A Crash Course in Financial Freedom
Dec 07This is a guest post from Mary Hunt, author of Debt-Proof Living. She also runs the Debt-Proof Living website, and is an inspiration to many frugal folks.Recently, I got a message from Natalie who explained that as part of a financial preparedness night, she’ll have ten minutes to speak about financial freedom. Her question to me was, “What would you talk about if you only had ten...
The War on Work
Dec 06I write a lot at Get Rich Slowly about Financial Independence, by which I essentially mean early retirement (or semi-retirement). That is, accumulating enough money that I no longer have to work. To me, escape from work has always seemed like the ultimate goal.This is probably because my father held out retirement as a sort of Promised Land. He worked hard — if not always effectively — and...
Growing Your Human Capital: 11 Ways to Boost Your Income-Producing Ability
Dec 05This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the adviser for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new article to Get Rich Slowly every two weeks.Unless your last name is Rockefeller, Hilton, or Walton (as in Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart — four of the seven richest Americans are Sam’s heirs) chances...
Does Saving Stimulate the Economy More than Spending?
Dec 05
This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman.When the 2008-09 financial crisis hit, my husband and I were debt-free and building our savings. We were proud of what we’d accomplished, and I used to stare at our savings balance with a smile after every payday. At the time, all I seemed to hear was that we Americans had to spend our way out of a recession, that spending was the key to growth....
How to Sell Your Car on eBay Motors
Dec 04This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently released a guide to help people attack and sell their excess clutter entitled “Sell Your Crap“.Several weeks ago, I wrote about the early stages of my quest to sell a family car. While I had always used either the local newspaper, word of mouth, or Craigslist to help sell my automobiles, I’ve recently run across several stories...
Dinner with the Diehards: A Chat About Investing
Dec 03It’s been a long time since I wrote about investing at Get Rich Slowly. I haven’t abandoned the subject, but my mind has been on other things. Besides, I’ve been practicing what I preach. I’ve invested my money in low-cost index funds (and some bonds), and I never make a trade. Because I know it pays to ignore financial news, I have. Earlier this week, I peeked at my portfolio for the...
5 Habits of Highly-Effective Credit Card Users
Dec 03
This is a guest post from Beverly Harzog, who writes about credit cards and personal finance at Card Ratings. Harzog is the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Person-to-Person Lending.When I was in my early twenties, I was a credit card mess. I’d go shopping with my credit card in hand and not worry about how much I spent until the bill came. At that point, though, I’d start...
Shopping with Confidence, and the Clean Slate
Dec 02“Does this shirt make me look fat?” I asked Kris the other day. I was trying on clothes as I packed for our upcoming vacation in France and Italy. I want to limit myself to just four or five shirts for the trip. (Truly light packers would probably only take two shirts.)“Well,” Kris said. “It’s not that the shirt makes you look fat. It’s just way too big on you. It looks like a...
