Saving Money Blog

If you have a nice house and a nice car (or two),  you and your spouse both work, the fam has all the latest “stuff” and you even contribute to a 401(k), you’re doing OK, right?  If you have no easily accessible cash savings, that assumption may be wrong. None of these “things” easily or quickly convert to

Pull those jerseys out of the closet, football fans; the Super Bowl is almost here! Admittedly, I’m not much of a sports man. I only just found out this week that the game would involve the talents of the New York (not San Francisco) Giants and the New England Patriots (which does not nor has

Maybe you’ve ignored the “latte factor” method of finding savings or the “snowball method” of debt reduction to pay off debt because you still refuse to admit how much extra money you’re spending. A recent Worknomix study by Braun Research on behalf of Accounting Principals asked 1,000 employed Americans about the amount of money they

Retailers are pulling out all the stops to differentiate themselves in today’s hyper-promotional, super-competitive shopping atmosphere. But which do you prefer when it comes to department store shopping? Do you like the game of collecting and using store coupons and store cash on specific sale days to lower that full ticket price, or would you

Our January 2012 Financial Security Index came out today, and I spent some time discussing it with Tony Conley of WILS-AM in Lansing, Mich. Below is a transcript of the interview. Tony: Americans’ financial security rises again, this is according to some information at Bankrate.com. That’s good news – tell us about it. Greg: Yes, it is.

Have you ever seen those people at the grocery store talking on their cellphones the entire time they are shopping and even during checkout? They are not only rude but also may be overspending on their purchase. A recent study found that texting and talking on a cellphone while simply walking results in walking errors and may

Was using a budget one of your 2012 New Year’s resolutions?  About 40 percent of Americans do not maintain a budget or track their expenses, according to Bankrate’s July 2011 Financial Security Index. But if you want to get a better handle on your spending and saving, evaluating your budgeting method and making changes will

Every month, I clean out my pile of expired coupons. This was made even more annoying recently when I realized I was removing unused printed online coupons — a lot of them.  That’s the same day my $15 black ink cartridge went empty, which prompted me to wonder: How much was I spending to save

If you’re trying to save money or land a job, you can still have a fun, exciting hobby that doesn’t cost anything but time. Sandra Grauschopf, the Contests and Sweepstakes Guide for About.com, started entering sweepstakes as a hobby. Unlike gambling and playing the lotto, it doesn’t cost any money to enter. “It’s pure profit

You can imagine that because I am a personal finance reporter, I read stacks and stacks of personal finance books. But only two get taken out repeatedly and are dog-eared with coffee stains because they give me that proverbial kick in the butt to do something about my finances and they tell me what and