I have been eagerly anticipating time change. Sure, it means that it’s darker when I leave for work, but the sun will be out longer tonight, which means that I can finally run outside again and not have to run on the treadmill. I can only take the treadmill for so many months.
In a strange way, this is like personal finance. You give up something now (putting money into retirement and savings and therefore, spending less) to get something later (money for retirement, a downpayment on a house, etc). There’s just a bit more instant gratification.
I just returned from the wedding of two of my closest friends. While it turned into an expensive trip, it was absolutely worth it to get to be there for their wedding, plus it was wonderful to get to see so many old friends who I don’t get to spend a lot of time with. While there are a number of other things I could have done with the money it cost me to fly there and stay in the hotel, this expense was worth it to me.
On this slightly sleep deprived day, there is a new Carnival of Personal Finance available! My entry about education is included, and here are some of the other entries I enjoyed:
- How to Use Variable Annuities The Right Way – I often hear that VAs are not the best idea, and this post explains that statement.
- Should We Ask for More Service From the Government? – Big issue in this upcoming election. After talking to a number of friends from Canada, I too lean away from the idea of national health care (though I think that the option of free healthcare for those who can’t afford it isn’t a bad idea)
- Who Says Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness? – I admit, I am happier when I do have the money to pay all my bills and take nice vacations.
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
