Do you hate budgeting? So do I, but…
Here is the deal! According to an article published by Yahoo Finance: household average unsecured debt in the UK has increased to slightly under £13,000 ($21,000); 1 in 20 families in the UK turns to payday loans to make ends meet. To make matters worse, today The Independent reported…
Costs and Issues to Consider Before Getting a Dog
Editor’s note: Alex has been researching the costs of having a dog. And I don’t know about you, but I am about to change my mind on this one. Paying £18,000 ($29,000) to have a toddler around for ten to fifteen years? If you are thinking of surprising someone by…
My money mentality – do you recognise yourself?
I wrote recently about my money mentality. I want to tell you how this approach led – or at least contributed substantially – to the crisis we had that was almost fatal. I have always lived with debt but that has not been through frivolous spending, rather the occasional splurge…
Principled Money Posts #56: from have no money at all…
…to puzzling over where some of it is coming from. Surreal, I know, but rather nice. What a money week it’s been! On Monday some money from a side hustle hit the account. ‘Not too shabby’ – I thought – ‘some more to invest towards our financial independence’. Still, I…
Credit card confessions: Brits reveal truth behind their secret spending
Editor’s note: MoneySuperMarket have done some interesting research on the spending about which we choose not to tell our partners and spouses. This spending often leads to debt which make things so much worse between couples. With Christmas approaching, I thought that publishing this press release may serve as a…
Ignite at FinCon13: my little ‘spark’
You already know that I like to do things I’ve never done, right? Presenting at Ignite – an event at FinCon13 – was one of those things. I speak as part of my job. I teach students: from undergrads to Master’s and Doctoral students. The other day one of my…
Business in the European Union – how is it doing?
It’s almost Christmas so time for an End of Term report, the European Union 2013 report. As this is its first End of Term report (at least on TMP), it will have to cover the whole history of the EU. Let’s look at the famous four freedoms – free movement…
My money mentality: why money didn’t matter to me
Five years ago I had absolutely no idea how much I earned. Let me re-phrase that: I didn’t know how much my salary is. A friend showed me a pint of milk; absolutely no idea how much I was expected to pay for it. Mortgage, bills, monthly spending…yep, you guessed:…
Bonfire Night and $60 Give Away
Twenty three years ago today a South African guy called Daren took me on a date. How do I remember? I remember it not because Daren was a great date: he really bored me and then there was a small cultural misunderstanding involving a very large amount of alcohol. He…
Eat for less: entertaining at home
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine. Between exchanging news about the children and work, she mentioned that they don’t ‘have much life at the moment’. Yep; you probably guessed right. My friend and her husband recently found out that their debt is out of control….
Should we buy property?
We have a financial time horizon of 5 years. Why? Because we are of a certain age and want to have time to enjoy ourselves before the Grim Reaper arrives at our shores. We do have provision for a semi-comfortable retirement but have no intention of retiring. Life is…
The Warehouse Nightmare Job
Editors note: Recently someone from ‘my world’ – a world where you’ve had a really bad day if the admin messed up your teaching – told me they are ashamed to live in the developed world. Not because there is poverty, inequality and unemployment but because there are also the…