another pink world: April 2009 Archives

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April 14, 2009

Financial blogs I like

I've started reading two new-to-me financial blogs lately that I like pretty well.

The Simple Dollar - by a man who ran up massive credit card debt, had a total financial meltdown, cleaned it all up and is here to tell you about it.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich - a more novel approach than most financial blogs that emphasize frugality; this is aimed at 20-somethings who have some income (doesn't have to be much), may have some credit card debt, and can take the opportunity to start getting on financial track while still young. He's not into frugality, so long as you're putting money each month into savings and retirement. He's the only person I've seen who recommends starting a wedding fund before you know who you're going to marry - and he's right! weddings are shockingly expensive, and believe me, i wish i'd been socking away wedding money for years. he's also very big on automation - having a certain amount taken out of each paycheck and put into savings, retirement, having bills paid automatically etc.

My favorite piece of financial advice I've read recently is about emergency funds, which is a big topic on every financial blog these days, I guess. They say the key to emergency funds is liquidity. So a home equity line or credit card can't be seen in the same way - the bank could take those away from you. They could take away your savings account¹, too, but i think it's less likely. So the thinking is, don't use your savings to pay down your debt. Add to savings and pay down debt simultaneously, even if it means the debt gets paid down slower.

They're both big on the high-interest savings accounts from ING, which is an online bank. I have to admit that internet banks still spook me, even if they are FDIC insured.

¹ your funds can be frozen if the FBI is investigating you for certain things.

Posted by lisa at 09:47 PM