Personal Finance Blogs
Featuring the Best Personal Finance Blog Articles
Today's Budgeting Articles
View articles only on the topic you search below.
A vibrant assortment of vegetables cooking on a barbecue grill, perfect for summer gatherings.Image Source: Pexels The arrival of warm weather means it is finally time to fire up the grill for neighborhood gatherings. However, high meat prices and food inflation can make hosting a summer party feel very expensive. You do not have to spend a fortune to provide a delicious meal for your friends and family. Strategic planning and smart shopping allow you […]
We all like to rag on boomers and their old-fashioned way of looking at the world. Grandkids sometimes think they know everything and that their grandparents are out of touch with today’s world and reality. While there might be a kernel of truth to that, grandparents still have a wealth of knowledge that can help. They may need to be tweaked to fit the current world, but they are still valuable. Baby Boomers have a wealth of knowledge to share with us, especially regarding frugal living. While some of that advice isn’t too relevant today, much of it still is. Here are some excellent examples of frugal tips from the grandparents’ generation that are still applicable today, and we need to bring back. I created a 46-page Frugal Living Planner that helps you plan, save, and budget without the stress — and it’s only $10! Get it here! Make Your Own Jellies, Jams, Etc. These are pretty easy to make and cost less than buying a jar at the store. You can make a whole lot more than what a jar contains. Just make sure you have the storage space and materials before starting. And of course, always follow safe food practices when canning or storing food. Use It Up and Wear It Out This is the mindset of getting the most use possible out of what you own. As long as it’s usable and working well, keep it. Only replace when you absolutely have to. Cook at Home Making your own meals is way less expensive than going out or ordering takeout most nights. You can also make several days’ worth of meals at a time to save time later on. Preserve Fresh Foods A lot of food that doesn’t get eaten by its expiration date ends up in the trash, which is like throwing money away. Freezing, canning, jarring, smoking, and making jerky are examples of ways to preserve fresh foods so they don’t go to waste. Mend Your Clothes A hole or tear in a clothing item doesn’t always mean you need to replace it. If you can mend it, you should. Even paying someone to do it for you will cost less than a replacement. Learn how to do basic repairs and patching to keep your clothes going a little longer. Save Your Butter Paper When you finish or unwrap a stick of butter, you can save the butter paper in the freezer. Then, you can use it to butter a pan in the future. Make a Regular Menu Planning meals in advance and sticking to a schedule helps with budgeting and buying the right amount of ingredients It also cuts down the chances of wasteful, impulsive buying at the grocery store. If it’s not on the menu, you won’t be as tempted to buy it. Want to start meal planning? It’s easier than you think! Grab this free meal planner and shopping list and get your food budget
Most estate planning conversations begin with questions about transferring wealth efficiently. Families want to know who inherits retirement accounts, whether a trust is necessary, how to avoid probate, and whether estate taxes will become a problem. Those are all legitimate concerns, but they are rarely what causes the greatest stress when a crisis actually unfolds. The breakdowns that destabilize families are usually operational. A surviving spouse suddenly cannot access accounts. Bills stop getting paid because everything […]
Old-fashioned frugal living is not about being cheap or missing out on life, but it is about using what you already have in a smarter and more thoughtful way. People in the past did not rely on constant shopping or quick fixes, they learned how to stretch every dollar and penny as far as possible. […]
Looking to revitalize your hair without breaking the bank? DIY hair oils are a fantastic way to nourish your locks naturally, and the best part is, you can whip them up at home with budget-friendly ingredients! In this guide, we’ve rounded up 10 easy and effective recipes that cater to various hair types, so you can customize your own blend and enjoy salon-quality results right in your kitchen. ezstandalone.cmd.push(function () { ezstandalone.showAds(609); }); Rosemary Infused […]
How one woman saved $30,000, quit her job, and traveled the world for a year (then never stopped). Quitting your job to travel the world sounds unrealistic to many people. Maybe even irresponsible. But…for long-term traveler and creator Kesi Irvin from Kesi To and Fro, taking a career break to see the world felt necessary. […] The post How To Plan a Round the World Trip Step-by-Step with Kesi Irvin appeared first on The Thought […]
Most financial planning questions don’t start with pricing, but at some point, they tend to land there. If you’re considering working with a financial planner in Seattle, the conversation usually shifts to: What does this actually cost—and what am I paying for? Let’s walk through it together: What you’re paying How pricing works And how to think about the value behind it What Does “Fee-Only Financial Planner” Actually Mean? At its core, fee-only means: Your […]
I used to think that the purpose of budgeting was to get your spending as close as possible to what you predicted you would spend when you set your budget amounts at some earlier point, maybe a month, or even a year, in advance. No wonder so many people hate budgeting! That sounds like an impossible task! Allowing your budget to be flexible is the key to success! It’s okay to pivot mid-month when you […]
It can be challenging to sort through the huge list of budgeting apps to find which might work best for you and your family. In this Simplifi vs. Monarch Money review, we’ll examine two of the best budgeting apps available and present their benefits and downsides. While both Simplifi and Monarch Money are great choices, there’s probably one that you’ll prefer based on its unique features. Let’s look at each and see if we can […]
If you’re searching for the best breakdown of YNAB vs Monarch Money. you’re probably trying to answer one simple question: Which budgeting app will actually help me manage my money without making my life harder? I’ve personally used both budgeting tools over the past several years. I tested YNAB multiple times, used Mint for years, and eventually switched to Monarch Money after Mint shut down in 2023. Today, my wife and I use Monarch Money […]
The post How Long Will Your Retirement Savings Last? A Practical Guide to Planning Smarter appeared first on Dividend Power. At some point, everyone asks the same question: how long will my retirement savings last? It’s a simple question with high stakes and no easy answer. With longer life expectancies, rising living costs, and fewer traditional pension plans, retirement today looks very different from what it did a generation ago. The good news? You’re not powerless. With […]
Helping young students stay organized can be challenging as they begin balancing homework, reading assignments and classroom responsibilities. The right planner can be an effective tool in keeping students on track and helping them build organization skills from an early age. Why Elementary Students Benefit From Using Planners A well-designed planner can helpKeep Reading The Best Student Planners for Elementary Schools was originally published on WhatMommyDoes.com
The Short Version: The Senate passed a near-unanimous bill forcing institutional giants to offload their single-family home portfolios but the real story isn’t what they’re selling, it’s where that capital flows next Most coverage celebrated this as a homebuyer win, and it partially is but the affordability math reveals why the fix is smaller than advertised Institutional capital doesn’t disappear when a lane closes. It finds the next available structure and the data already points to where that is The bill specifically carves out passive LP investors from its restrictions, which means one category of real estate investing just got a quiet regulatory endorsement Passive investors who understand the rotation pattern from 2008 and the post-pandemic office collapse will recognize exactly what’s happening here In March 2026, the US Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act 89 to 10. Bipartisan. Near-unanimous. The bill bans large institutional investors from buying single-family homes and forces them to offload what they’ve already accumulated. Most of the coverage framed this as a win for first-time homebuyers. And sure, to some extent it is. But there’s a second story buried inside this legislation that almost nobody covered. For passive real estate investors, it’s probably the more important one. When institutional capital gets pushed out of a market it spent a decade growing inside of… it doesn’t disappear. It finds the next available lane. Understanding where it goes next tells you a lot about where the most interesting opportunities will show up over the next 18 to 36 months. What the Bill Actually Says The legislation targets what it calls “large institutional investors” — entities with direct or indirect investment control over single-family homes at scale. In plain terms, we’re talking about the Invitation Homes and BlackRocks of the world. Once the bill takes effect, those entities must divest their single-family portfolios. They get up to seven years to do it. Tenants in those properties get the right of first refusal to purchase before the home hits the open market. If no buyer steps forward within 60 days of public advertising, the compliance obligation lifts. A few categories get carved out. REITs face different treatment under the tax code. Senior housing communities with residents 55 and older fall outside the scope. Properties acquired through foreclosure or loss mitigation sit in a separate lane. But for the core institutional buy-to-rent playbook that emerged after 2012 — when firms started buying distressed single-family homes at scale and converting them to rentals — the model faces a structural shutdown. The Homebuyer Win Is Real but Smaller Than Advertised The instinct to celebrate this as a housing affordability fix makes sense on the surface. Institutional investors accumulated hundreds of thousands of single-family homes over the past decade. Removing them as buyers should reduce competition and bring prices down. The reality runs more complicated than that. Even at their peak, institutional investors owned roughly 3% of single-family rentals nationally. Concentrated