Financial Commandment #4: Avoid a Paycheck to Paycheck Lifestyle

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Have you ever seen those pictures or videos of people walking on a tightrope between two very tall buildings?  All those pictures are from a long time ago and it seems not many people do that as a thrill anymore (I wonder why??).  Besides that, they are also extremely scary to watch.  Walking on what seems like a razor thin piece of rope where one false move or breath will send you hurtling to your doom.  Very stressful stuff.

Steady now…

Yet, this is how a lot of Americans are going about their financial lives nowadays.  One unfortunate move or event, and their whole financial lives will come crashing down.  This is a very stressful way to live, exhibited by the large increase in anti depressant and anti anxiety medications being used nowadays.  But it’s not a simple pill that will take people off the financial tightrope.  It’s a dedication to get off the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle that is all too common nowadays.  Having some financial breathing room can make all the difference in the world, especially when the big monthly bills come due.  Here are some immediate steps to take in order to get off the tightrope of financial ruin:

Take stock of your current situation:  You have to know where you stand first before you start towards your goal.  Start tracking your monthly income and expenses.  You don’t have to do a budget or anything like that since budgets are not for everyone.  But it is important to know what your income minus your expenses are.  If your expenses are greater or pretty close to your income, you are living paycheck to paycheck.  This is pretty easy to do especially if you use credit cards for most things.  But if you don’t, a simple pen and paper will do.

Cut as many expenses as you’re comfortable with.  Then cut some more:  Living a step away from financial ruin is no way to live.  It’s not worth cable TV.  It’s not worth having a smartphone.  And it’s not worth paying more than you have to for anything.  Cut out non essential expenses, especially those you don’t use much.  This includes the aforementioned cable TV and smartphones, but can also include gym memberships, subscriptions, and excess eating out.  Also, try to minimize those those things you need like car insurance, groceries and clothing.  Many people pay way too much for these things without even knowing it.

Make more money:  Sounds simple enough.  But it’s tough to implement unless you’re motivated to do it.  And getting out of the paycheck to paycheck rut should be enough motivation.  While you’re minimizing your expenses, it’s important to work on the other side of the equation as well by maximizing your income.  Even something like working one extra day a month can make a difference.  You need to do whatever you can to get out of this situation, and once you do you can resume working as many hours as you’re comfortable with.  But find ways to make more money, be it working more hours, selling stuff or using some of your existing skills as some side income.

Build up a reserve:  By cutting expenses or making some more money (or, ideally, both), you are increasing the amount of money you have leftover for the month.  This “gap” between income and expenses is what creates real wealth and will save you from the paycheck to paycheck predicament.  Now it’s important to build up some sort of cash reserve in your checking account or a savings account.  This money should be relatively easy to access as it should be used for “emergency” situations that inevitably happen such as car trouble or surprises at the dentist.

Such unexpected events would be enough to derail a person walking a tightrope and cause them to plummet, either by forcing them to incur credit card debt or even something as drastic as declaring bankruptcy.  This is the importance of a having a reserve or “emergency” fund.

Make it grow:  By optimizing your expenses and income and having a healthy amount of reserve money, you are ahead of 95% of Americans financially.  I don’t have any figures to back that up, but it’s probably true since the vast majority of Americans are in credit card debt.  At this point, it’s wise to give your money the opportunity to grow over time.  This can be done in many ways such as increasing your 401k contribution, investing in mutual funds, buying rental property or starting that business you’ve always dreamed of.  This is the path to real wealth, and what a steady and glorious path it is.

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What Baseball can Teach you about your Finances

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There is nothing like the start of the baseball season.  Even thought the season seems interminably long, there is something about the anticipation of the Opening Day of baseball games.  It means spring is right around the corner.  Green grass will soon be visible under the dark gray mounds of snow.  And the smell of fresh hot dogs will permeate the ballparks (I’m not sure how “fresh” a hot dog can be, but let’s go with it.)  I’m much more partial to following NFL and NBA games, but with football over and basketball being really boring until the playoffs start, baseball will have to do.

And if there’s one thing I love about sports besides watching them, it’s sports analogies.  I really think any philosophy of life can be explained through sports analogies.  The importance of teamwork in winning games and getting things done successfully in life.  Doing the hard work behind the scenes will usually lead to a good performance on the field and in your career.  The analogies are endless.  There is probably no sport more amenable to analogies than baseball.  After doing some thinking, there are a good number of analogies that can apply to personal finance.  Here are some of the better ones I thought of.

(A fair warning for those who don’t like baseball or don’t get sports analogies.  Just turn back now.  This could get ugly.  Read a Financial Commandment and call it a day.)

Good pitching is essential, but you need to score runs to win

Increasing your personal cash flow is a simple proposition.  Increase the amount of money coming in and decrease the amount of money going out.  Make more money and spend less of it.  In baseball terms, that means score more runs and don’t let the other team score runs.  Having a good set of pitchers and sound defensive play from your fielders will keep the opponents runs to a minimum.  But this alone is not going to win you the championship (That’s why we’re playing the game isn’t it??!!).  You need to be able to put runs up on the board in order to make up for any small inevitable mistakes from the defense.

This means that having a budget and watching where your money goes is not enough in itself.  Sometimes we spend too much on food in a month.  A car repair is needed.  An impromptu vacation is booked.  Things fall through the cracks sometimes so it’s important we put a lot of effort into making more money as well.  It can make up for any small mistakes we make and keep our cash flow going higher and higher.  You can save only so much money.  But the ability to make more money is endless.

Want proof?  The Boston Red Sox scored 853 runs last season, more than any other team in the league.  They also ended up winning the World Series.

As far as allowing the least runs by opponents?  The best 3 teams were Atlanta, Pittsburgh and the LA Dodgers.  All had pretty good regular seasons, but couldn’t quite go all the way.  Shows you that having a good spending plan is necessary and puts you in a great position, but it is consistently increasing your net worth that will get you to the promised land.

You’re eventually going to swing and miss.  You just have to learn from it

Legendary Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams famously said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”  A 30% hit rate is awesome in the baseball world, but is terrible in everything else.  Something useful can be gleaned from these words though.  Which is that failure is inevitable.  You can literally plan for it.  There is no one who has never made a mistake at some point when it comes to their finances.  Be it a poor mutual fund selection, higher than expected credit card bills, or a home improvement project that just won’t stay under budget, mistakes will be made. 

The important thing is to, of course, learn from them.  But it is also important to read blogs just like this one to read about others financial blunders and try our best to avoid them.

Put your pitcher in the best position possible to win the matchup

A common predicament for baseball managers is when their starting pitcher is getting tired and has just let up a couple of hits.  The opponent is threatening and it’s clear your pitcher is gassed.  It’s time to go to the bullpen and choose the best relief pitcher for the situation.  Who to choose can be a tricky choice.  Some pitchers pitch better at home.  Some are better at night.  Some are terrible against certain hitters.  All these variables must be considered before choosing the pitcher that will give you the best chance to win.

Personal finance is no different.  Someone who has a lot of credit card debt and someone who has none should not be doing the same thing with their money.  The person with a lot of debt should try to get by with a smaller emergency fund while paying down their debt, while the person with no debt can save up for a more comfortable emergency fund and invest some money as well.  An professional looking to pay less taxes could opt to put more money in their 401k and HSA accounts.  Everyone has a different situation, and there is no one answer to solve everyone’s issue.  The best action is to analyze where you are and where you want to be, and find the most efficient way to get there.  Simply running the numbers will tell you what you should be doing in many cases.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint

A Major League Baseball team has to play 162 games in the regular season.  That’s a whole lot of games.  Players can get worn down and team morale can take a hit.  The important thing to do is to keep the goal in sight.  If your goal is to win the World Series, brooding over that fluke loss you suffered 2 months ago will not help you get there.  Conversely, reveling in a win against a hated opponent can be your undoing if you lose 3 games in a row right after.

Baseball teams are in it for the long haul, and so are your finances.  For example, if you make an awesome plan to repay your student loan debt, focus on paying off that debt going forward rather than looking at the past few years where you didn’t get around to it.  If you are able to make the extra payments for a whole year, be proud of that but make sure to do it against next year.  Not making your monthly payments a couple of times can derail your plan and your confidence.  As the most overused cliche in the world tells us:  Slow and steady wins the race.

All right well I’m all analogied out for now.  Hopefully those of you who enjoy sports analogies got something from this post.  And those that don’t like them hopefully read this far somehow.  Until next Opening Day.

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An Essential Rewards Credit Card

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I love the world of credit card rewards.  I hate the world of credit card debt.  Guess which world the credit card companies want us to live in?  Many people ask which is the “best” reward card?  That is an inherently difficult question because it depends on what your goal is.  If your goal is domestic travel, there is a certain class of cards which would be best.  If your goal is international travel, there is another group of cards to consider.  And if your goal is cash back, there is a whole other set of cards to look into.

Well, I think I found the rewards card that is the “best”.  Or close to it anyway.  I have had it for a couple of months and it has really made the process of choosing the right credit card from my wallet a little easier.  The card I speak of is the Fidelity Investment Rewards Card.  It is an American Express branded card but FIA Card Services sends you the bill.

The "best" rewards card you can find

The “best” rewards card you can find

Here are the main advantages of this card:

2% cash back on EVERYTHING.  That’s right.  Any purchase you can think of.  Especially useful for those times where no other rewards credit card seems appropriate.  Paying a co-pay at a doctor’s office.  Paying the ticket for the parking garage.  Donating to a charity of your choice online.  You will not find any card that gives you 2% back on every single purchase that doesn’t have an annual fee.  Which brings me to the next perk.

No annual fee.  If you want one go to card where you won’t have to worry about any fees, this would be the one.  There are some travel cards which give 2% cash back, but it’s only for certain travel purchases and there is usually an annual fee involved.  There are other no annual fee cash back cards that have 5% categories, but they are limited and only last for a few months.  This card gives you the assurance of getting 2% back on everything and not having to worry about a fee.  Priceless.

Unlimited rewards.  There is no cap or time limit on any rewards.  If your normal spend is $10,000 a month (which is a lot but there are ways to make it happen even if you don’t ACTUALLY spend that much), you will get a $200 reward per month.  That’s $2,400 for the year.  Tax free and yours to spend as you wish.  Very tough to beat that.

Sign up bonus:  On 3/19/14, I came across a sign up bonus offer for this card.  It’s a $75 bonus after spending $500 within 60 days of opening the account.  Not the greatest sign up bonus, but better than nothing.

There are some hoops to jump through to get this card, but it should only take a few steps to get through them.  To get this card, you MUST have an associated account with Fidelity.  This includes an IRA, 529 plan or a brokerage account to buy and sell stocks and mutual funds.  Seems like a lot of work to get a credit card right?  It used to be, until Fidelity allowed you to simply open a checking account with them.  Their checking account is called the Cash Management Account, and opening one allows you to sign up for their amazing Investment Rewards credit card.  Pretty simple process and actually a pretty good checking account.  No ATM fees and unlimited check writing.  I test drove it but ultimately didn’t go with it because their website is a little clunky and I already had similar features with my current checking account.

In any case, signing up for their checking account gives you the ability to apply for the credit card.  Once approved, you start using it and when you hit enough rewards, you can transfer it directly into the checking account.  You can transfer rewards in increments of $50.  From there you can use it to do anything.  Get cash from an ATM.  Pay part of your credit card bill.  Or transfer it to your regular checking account.  It’s a pretty simple process.

Besides jumping through a couple of hoops, the only other downside I can think of with this card is that it’s an American Express branded card.  Not all businesses care about their customers enough to accept AMEX (come on, I know the fees are higher than Visa but a lot of people use American Express), so it’s good to have a backup Visa or Mastercard just in case.

I love chasing credit card bonuses, but when I’m in between getting credit card bonuses, it’s really nice to have a card  that consistently nets you 2% on everything.  I can’t see myself not having this card in my wallet for any reason.

(I’m not making anything from Fidelity for promoting this card.  It’s just my honest recommendation.)

 

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Diamonds in the Rough Roundup 3/7/14

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Yet another snowstorm for the East Coast but a warm weekend ahead.  Here are my picks for the week:

–The Ultimate Retirement Account by Mad Fientist:  I gave an overview abouts HSA’s here.  But Mad Fientist gives a new twist on it which shows how great of an account it actually can be.

–Got Those Old Wanderlust Blues?  Don’t Be Worried About Moving House Too Often by A Young Pro:  Most people have the idea that they eventually have to “settle down” because it’s the right thing to do personally and financially.  This article argues that moving frequently is not only not bad, but it can make you richer if you sell at the right time and move for the right reasons.

–The 30 second habit with a lifelong impact by Robyn Scott:  Well written piece about one habit that can potentially change your life.  Will definitely give it a try.

–Why We are Not Really All Doomed by Mr Money Mustache:  Inspiring article and a great reminder that things are probably not going to be all that bad.  We should focus on improving ourselves and giving our best effort for society.

–The Cost of Living in the Suburbs by Suburban Finance:  Living in the suburbs has its advantages over city living, and vice versa.  This article goes into some of the costs of living a suburban life.  If you enjoy living in the suburbs, it would be a good idea to get these costs down as much as possible.

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4 Smart Ways to Spend your Tax Refund

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Tax season is in the air.  TurboTax and H&R Block commercials can be found everywhere, Liberty tax has costumed employees at every street corner, and people all over the country are swimming in tax refund money like Scrooge McDuck.  But what to do with all that money?  Get iPhones for the whole family?  Season tickets to the Pelicans (yes that’s a real team)?  Or go out to dinner 200 times this year?

The fact is, all those choices are terrible.  But spending your tax refund money on consumer things is usually a bad idea.  I’m not a fan of preachy personal finance articles telling me I’m doing something wrong.  Unfortunately, this is one of those articles.  And if you’re spending your tax refund money on consumer goods that you can live without, it pains me to say that you’re doing it all wrong.  So here are four correct ways to spend your tax refund:

(Disclaimer:  Any monies received from a tax refund were your monies all along!  Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT a bonus from the government for a job well done.  It is your hard earned money so it should be treated that way.)

1.  Get rid of high interest debt.  This definitely includes credit card debt and can also include debts to family members, car loans or student loans.  My threshold for “high interest” debt includes anything above and uncluding 5%.  But others might have a different tolerance.  But get rid of the credit card debt.  That definitely has got to go.

2.  Contribute to an IRA.  The Roth IRA contribution limit for most broke professionals is $5,500.  Many people get enough tax refund money to cover a full contribution or at least most of it.  Take advantage of this and let the money grow tax free.  A much worse option would be to buy a TV for thousands of dollars and see your money depreciate right before your eyes.  Literally.

3.  Invest in yourself.  This can potentially be the best investment you could make.  Take a course relevant to your field to increase your skills.  Take your boss or a co-worker you admire out to lunch and pick thier brain on any topic.  Or even get some exercise equipment and some videos and start getting into shape.  Investing in yourself the right way can produce crazy results if you stick to it.

4.  Fine, go ahead and buy something you want.  But just one thing.  If you have done the previous three suggestions and still have some cash leftover, go take a nice weekend getaway or have a few nice dinners with your family.  If you’re working too hard, this can be detrimental to your health and wealth in the long term, so sometimes a nice break is what’s needed.  Just please don’t get into more debt.

These are 4 great ways to spend your tax refund money, or any money for that matter.  People do weird things when they get a windfall, so if you have some crazy ideas, just put the money into a savings account and sleep on it.  If you consistently get tax refunds every year, using that money wisely can provide a huge boost to your financial well being.

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Filed Under: Investing, Self Building, Student Loans

Diamonds in the Rough Roundup 2/28/14

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Some great articles for the last week of the month:

–Why You Should Really Do Your Own Taxes by Financial Samurai:  This year was my first doing my taxes on my own.  And I’m already looking forward to next year.  A really smooth and educational process.

–Americans Spend Nearly 50% of Their Income on These Two Things by Ready For Zero:  Not surprising on finding out what these two things are.

–Finance is a game of inches by Retire Happy:  I love sports analogies.  Non sports fans are missing out on these great analogies.  This article is spot on in showing how just like in sports, it’s the little things that matter in personal finance as well.

–Simple Things You Can Cut Out of Your Budget Now by Fitnancials:  It’s always a good idea to revisit your regular expenses and see if you can get them lower.  Then, use that savings to pay off debt or increase your investment/savings accounts.  This post has a good list of the most common things that can be reduced with just a phone call or two.

–5 Essentials For Paying Student Loans by Frugaling.org:  Even though the student loan interest rate deduction got me a few hundred back on my tax return, it’s still not worth having thousands of dollars in student loans.  Sam has some crucial tips on staying strong in the fight against student loans.

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Put your Taxes to Work

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It has been a pretty miserable winter so far on the East Coast.  There have been many many cold and windy days (which means high heating bills).  We have also had our fair share of snowy days (which means more shoveling and wondering when the heck our street is going to be plowed).  It hasn’t been as bad as the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2010 when we had what felt like 6 feet of snow in the DC area, but it has not been fun.  Thankfully, we have had a little reprieve as of late with temperatures in the 50’s and a decent amount of sunshine.  Starting with a great idea from my wife and a little scrambling to get some food and supplies ready, we decided to take advantage of the weather and have a nice Sunday morning brunch at the park.  This was my inspiration for today’s post.

It was a great day to be at the park.  We went early enough to there wasn’t a huge crowd, but there were plenty of others who had the same idea as us to enjoy the park with their kids.  It was great seeing my son’s smile of glee as he went down the slide at the jungle gym.  He is a really curious boy, so being in a brand new environment like the park was awesome for him.  He wanted to explore every nook and cranny before he started getting tired from the sun I assume.  It was nice just to walk and talk in the great weather, treading on the carefully plowed walkways in between the manicured grass and flower beds.  The park also has some great running trails, paddle boats and basketball courts.  This got me thinking how awesome it is to have all of this and not pay anything.  This is world class entertainment and enjoyment all for free!

But of course, it’s not free.  My family and our fellow families pay for it with our tax dollars.  After baseball, the next national pastime of this country is to gripe about taxes.  About how there is too much taken out of our paycheck.  How our taxes seem to increase every year.  About how the American tax system is the worst ever and also the best in the world.  Despite all of these arguments, the federal and state governments need to levy taxes on its citizens.  They do have a society to run after all.  The majority of state taxes go towards education and health care, but taxes are also needed to maintain our roads and parks.  They allow us to experience a great Sunday morning brunch like my family recently did.  We plan to visit our local parks more often now that the weather will slowly be getting better and our son is more mobile than ever.  Those will be some fun filled days for sure.

Another thing paying taxes allows us to have is the local library system.  I’ve been a huge fan of the library for the past few years, and I regret not taking advantage of it the years before that.  When I was in high school the library was just a place to meet to meet for school projects and check out relevant books.  But there is so much more they have to offer.  Along with having almost every book ever made, many libraries also have a pretty robust selection of movies and TV shows for rent.  And with the internet making everything easier nowadays, reserving a movie/book is as easy as checking online to see if it’s available, clicking “Reserve” and then going to the library at some point to pick it up.  Most people want the latest and greatest NY Times bestseller, and they will go to Amazon or the bookstore to buy it.  But there are plenty of older bestsellers at the library to be had.

So to summarize: take advantage of your parks and libraries.  Not only do they have regular services that are extremely useful, they also have special events like movie viewings and book signings every so often.  Just take a look at their calendar online.  We pay for these services, so why not take advantage of them?

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Diamonds in the Rough Roundup 2/21/14

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I’m not a big fan of snow.  Especially when it happens a lot.  But with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees lately, I enjoy seeing it melt away.

–How to Get Paid and Promoted Faster: Is your Nose Brown Enough to Get Ahead? by Financial Samurai:  Hard work alone is not going to get you ahead in your company.  A lot of people work hard, but the people who are able to market themselves effectively while working hard get the promotions.

–Frugal Friday Find:  Credit Card Churning by Brokemillenial:  A nice overview about the wonderful world of credit card churning.  Bottom line:  If you don’t have credit card debt and keep your expenses fairly low, there is a whole wide world of free trips and hotel stays in it for you.

For Reasons Races Make Better Investments than Gym Memberships by The Broke and Beautiful Life:  Stefanie recently wrote about her bad experience at a gym.  I agree that gyms aren’t my favorite place either.  Here she talks about how signing up for races is a much better (and cheaper) way to stay fit.

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Suze O’s Preposterous Prepaid Card

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"This is exactly what I need to turn my finances around"-No one ever

“This is exactly what I need to turn my finances around”-No one ever

(This post has been a long time coming.  I’ve had some unhealthy pent up feelings about “The Approved Card” for a while and it will be nice to get it off my chest finally.  Enjoy.)

I starting delving into the world of personal finance literature about 7 years ago.  Though not strictly a personal finance book, the first book I read was Beating the Street by Peter Lynch.  I did not understand a good portion of it at the time, but it was so intelligently written with so many new terms and concepts that I rushed to the library and started poring through the books in the personal finance section.

I ran into the usual suspects.  Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki, and of course the lady from Florida with the million dollar smile, Suze Orman.  I’m sure almost everyone knows of or has seen Suze.  She has a bunch of books, has a popular TV show and does a lot of speeches and seminars.  She also has some products, one of which I will destroy shortly.  In all honesty, I read a couple of Suze’s (Suzie’s?) books, and they did have some value to me early in my personal finance journey.  I especially enjoyed The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke.  I read it when I was a student and it had some good common sense strategies.

But that’s where my love affair with Suze ends.  When I was watching an episode of her show, she had a little special (and scammy) segment where she talked about this product she was selling called “The Approved Card.”  I’m not against personal finance writers selling stuff by the way.  If you have a product that helps people, you might as well make money off of it.  But this product is not such a product.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a prepaid card being an awesome thing that can help people’s finances, but Suze was offering it so it couldn’t be all that bad right?  (Also, Lil Wayne and Kim Kardashian offered prepaid cards at one point.  Those are some big shoes to fill.)

Wrong.  It was terrible.  Here is the link for it so you can see how bad it is.  (Apparently a bunch of the links on the site aren’t working so maybe she wised up and stopped offering it.  I will bash it nonetheless.)  First off, I never understood the value of a prepaid card.  It is the same as cash, so why not just carry around the cash?  Or sign up for a checking account?  Maybe it’s for people whose credit is a mess and can’t get traditional checking accounts.  But they do have checking accounts for people with bad credit as well.

There are two main reasons I hate this card.  The first is fees.  There is a $3 fee to open the card.  There is a $3 monthly maintenance fee.  A $2 ATM withdrawal fee.  A $2 fee for talking to customer service (you graciously get one free call a month).  A $3 card replacement fee.  A $2 paper statement fee.  A $1 fee for writing a check.  A $20 fee to order check copies.  A $2 cash withdrawal fee.  There are other fees too, but listing them all will just make it seem like I’m trying to get my word count up.

How in the world does Suze Sunshine expect anyone (besides herself) to get ahead financially with a product laden with so many fees?  People get mad at big banks for hitting you with fees, but this is just ridiculous.  Just keeping this card open and not using it would cost you $36 a year.  $36 times thousands of rabid Suze followers equals a lot of money in Miss Orman’s account.  And I don’t think it will be her Approved Card account.

The second reason I hate this card?  The utter greed and arrogance shown by Suze.  This woman is supposed to be a personal finance author, an advocate for getting people’s financial lives in order.  Getting this card is a sure way to turn your finances into a bigger mess.  And she smiles all the way to the bank knowing that.  In the promo video on the card’s website, she says she has our “best interests at heart”.  After hearing that, all I could think of was the saying, “Beware the forked tongue behind white teeth.”

The top line on the Approved Card website is an insightful commentary by Suze: “I want you to get my Approved Card now!”  I think you’re the only one that wants that Suze.

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Filed Under: Scammy Suze

Diamonds in the Rough Roundup 2/14/14

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It’s been snowing almost non-stop the past 24 hours.  Gave me some time to find some great articles between all the shoveling:

–I Went to the Gym…And it was Awful by The Broke and Beautiful Life:  A gym membership is one of those things that people feel they must have.  Even if most people don’t use it.  That’s because unless you are a body builder, you can probably find a cheaper or more enjoyable way to get your exercise in.  Playing a sport, martial arts or even just running outside are a few things that come to mind.  For strength training, having some weights at home or joining a program like CrossFit might work.  Having to go to the gym for your workout just provides too many opportunities for excuses.

–What Do You Absolutely, Definitely Need to Spend Money on Every Month by Money Bulldog:  There are a couple of things that we HAVE to spend money on each month.  The main things that come to mind are food, clothing and shelter.  This post gives some ideas on how to minimize these essential expenses.

–Triple Value of Income by Mad Fientist:  Incredible post about how spending money instead of investing it is actually costing you.  The effect of taxes on your income is overlooked by many, but it can help guide you on the best way to use your money (hint:  it’s not getting a new BMW).

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