Here is the real truth about the economy.

Not just any economy - YOURS.

When I began writing this blog, I wanted to make it clear that anyone could define their own plan, set goals and begin securing a better financial future. While we don’t promise an overnight fix to personal finance issues, we do promise that self-education, goal setting and focusing on percentages will help you build savings, reduce debt and eventually build wealth.

I wanted my own boys to know what I didn’t when I began: The money you earn and live off of for rent or a mortgage, groceries or daily, weekly or monthly living expenses is simply paycheck-to-paycheck money. It doesn’t count.

What does count?

The money you put to work for yourself and your family paycheck after paycheck, month after month and year after year.

Saving money is not optional. Sure, you can opt out of saving money. That’s easy. I did it for years. But that is perhaps the biggest mistake.

Think about it: Money that you use for daily consumption is meaningless in terms of your ability to provide for yourself and your family long-term.

You must find a better way. We believe this “better way” is regularly saving money with each paycheck (no matter how small an amount). We believe in finding unique ways to increase the regular amount you save and we believe that this money is the only money that matters when it comes to providing a future for your family – ESPECIALLY in today’s economy.

The most important step is to begin.

Don’t focus on how many dollars you save. Focus on what percentage of your after-tax pay you save.

Realize that reducing debt is critical over time because debt (and especially credit card debt) is the #1 impairment for middle class wealth. *See our info on how to deal with credit cards in previous blogs or in “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” at www.middleclassmoney.com.

A checking account is a money laundering account for other people’s money. Use any excuse to remove money steadily and put it to work for you and your family.

Begin. Start. Look at your spending. Be honest with yourself. Remember these words: You should be saving money every single time you get p – a – i - d.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

You can get ahead if you are willing to turn your personal financial situation around with will and consistency.

1. Look at your spending first. Be honest with yourself about what you must spend and what you can eliminate from spending without “crunching your life.”

2. Review your credit. Begin with credit cards (see our info on how to deal with credit card companies in HOW TO SURVIVE ANY FINANCIAL CRISIS at www.middleclassmoney.com or in previous blog entries.

3. You must focus savings in the area of having a proper emergency savings fund for 2010. We believe that number is 15 to 18 months of your expenses. Jobs are harder to find; replacing your income could be more difficult than most people estimate.

4. Use negotiation and coupons and coupon codes to help expose additional savings in your regular income/spending. If you don’t take the money you “saved” with these tools and push them to actual savings (the difference between “retail” and what you paid with a coupon or negotiation), you are NOT saving anything.

5. Remember these words: Checking accounts are money laundering accounts for other people’s money. Use any excuse you can to leak money regularly from checking into savings.

6. Attitude is not everything. It’s tough out there. Get tough right back with the businesses that send bills to your house; ask for discounts. Ask for reduction and eliminate in interest rates and the elimination of fees.

7. Once you have build your emergency savings fund (15 to 18 months of expenses in savings), begin to build assets. Assets are the true wealth-builders.

Don’t allow the attitude of others to stop you.

You can save more money than you think. Look around your house at all the things you have purchased over the years. What if you had that money back?

Start today. Remember: Regular savings beats lump sum savings. Focus on percentage of your after-tax income – not on dollars. Each time you receive a paycheck make a contribution to your savings first and then pay the bills and other obligations.

You can do this!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

If you believe as we do, saving is not optional in today’s economy.

We also believe that you have to do your own research.

Here are some coupon sites that might be helpful for you and your family:

www.couponforum.com

www.slickdeals.net

www.thekrazycouponlady.com

www.hotcouponworld.com

You don’t have to save, but you should make it a regular part of your financial life and family budget.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

Everything is relative, right?

Wealth is relative.

What is wealth anyway? Family that loves you. Sharing with your family. Teaching your children. That’s right.

This is why the focus of this blog is to encourage you to involve your children in your personal finance life. Show them that you are interested in learning new things and growing money aside from your basic living expenses (for the future of making your family life better).

Most of us shield our children from budgets, bills, stretching money and more personal finance basics because we think we are doing them a favor. But you are not doing them a favor.

You are cheating them of an education that could help them become wealthy over the course of their lives and build enough savings to live a better and more balanced life.

If you follow this blog, you know we are all about saving money. We are all about sharing strategy with family and helping them learn how to make money grow for them.

Simply by focusing on goal setting and steady and regular savings from your own paycheck, you will grow savings.

You know the basics if you hang out with us:

You should have 15 to 18 months of expenses in emergency savings (money market savings accounts and certificates of deposit).

You should focus some money each month – beyond minimum payments – on reducing debt. Check out past blogs on “how to deal with credit cards.”

We are not big on chasing credit scores. We don’t want people doing anything to mess up their credit scores, but we believe marketing has turned the world on its’ ear. Cash is still king. Focus on reducing debt and saving money regularly and you will be just fine.

Finally, find a way to invest in assets that generate more assets. Do this once you have your proper emergency savings fund (above).

And always remember: You can do this!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

The time for being overwhelmed about saving and investing is behind us. YOU must take charge and YOU must involve your family.

Take that advice and you will get ahead. You will also teach your children to build wealth.

Here are some basic sites that can help give you some additional tools in how to save money or spend....smarter.

As always, we recommend you do your own research, only do things you fully understand and never be afraid to ask questions and take no action.

It’s your money; that means you are in charge of all relationships.

www.pricegrabber.com

The best thing to do when buying electronics & appliances? Buy used. Will people do it? Some will. If you won’t, get the best price on the new by comparing. And always negotiate.

www.nerdwallet.com

We always recommend NOT using credit cards, but it is crazy to think people won’t do it. If you do use credit cards, pay them off each month and select the one credit card with the best rewards. That’s what this site is about.

www.mint.com

Act like a research analyst. Take a look at what you are spending and how you are saving.

www.coupons.com

Yes, what money saving blog wouldn’t encourage you to use coupons?

www.billshrink.com

This is all about trying to get a better savings rate. Are you comparing?

Do your own research. Study what smart people are doing. Don’t assume that you can’t. You CAN get ahead.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

Sometimes we just like to be helpful in general. That is what today’s blog is all about.

You want help with credit cards?

Stop using them.

Review everything about your credit cards. What is the interest rate of each one? Separate them by interest rates.

Call your credit card companies and ask, beg, plead for elimination of the interest until you have paid the card off. You will have to call back week after week and ask for supervisor after supervisor, but plead with them for elimination or reduction in interest rate.

Pay the minimums on each card EXCEPT the one with the highest interest rate and pay as much MORE than the minimum on that one as you can possibly pay each month until you pay it off. Then, continue to do the same with the next card with the highest interest rate (until you have paid them all off completely).

Consider balance transfers (if they make sense; do your research). Look for a card with a smaller credit union. It can make large differences.

Want help with “The money basics” (real estate, credit cards, saving)?

www.cnnmoney.com/moremoney

Want to really save? Focus on negotiation for everything you purchase and try to purchase items other than grocery type items on www.craigslist.com or other sites that let you purchase used. You know – buy low, sell high.

Work to create value. Think of credit cards as the enemy of your family. Think of your checking account as a “money laundering account for other people’s money.”

Use any excuse you can to pull money from checking to savings.

Check previous blog entries to see our “1% Savings Plan” and our recommendation for a real emergency savings fund for 2010.

This ain’t your momma’s economy anymore. Own it. Find the way to grow assets. Check in with HOW TO SURVIVE ANY FINANCIAL CRISIS at www.middleclassmoney.com.

You can do this! Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

I hate credit card companies, but I think we can do something about it. I know, I am not alone, but it seems that these companies and companies like them personify big machine corporate evil set against the little man.

Monday, February 22, 2010 represents the “new deal” with credit card companies because the government has reformed credit card law.

According to the new law, this is what has to happen in your relationship with credit card companies now:

The due date on your bill must be on the same date each month. In other words, they can’t move it around to be sneaky. If it falls on a holiday, the customers get an extra day to pay.

No fee is allowed to be larger than your limit UNLESS YOU AGREE TO IT. *Note: You must now keep a more vigilant lookout for these greedy companies and their sneakiness because they will try more than ever to be sneaky in delivering bad news so you agree to it without really knowing or seeing it. You know what I mean – they send you 10,000 words and hide four words inside the 10,000 that they are obligated to share with you. If you do nothing, you are actually AGREEING to something no one would otherwise agree to. Watch out for this! It is coming!

Interest rates cannot now be increased because a customer has had trouble paying other bills not associated with your credit card bill. (***Why was this EVER allowed? This is not a bonus. It is a tragedy. It is our opinion that credit card company employees that came up with these “guidelines” originally should go to jail. You should never be able to prey upon people in financial trouble).

Interest rates cannot increase for 12 months on a new card. (**Note this does not mean they can increase it AFTER the 12 months – and they will).

What have the credit card companies done to help themselves out?

Well, they haven’t been inactive. First, they have such a strong lobby that they were able to have the 2009 reform bill take place a year later in 2010. However, now you SHOULD educate yourself and protect your family now about how they are changing to profit from you more in the future because you are not paying attention.

You see, the credit card companies feel they can take advantage of us because they always have taken advantage of us.

According to The Wall Street Journal (February 20, 2010), the average American has approximately an average of $5,400 in credit card debt. Some people have $20,000 or $30,000 or even $50,000 or more in credit card debt.

Listen up!

Credit card companies are working to establish more and higher yearly fees. If you have been reading this blog, you know that we believe you should avoid credit cards that have any membership fees. Even in the credit crunch, there is too much competition to put up with this. Don’t know if you have a yearly membership fee? Better check it out. Check your agreements, call the company and don’t forget to negotiate.

According to The Wall Street Journal, after February 22, 2010, credit card companies can still:

Bring forth new member and/or yearly fees on credit cards (this is pure profit for them if you allow it; don’t allow it).

Raise interest rates on new cards (Be watchful; always consider these people the enemy of your family).

Increase teaser rates on balance transfer offers (Always read the fine print).

What can you do? Again, according to the Wall Street Journal, you can:

Ask credit card companies to review your account and lower your rate.

Companies do reviews fairly often (sometimes every six months); the more focused you are on these people as the enemies of your family, the more you will stay on top of them and limit your pain in years to come). Starting in August they will be required to review every six months. You should stay on top of them all the time to reduce their opportunity to continue to take advantage of you and your family.

And negotiate.

That’s right. Negotiate.

Don’t just give in. Always negotiate with the credit card companies to push down interest while you pay off the balance.

Private equity groups are constantly working on reducing debt in their deals so they can profit.

As a private American family, you should always be working to give yourself advantages with interest rates and fees. Reduce and then eliminate – always.

Your # 1 goal should be to first reduce and then eliminate all credit card debt. Credit card debt (and debt in general) is the #1 impairment of building wealth among the middle class today.

Credit card companies, banks and all corporations have very smart people constantly trying to avoid breaking the law BUT still taking advantage of the little man to make MORE PROFIT.

Be wary of this fact and work constantly to keep your personal finance center true:

CASH IS KING.

CREDIT IS ACTUALLY BAD for your family.

Work to build wealth. Start with savings.

You should have 15 to 18 months of expenses in money market savings and certificates of deposit.

To build that as quickly as possible, use our “1% Savings Plan” (****Check past blog entries to find this simple plan and put it into action for yourself or get HOW TO SURVIVE ANY FINANCIAL CRISIS at www.middleclassmoney.com).

The bottom-line truth is that you are in charge of your own financial future.

You must develop your own plan.

And you can.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

You must be willing to research the actual cost of what you are purchasing for the company you are buying it from. You must do this in advance.

You must remove all emotion from your thinking and acting during the act of negotiation.

You must be willing to be patient and you must be willing to go above the word “no.”

You must be willing to lose, too.

You must frame the issue emotionally for THEM and not for yourself.

You must have a plan and frame the issue before you do anything with any person that could be considered negotiation.

You must compare and shop your product everywhere.

You must look at manufacturers and see what it really cost to build and ship this product you want to purchase.

With large purchases, you must indicate up-front exactly what you want to purchase, that you are negotiating with as many as six (6) or seven (7) different merchants or sources.

You must put a time table on your purchase so you indicate that you are a serious buyer. Make sure you tell them a window for major purchases. That may sound like this, “I am going to purchase XXXXXX next Thursday before close of business.” Be specific about the exact product and tell them you have researched costs from the manufacturer. Be sure to tell them that you are not set on a specific manufacturer or source, but tell them you want the best price.

Ask them for their best price and tell them you will compare it to the other six or seven bids.

Once they bid, tell them they are the highest bidder, but you want to do business with them because they are closer and you feel they are better for you. HOWEVER, when you have contact again (this time) tell them you have changed your mind about when you are going to purchase the product. Tell them you will purchase the product this Friday between 4 and 7 p.m. Eastern (or whatever time zone you are in).

This pushes the emotion from YOU to THEM.

Be as prepared as possible by knowing the costs. You don’t want to cut them to the bone, but you want to get the best deal. If you follow these guidelines and others you find in HOW TO SURVIVE ANY FINANCIAL CRISIS (www.middleclassmoney.com), you can save more money. BUT REMEMBER: You don’t save unless you take the difference in the original price and final price and put that money in actual savings!

You can do it!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”

When your kids are older, you want them to have a good education. You want them to purchase their own home (the American Dream) and have a career path to be able to put money away and grow their family toward retirement.

But what is the American Dream?

A big house note?

A big car note?

A big credit card bill?

The truth is that we shield our children from our own struggles with family budget and saving money.

Here’s another truth: Instead of putting 100% of your focus on their more formal education, what would it be like to spend 30% of your focus on giving them a good personal finance education?

You could involve them in the reality of being an adult so they see how you pay bills. They can see how you manage money. They can see you reach for things like this blog to help you maximize your income and save when you shop.

If you moved just some of your focus from the traditional to an untraditional role of teaching them consistently about money, how much money could you save them in their lifetime? How much better off will your grandchildren be?

When you focus on reducing and eliminating debt and what that will mean for the future of your family, you will grow your family knowledge and prepare your children for their own future.

When you focus on having a good emergency savings fund for today (15 to 18 months of your expenses in money market savings and certificates of deposit), you underline for your children how important balance and planning is in daily life as an adult.

When you share with your children that saving and regular investing is a non-optional part of your daily life, you strengthen what they know so they are prepared for adult life AFTER they get their degree.

Teach your children. Share with them. It won’t hurt them. More than that, it will help them more than you ever recognize.

You can do it! Go forth and engage your children. Let them be part of decisions. Let them pay some of the bills. Won’t that be fun? It will teach them responsibility.

It will help them for the balance of their lives.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

Fear is used to drive so much of what we do or don’t do with money. When it comes to saving money, savers are not known as being the sexiest people on Earth. Why? Because often times our culture celebrates immediate spending as sexy. Our culture smacks of credit cards and home equity loans funding lifestyles beyond reason.

Why are savers cool? They are cool because they look beyond today and elevate their wealth over time by putting their temporary money to work for them long-term.

Because savers put money away today and often become regular investors, they tend to live below their means early and have fewer and fewer worries as they age. While most people cannot have a vision for the future, savers have a plan for generating steady growth in savings and long-term investment growth down the line.

Sound complicated? It isn’t.

Our ideas are driven by establishing the proper emergency savings fund for today’s complicated employment market (15 to 18 months of expenses in money market savings accounts and certificates of deposit). We also believe it is critical to establish a pattern of reducing and eliminating all credit card debt (starting with the higher interest rate cards first).

Chasing your credit score is putting credit at the center of your financial well-being. We believe the base of your personal financial plan should be the regular building of savings and regular investing along with the reduction and elimination of debt.

Balance is the new sexy. This means you should have a good balance of increasing savings and regular investing while reducing and eliminating debt. Once you have established your emergency savings fund, you should educate yourself on regular investing. For many, this means mutual funds and diversity. Do your research on investing before you spend a nickel. Make sure you understand that investments go up and down and only risk what you can afford to lose forever.

Checking accounts are money laundering accounts for OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. If you want to steadily lose money over the course of your life, leave extra money in your checking account. You will lose a lot. If you use any excuse to push money from checking to saving and investing, you will gain more than most people ever recognize.

Real value is not often built overnight. Overnight wealth is celebrated too much. Most of the time, building wealth is about having a strategy YOU understand and working it.

And you can get ahead for you and your family.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to save and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

Most people who read this blog are concerned about the overall economy, jobs or what is going to happen to “lifestyle.” At the same time, many are concerned and overwhelmed by the idea of saving for retirement. 401k and both Roth IRA and Tradition IRAs have made this easier, but setbacks like the recent recession have challenged the idea that these instruments are helpful in securing your family financial future to those who watch these accounts regularly. The truth is that your 401k is not about what is in the account this year or next (unless you are nearing actual retirement). A 401k, Roth IRA or Traditional IRA is designed to perform over 30 years or 40 years. You can’t judge it by today or next week. That would be like judging a book by its’ cover.

What can you do? You can focus on the percentage you put in your 401k and either Roth IRA or Traditional IRA (yes, we believe you should have both – it’s not 1973 anymore).

You should also focus on your after tax paycheck. Base your savings on the percentage of after tax savings you are putting away each time you get paid.

If you don’t have a regular savings plan, start with our “1% Savings Plan.” Begin with your next paycheck. Look at your after tax income and multiply that amount – whatever it is – by .01. Take the answer and put that money in savings before you pay any bill and before you spend money on anything.

Then, the next time you get paid, multiply your after tax paycheck by .02. Put that in savings. Keep adding an additional .01 every time until you reach .20. This will insure you have a true savings plan. Because you started with .01 and moved slowly to .20, you will not destroy your lifestyle, but you will take saving from optional (which it isn’t) to non-optional and critical.

Do this until you have 15 to 18 months in emergency savings (money market savings and certificates of deposit. Once you reach that point, split your savings into regular investments.

Educate yourself. Include your family. Learn before you get to investing. If something does not make sense to you, don’t do it.

Remember our guidelines:

Saving is not optional.

Credit cards are the enemies of wealth-building (as is chasing your credit score).

Reduce debt and then eliminate debt (beginning with the highest interest credit card debt).

A checking account is a MONEY LAUNDERING ACCOUNT for OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY! Use any excuse to pull money from checking and boost it to savings.

Use coupons, coupon codes and negotiate – the rich people do.

If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.

Don’t buy when you are emotional.

Anything you save with a coupon, coupon code or because of negotiation, push that money to savings. In other words, pretend you paid full price and put the difference between the sale price and the original price in savings.

You will get ahead.

Saving is not optional. You better make sure your children know. We are always worried about their formal education; give them the power to control money. It is actually a greater gift.

Remember these words: You can do it!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to saving and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

Most people think: Get rich quick.

Let’s win the lottery.

Maybe I will inherit money. My life will be fixed if I can just become RICH!

The truth is a lot more simple. True value is generally built OVER TIME.

The economy goes up and the economy goes down. The challenges of employment, your children, bills and more keep most of our attention. Most of us are subject to disappointment over politics one way or the other (or both) and the time wasting television (hey, people need to relax, right?)! Life pulls at you and you think about instant relief. What if I was rich? Ahh, that would make it all better.

Let me repeat: the good news for you and me is that value – real value – is generally built over time. This means that by establishing a pattern of saving regularly and investing regularly, you can and will get ahead. The biggest trick is to NOT get overwhelmed. You have to know in your heart that real value is created over time. As long as you develop your own plan, grow and learn in ways you learn to save more and invest better, you will be amazed how quickly you can grow savings and get on the path.

If you don’t have a plan right now and you are not saving right now, START (it’s the most important secret). Check out our “1% Savings Plan” on past blog entries.

We like a few guidelines:

Checking accounts are like money laundering accounts for other people’s money; use any excuse to pull money from checking and push it to savings.

Credit card companies are your enemies. They are the enemies of your family. Two words for these people: Reduce and eliminate debt (see our past blogs about how to deal with credit card companies).

If you save money using coupons or negotiating over price but don’t actually put the money you save in savings, you ARE NOT SAVING.

Regular savings is not optional. If you want poverty, don’t save money with every paycheck you get. You’ll get there.

The current guidelines for EMERGENCY SAVINGS are 15 to 18 months of expenses in money market savings and certificates of deposit. If you are using our “regular saving and investing guidelines,” you will build savings a lot faster than you think.

You can help your family by involving them in developing the family plan for saving and investing. It can be more important than their formal education.

You can get ahead in this economy. You can save money regularly. START – it is the most important thing.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

If you think I was born saving money, you are wrong. My family is filled with hillbillies from Louisiana. There are members of my family that don’t believe in 401ks or IRAs. I was not brought up to saving and invest regularly and I have made every mistake you can think about when it comes to money. I have had to learn the absolute hard way how to get savings on track and make it a part of your life without killing your lifestyle. I have had to learn the hard way how companies mislead with marketing. It is my mission to share what I have learned about regularly saving with my own children and also share it with you. That’s why we have a lot of “free” (blogs like www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com and www.stickyasset.com/blog and groups on Facebook like “Coupons & Coupon Codes”)!

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect with us on Facebook with these free groups:
“Coupons & Coupon Codes”
“Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves”
“Saving Money”

I was thinking about Conan O’Brien. The hoopla is all over. He has 42 million dollars. Jay Leno is headed back to “The Tonight Show.” However, I was thinking about something Conan said.

It was something like “Cynicism is my least favorite trait. It doesn’t get you anywhere.” He was right.

Sometimes I think we “adults” are just cynical and smart butts who don’t believe in anything. We certainly don’t believe we can win in “this economy.” We don’t believe we can save money “with this job.” We don’t believe we can overcome.

What if you decided to change all of that? What if we left being cynical behind?

What if we listened? What if we started OUTLAWING the “I can’t” phrase? What if we taught our children to ask “How can we?”

If you don’t have a regular savings plan today, you will absolutely run into trouble tomorrow. We suggest you start with our “1% Savings Plan,” but it is fine to start with whatever plan works for you and your family (to find the “1% Savings Plan,” look at our previous blog entries on this blog).

The main thing is this: Start reading up. Use the internet. Find ways to cull back your savings. Did I just use that word? Yes, I did. Check out “The 10 Things” on our www.middleclassmoney.com site. Check out websites that focus on ways you can save more money. While we do NOT endorse any site or product (do your own research), here are some examples to get your family started:


www.wethesavers.com

www.smartaboutmoney.com

www.billeater.com

www.fdic.gov (see if your bank is FDIC-insured)

You will note that we didn’t say purchase anything from any of these people. We actually believe you should be able to set your own plan for saving regularly and investing regularly. We don’t believe you should pay anyone to help you save money.

We also believe that a checking account is a MONEY LAUNDERING ACCOUNT for other people’s money. If you hang out on our blog, you will note right away we are for using ANY excuse to pull money from checking and putting it away in savings (money market savings or certificates of deposit).

How much is a good emergency savings fund in 2010? 15 to 18 months of expenses in savings. Don’t have that? Check out our past blog entries for “The 1% Savings Plan.” That will get you started without killing your lifestyle.

We don’t believe in chasing credit scores here either. The goal should be solid financial footing. That does not translate into A LOT OF CREDIT.

Building wealth is not generally done overnight and not often done through use of credit. Cash is still king and you should find ways to make your cash earn money for you (instead of you working for cash all the time).

A final word for now? You can do it! Get started. Don’t wait.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Connect to save more by joining the free Facebook group “Coupons & Coupon Codes.” We talk about saving money and how to make the most of coupons and coupon codes. You can share, learn or just check it out.

Do you really want to pay off your home mortgage? Here is our recommended strategy:

1. Make sure you have a proper emergency savings fund for 2010. We recommend that you have 15 to 18 months of expenses in actual savings (money market savings and certificates of deposit). It’s not 1977 anymore. Having paid your house mortgage down will not save your house from foreclosure if you lose your job and can’t find re-employment at the same level (or it takes you 15 months to do it).

2. Are you putting money into a 401k and Roth IRA or Traditional IRA? If not, you should make sure you are doing this before proceeding with step 3 below.

3. So, you’re ready to use our plan for paying off your mortgage early? Get your amortization schedule on your mortgage and meet us at step 5.

4. Does your mortgage lender allow you to make two half payments per month (instead of one payment a month)? If so, you should look at your spending to see if you can reduce spending enough to switch to the two smaller payments per month. This will equal about one additional payment per year and is a great start to shrinking the mortgage.

5. Look at your payment, principal, interest and balance on your amortization schedule. Focus on the PRINCIPAL. Look at the amounts you are actually paying each month. Do you see how much smaller those amounts are each month?

6. Try to shift your spending and bill paying so that you can add a SECOND payment each month (a third if you are splitting the big payment in half and already paying two smaller amounts each month). Write a separate check each month only for an amount equal to the PRINCIPAL. Write a letter that goes with this check and make sure you tell them this is an ADDITIONAL PRINCIPAL ONLY PAYMENT on top of your regular mortgage payment. Each one of these payments you make will drop an additional month off of your mortgage. With some focus and sacrifice, you can PAY OFF YOUR MORTGAGE faster than you think. Try it.

It all starts with focusing on the smaller principal amounts each month as an additional payment. This will get you along FASTER than you think.

If you have not purchased your home yet but are considering it now, check out additional ways to save on the FRONT END of your mortgage by reading HOW TO SURVIVE ANY FINANCIAL CRISIS at www.middleclassmoney.com.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Here are some quick research starters (places to start) in your search for the perfect coupons and coupon codes. Please remember our guidelines:

1. You are not saving unless you compare non-coupon and other store prices and number of units and/or weight to make sure the deal is a deal...not just marketing.

2. You are not saving if you don’t take the amount saved by the coupon and roll it OUT OF YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT into savings. For more tips on saving more money than you THOUGHT you could, go to www.middleclassmoney.com.

3. Always do your own research on any website or coupon offering.

www.shopathome.com

www.couponmom.com

www.coolsavings.com

www.mycoupons.com

www.couponmountain.com

www.couponclippers.com

www.boxtop4education.com/earn/clip/coupons

www.dealtaker.com

www.retailmenot.com

www.allprintablecoupons.com/manufacturer-coupons

www.thriftyfun.com

www.thegrocerygame.com

www.groceryoffers.com

Make sure you check out our new “Coupons & Coupon Codes” group on Facebook! It is a fun place to share what you’ve found with others and a fun place to find coupons and coupon codes.

You can save more money than you think. Congratulations on getting it done!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com