7 Personal Finance Miracles

Most stories of financial success are relatively boring. They involve years of hard work, countless sacrifices, and repeated failures before the money starts pouring in and the glamorous part of the story finally takes place. Those types of stories aren’t what we’re talking about here….

Hidden Millionaires: Lessons From Unconventional Money Management

The last generation of frugal millionaires saw the careful preservation of cash and conservative personal finance as essential to survival. These rich individuals gained their wealth slowly through careful planning and extreme saving. By living below their means, these individuals created freedom in their lives, and a buffer from the economic problems over the last decades. Precursors to the newest generation of frugal, yet generous millionaires, the following individuals broke many myths regarding the way that wealth can be generated and spent.

Live Debt-Free

To hear the media tell it, Americans are basket cases when it comes to borrowing. The average credit card balance per person is nearly $4,000. College grads who leave school with student loans typically owe more than $19,000. Home foreclosure rates are soaring and threatening…

How to Create a Budget

If you’ve been following along and setting up Quicken as you work through this guide, you now know where your money is going, and where you stand regarding your upcoming bills and income. Knowing these critical facts about your finances sets the stage for the next huge benefit of Quicken: keeping your spending in line with your income. And relax, you don’t need to track each and every penny; tracking just a few critical spending categories is usually enough to keep your expenses under control.

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

In this economic climate, more of us are struggling to pay the bills, buy groceries and fill up our gas tanks. Paying off the mortgage, putting the kids through college without financial aid, and amassing $1 million for retirement seem out of the question now. Just having cash left over at the end of the month would be nice.