Money market funds have it all over bank savings accounts and interest-bearing checking accounts when it comes to being a good place to stash your savings. Money market funds are, in fact, a type of mutual fund, the difference being that the price per “share” sticks at $1 and never changes. That, from a purely technical standpoint, makes money markets riskier than checking and savings accounts. (more…)

One of the first principles of frugal living is to live under your means. If followed this principle can be a foundation on which to build other principles. The problem is that most people are not sure how to actually do it, they need a specific plan.

To achieve this goal a family or individual can use the 70/30 Rule as their plan. The 70/30 Rule (more…)

The fundamentals of the family budget appear to have been largely forgotten in the consumer spend up over the last 15 years or so. During this period most of us were spending 110% of our income — in effect using our mortgages as an ATM. Reality has hit with the recession and it’s time to get back to budgeting basics.

A family budget is basically a list of your proposed expenses and expected income. The objective is to make sure that your expenses or outgoings are lower than your income. (more…)