Here’s what I want you to know and understand: reducing our spending was the catalyst that started the dramatic and permanent change in our lives.  And that change was not limited to our finances.  It was all-pervasive.  Learning the power of living below our means gave us the life we love.  It affected our relationship, […]

Why should you [give]?  Nothing says that you should.  But developing a capacity to give helps demolish the distorted belief that you don’t have anything, that there’s so little for you that you can’t afford to give any of it away.  It mitigates the anger that springs from the old belief that life or others […]

Bottom line on frugality is that it is a gift to you and your family. When the accomplishments of savings and less stress over bills start to add up, you’ll realize that fiscal responsibility doesn’t mean doing without. It means making good choices so you can have what you want.
— Dawn, blogger, Frugal For Life:  […]

Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
— Thomas Edison

When you practice the Vacuum Principle, you evaluate what you have, which might be anything from an old tie to a television set.  You ask:  Do I really need this?  Do I enjoy and take pleasure from it?  If the answer is no, get rid of it:  Give it away, sell it, or throw it […]

If you really do struggle with debt, then the most important thing you can do is DON’T TAKE OUT ANY MORE DEBT. Cut up your credit cards immediately. As you pay each one off, cancel it. Don’t equivocate. You don’t need them. Nobody needs a credit card. And if you’ve had problems with them in […]

So what are you going to do about it?  Whine, complain, continue feeling sorry for yourself?  I have a better idea.  Get mad!  Decide once and for all that you will not sell your soul to the likes of MasterCard and Visa — not one more day, not one more purchase.  Get righteously indignant at […]

Acquiring information and advice about how to manage or invest our money is easy.  The trick is to act on the information, to do something that improves your life and the lives of those you love.
— Maria Nemeth, Ph.D., The Energy of Money

The fact that most of us are not raised to talk about money is a real tragedy.  Show me a couple who doesn’t talk about money and plan their finances together, and I will show you a couple headed for financial trouble — if they’re not already in it.  When you work together on your […]

How many times have you heard someone say, “If only I could make a little more money, I could really get my financial act together?”  How many times have you said it yourself?  Ask most couples the source of their financial problems and they will tell you it’s that they don’t make enough money.  The truth […]

The truth about money management is that it’s not really that difficult.  If you know what to do and what not to do, it’s actually pretty easy.  The challenge is that we’re not taught about money in school.  As a result, much of what we learn comes from friends, word of mouth, and marketing.  This […]

Change is a funny thing.  Although most people say they want to change — so they can have a better life, with more love, more dreams, and more fun — the fact is that many of us are afraid of change.  Faced with the real prospect of it, we look at our lives and decide […]

Try this exercise.  Take out a dollar bill and hold it for a moment.  Imagine everywhere this dollar has been, and everywhere it will be going.  Think about the people who have held this dollar bill, and what they have used it for.  Think of the people who will hold it in the future, and […]