A used-car bargain can hide expensive repairs, flood damage, unresolved recalls, or other costly problems, making a VIN check and independent inspection essential before buying – Shutterstock A cheap used car can look like the automotive equivalent of finding money in an old coat pocket. Then the check-engine light appears, the tires look suspiciously tired, and suddenly that bargain needs a repair bill that makes the purchase price feel like a distant memory. A car […]

A convincing dealership website can hide a vehicle scam, so shoppers should independently verify the dealer, inspect the vehicle, research the seller, and avoid suspicious upfront payment demands – Shutterstock A car can look like the deal of the century on a computer screen, right up until the buyer sends money and discovers the dealership never existed. Scammers now create convincing dealership websites that copy real businesses, complete with vehicle photos, logos, listings, testimonials, and […]

Budgeting is the first step on your frugal journey. When you budget, you give your money direction instead of letting it slip through your fingers without a plan. Follow your budget consistently, and over time you’ll find yourself spending, saving, and investing your money like someone who actually knows what they’re doing. Budgeting keeps you in touch with your finances and flags mistakes before they snowball into something bigger. It shows you exactly where your money goes, so you can catch small leaks before they turn into big problems. Still, plenty of people struggle to stick with it, even when they know how much it could help. If that’s you, here are some tips to help you find and keep your motivation. Ready to feel less stressed about money? Grab the free Freedom Budget planner and get a simple, guilt-free way to plan your month. Get it here → Freedom Budget Planner   Push Yourself. No One Else Will It’s a hard truth, but sometimes you’re the only person you can count on to get yourself out of a tight spot. Friends and family can offer support, but at the end of the day, no one is going to manage your money for you or force you to stick to your budget. That’s exactly why your motivation has to come from within. If you don’t push yourself, no one else will, no matter how much they want to help. Just Start You don’t need motivation to begin. Motivation shows up after you start, not before. So many people wait around for the “right moment” or for inspiration to strike, and that moment never comes. Don’t wait to feel ready. Open a notebook, pull up a spreadsheet, or download a budgeting app, and just start. Starting builds the momentum you need to keep going.   Start Small Big financial goals feel a lot less overwhelming when you break them down into small, manageable pieces. Pay off one debt. Make one sale. Save just 1% of your income. These small wins might feel insignificant on their own, but they add up, and they build the confidence and consistency you need before you tackle anything bigger. Whatever you do, just start small and build from there. A visual tracker can help you see your progress and celebrate your wins more easily. Print this free one now!   Stay Focused On Your Goals Distractions are everywhere, from impulse purchases to comparing your progress to someone else’s highlight reel online. Keep asking yourself: What am I working toward with this budget? Whether it’s paying off debt, saving for a house, or building an emergency fund, hold onto that answer and let it guide your decisions until you reach it.   Find Your Purpose Purpose can carry you through when motivation runs out. Think about why you actually want to get your finances in order. Maybe it’s so you can stop feeling anxious every time a bill shows up. Maybe it’s so you can finally take

I’m excited to share that I’ve joined one of the fastest-growing, most forward-thinking independent financial planning firms in Upstate NY. Not just as an advisor, but as a partner, as an owner.  I’m happy to share that I’ve joined Rialto Wealth. I’m incredibly excited about the change. Rialto’s philosophy aligns perfectly with what I share with you every week. A focus on detailed, long-term retirement planning. Keeping investing simple and low-cost. Fiduciary and fee-only. Not only serving our clients, but educating them.  …but I’m anxious about the change, too. With two girls under two years old at home, this isn’t the simple path, per se. I’m making this big change, in large part, because my wife Kelly believes in me. She is not a mere “rockstar” or “hero,” but much more than that. Thank you, Kell!   Our elder daughter loving on Sadie. Why the Change?! Why the change, though? I have a few important reasons. Clients need to trust their advisor. Staying independent is important to me. Especially since that’s the commitment I’ve made to my clients for many years. Rialto Wealth has no shareholders, no private equity ownership. We are 100% employee-owned. There’s no incentive to push proprietary products, no far-away owners pressuring us on quotas. Financial planners can bring a lot of expertise to their clients – but that comes after a deliberate choice: putting service above sales. Complex investments sound sexy, I know. But did cigarettes (at least, for many decades). Not coincidentally, both have similar results: higher long-term costs and worse long-term outcomes. While some advisors push fancy, complex products on unsuspecting clients, the fact remains that simplicity beats complexity. I’d much rather follow Jason Zweig’s second way of making a living: “Tell the truth to those who want the truth.” (I’ll let you look up the first way.) I’m excited to keep my client count smaller, to focus more energy on each client. While working with hundreds of clients might increase profit margins, I’m fine with sacrificing some profit margin to better serve clients.  Rialto’s philosophy emphasizes our clients and our employees. Good things will follow. Who Makes a “Good” Client? Rialto isn’t a perfect fit for every potential client. Our ideal clients see their world this way: Retirement is the big, audacious goal. It might mean you’re retired. It might mean you hope to retire in 2 or 5 or 10 years. But retirement is the big goal you’re planning for. Investing and planning – both are vital. Retirement brings many interesting conversations about withdrawal strategies, income and tax planning, Social Security, healthcare and Medicare, IRMAA, and RMDs. If you have these questions, we’re a good fit. Our clients want an ongoing, year-over-year relationship. They are not looking for a one-time thought partner.  Our ideal clients buy into a low-cost, academically rigorous investment philosophy. If you want your advisor to beat the

Are you wanting to keep track of your budget but don’t know where to start? A budget Excel template is a great option to easily track your budget without getting bogged down in all the details of some of the more complicated tools. Whether you are saving for your next vacation or getting a handle on your monthly expenses, using a budget template is a smart way to reach your goals. What Makes a Good Budget Template? […]

Frugal living isn’t just something that happens at the store or when you’re crunching the budget numbers. It really is a way of life. Rather than getting uptight or frustrated I like to look at our frugal adventures as just that– an adventure! There are wins, bumps, and funny things that happen along the way. That’s what this “Frugal Feats, Flops, and Funnies” series is all about– the adventures and misadventures of living the frugal […]

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last July, brought some notable changes to the fine print of … Read more

I want to be really intentional with our grocery budget in September. We have a lot going on financially, so I want to keep our grocery spending to a minimum this month. Planning out a menu is a great way to minimize spending because you can control the cost of the meals you choose, you can prioritize meals that use ingredients that you already have, and you don’t waste food. All of that is easier […]