SavvySugar

Four Tips From Money Zen Achievers

SavvySugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:30:59 -0700

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but there are ways we can find peace with our financial lives and improve our overall well-being. Four people who've achieved a state of money Zen shared their tips with Yahoo Finance, and their advice suggests that keeping it simple is the best path to stress-free finances.

Know where your money goes. Track your spending to target any money leaks.
Know what you want your money to do. Focus on goals and set timelines, then break the goals into smaller steps to make them more manageable. Having your own objectives will keep you from falling into the trap of competing with the Joneses.
Don't carry revolving debt, or have a specific plan to pay it down. Maximize your repayment plan. Adding just another $20 to your monthly payments can make a big difference in the time it takes to pay off your debt.
Invest in your job skills, and don't expand your lifestyle as fast as your salary. Improve your marketability and live below your means.

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Savvy ATM: Your Money, Your Lifestyle

SavvySugar — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:31:06 -0800

Have you heard of lifestyle inflation? It basically means buying things just because you can afford them. Think about it like this: You worked relentlessly over the past year and got yourself a sweet raise. You then spend according to your new salary and don't save any more than you did before you got the raise. Sound familiar?

I'll admit that I've succumbed to lifestyle inflation in the past, though only in very calculated amounts. For example, I got a raise and moved out of my shared apartment in to a more expensive apartment on my own. While I knew I'd be barely living within my means, it was an important move for me and I told myself I'd only live there for a year. And that's just what I did. If I hadn't ended it then, my savings account would be pretty much non-existent by now because it wasn't a sustainable situation.

Lifestyle inflation becomes a problem when your spending levels can't realistically be maintained for the long term. Next time you get a raise, ask yourself if you could have lived without it. Then, buy yourself a pair of high quality power heels that will last a while and put the rest in to your retirement and savings accounts.

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The 2008 Word of the Year Is . . .

SavvySugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:30:15 -0800

2008 is not yet over, yet the final votes have been cast for the word of the year. When I think of the past year, I think foreclosure, but the New Oxford American Dictionary only crowns a word that is unique and was populated in the past year. For example, these four words were runners-up to the word of the year winner.

Frugalista: Person who leads a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying second-hand, growing own produce, etc.
Moofer: A mobile out-of-office worker, as in someone who works away from a fixed workplace, via BlackBerry, a laptop, or Wi-Fi. Also can be used as a verbal noun, as in moofing.
Topless meeting: A meeting in which the participants are barred from using their laptops, BlackBerries, or cellphones.
Toxic debt: Mainly sub-prime debts that are now proving so disastrous to banks. They were parceled up and sent around the global financial system like toxic waste, hence the allusion.

To see the word of the year, read more.

Hypermiling: To hypermile is to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one's car and driving techniques.

According to CNN Money, the term was coined in 2004. Hypermilers are described as drivers who keep their tires properly inflated, remove the roof rack from their vehicles, and turn engines off rather than letting them idle at stoplights.

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Savvy Solution: How Much Should You Save For Retirement?

SavvySugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:50:46 -0800

As fabulous Savvy readers, you probably know by now that retirement is one of my most talked about topics. Maybe you even have dreams about retirement accounts like I do (sad, but true). Exactly how much should you be aiming to save to be golden in your golden years?

It's a highly personal calculation because of a variety of factors, like the cost of living in your area, whether you have any dependents, and your lifestyle and health. Because we can't predict everything in life and have to consider that inflation will take its toll, right now we can only monitor if you're on the right track with your savings plan.

The general rule is that you save 10 percent of your salary to be financially secure in retirement, but that won't necessarily be enough for everybody. The amount you need to save each year primarily depends on three things: your current age, your income, and how much you've already saved. Assume that you'll need about 80 percent of your pre-retirement income for expenses during retirement.

Total Deposits at Washington Mutual are FDIC insured. Thank you to WaMu for sponsoring this post.

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