What caught my eye this week. Weekend Reading – featuring the week’s best money and investing articles from around the web – can be read by any logged-in Monevator member. Alternatively please subscribe to our free email newsletter to get future editions direct to your inbox. The post Weekend reading: Budget, boom, and bust appeared first on Monevator.

Seeds from grocery store lemons can grow into real citrus trees, but producing fruit may take several years. Starting with fresh seeds, warm temperatures, and well-draining soil gives your experiment a better chance of success. Olya Detry/Shutterstock You slice open a lemon from the grocery store, squeeze the juice into your water, and notice several plump seeds left behind. Instead of tossing them into the trash, you start wondering whether those seeds could grow into […]

Most people don’t have an income problem. They have a leak problem. You’ve heard “spend less than you earn” a thousand times. It’s true, and it’s also useless advice, because nobody tells you how. Well, I am hear to change that.  Find Where Your Money Actually Goes Pull up your last 3 months of bank and credit card statements. Don’t judge, just look. You’ll find at least one subscription you forgot about, a food delivery habit that costs more than your car payment, and a few “small” purchases that aren’t small at all. Sort everything into needs, wants, and leaks. Cut the leaks first, because they cost you the most and give you the least. Pay Yourself Before Anyone Else Don’t save what’s left over, because nothing is ever left over. Set up an automatic transfer on payday into a high-yield savings account. If you never see the money, you never miss it. Build an emergency fund first, then fund your 401(k) or IRA to get the tax advantages. Rule: if saving requires willpower, it won’t last. Automate it. Buy Less, Live More Minimalism isn’t about owning nothing. It’s about not paying for things that don’t matter to you. Before you buy anything non-essential, ask: “Will I care about this in 30 days?” If not, skip it. Sell what you don’t use, and spend your time on free or cheap experiences: hikes, game nights, trying a new neighborhood. Treat Debt Like an Emergency Credit card interest quietly eats your future. Don’t put non-essentials on a card, and pay the balance in full every month. Then give your money a job: a home, a business, your kids’ education, retirement. Money with a purpose is much harder to waste. If you’re stuck, a financial advisor can be worth every penny. Change Your Circle Nobody talks about this one. Your spending habits are contagious. If everyone around you splurges every weekend, you’ll feel pressure to match. Find people who share your goals. Swap money-saving tips, check in on each other’s progress, and celebrate wins together. Accountability beats motivation every time.     Living below your means isn’t about deprivation. It’s about freedom: the freedom to say no to a job you hate, handle an emergency without panic, and sleep well. Which of these 5 will you try first? Tell me in the A Dime Saved Community!   Read More: 11 Powerful Frugal Living Tips That People Laugh At But Actually Work To Save Money  15 Things That Are a Scam but Have Been Normalized by Society 5 Things the Middle Class Won’t Be Able To Afford in Less Than a Decade I Stopped Trying to “Budget” and Started Doing These 5 Things Instead

Frugality is an art. But it’s not always implicitly about money.  It’s about your way of life.  Frugal Lifestyle Tips The best frugal lifestyle tips … Read more

Surely, you have heard about NFTs by now, right? The most expensive NFT (nonfungible token) with a $91.8 million price tag makes you curious about how to buy and sell NFTs and make that much money.  The very idea of NFTs may still be hard to understand for most people, much more than the reality of investing and trading NFTs.  Cryptocurrencies have preceded NFTs, and some confusion between the two still abounds. Where to begin, […]

We also covered questions about directing indexing, why energy stocks are outperforming, why luxury stocks are crashing, how to put cash to work in the market and more. Further Reading: Owning a Home is Not For Everyone 1Unless the reason mortgage rates are falling is because we’re living in a financial crisis of course. The post Is Buying a House Now a Bad Investment? appeared first on A Wealth of Common Sense. …

Say you’re going to freeze your overripe bananas or wait a full day before buying something online, and you might get a few eye rolls. Frugal living tips can sound silly, small, or a little too simple to make a difference. But the simple ones are usually the ones people actually stick with, and they’re the ones that add up. Nobody has to know about your system. You just get to enjoy keeping more of what you earn. Here are nine frugal living tips that might make people laugh, along with why they work. If a few sound out of touch for your life, that’s okay. The best frugal tips are the ones that work for you. Keep the Old Fruit Why people laugh: Nobody wants to save spotty bananas. Why it works: Those bananas you bought on sale, the ones no one eats even though your kids swore they were their favorite food, don’t have to go in the trash. Freeze them and you have really cheap snacks and smoothies ready to go. Keep frozen fruit and vegetables on hand, too, so you can throw together a quick smoothie or side dish in a pinch. Less food waste means less money wasted. Make Everything in Your Online Cart Wait 24 Hours Why people laugh: It sounds like a game of chicken with yourself. Why it works: Impulse spending depends on the moment. When you leave an item in your cart for 24 hours before buying, the urge often fades and you realize you didn’t need it. There’s a bonus, too. Companies will often email you a coupon code for the items you left behind, hoping to tempt you back. If you still want the item tomorrow, you may get it for less. Turn Down the Heat and Put on a Sweater Why people laugh: “You’re wearing a sweater indoors?” Why it works: The house doesn’t need to be warm enough to walk around in a t-shirt and bare feet in the middle of winter. Dropping the thermostat a few degrees and layering up with a thick sweater costs almost nothing and takes a bite out of your heating bill all season. Decide How Much Your Kids Need Before the Season Starts Why people laugh: It sounds like a lot of planning for a few pairs of pants. Why it works: Before each season, I decide how much of each clothing item my kids need and only buy that amount. Sales used to make me overbuy, and I’d end up with a closet full of things we didn’t need. Now I shop with a number in mind. If some of it can come from hand-me-downs, even better. Wear Hand-Me-Downs Why people laugh: Some people see secondhand as a step down. Why it works: My kids and I wear really lovely hand-me-downs. You can trade with other families or shop at thrift stores to get nice clothes for yourself and your kids. Kids outgrow things fast, so

Share to Facebook In today’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a £100 cash payment for around 20 million households in council tax bands A to D. The government says it will be paid straight into people’s bank accounts. On the face of it, that sounds simple and well targeted. Lower bands, smaller homes, more help. But there’s a quirk in how council tax works that most people have never heard of. And it means some of […]