go on sale.

And the Financial Samurai writes about slicing through money’s mysteries. He questions why Vacation Money Is Crazy Money. After discussing why his frugal habits fell apart on a recent trip to Paris, he offers some interesting suggestions for controlling vacation spending.

• Create a budget in Excel.
• Spend cash for food and entertainment
• Don’t forget exchange rates
• Where possible combine business travel and personal travel.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card and

 

best money blogs, Blonde on a Budget, Budgets are $exy, Cait Flanders, Financial Samurai, J. Money, Mr. Money Mustache, Mrs. Frugalwoods, Rock Finance, Trent Hamm, WalMart

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