Written By Paula Pant
Finance nerds have strange habits.
Here’s one of mine:
Once a year, I lock myself in a room with nothing but a laptop, spreadsheet, and boatloads of determination.
The mission: Decipher my savings rate.
Am I saving 30 percent of my income? 40 percent? 60 percent?
As longtime readers might recall, my then-partner (now […]
Written By Paula Pant
One Afford Anything reader asks:
In my area, I can buy a quality house/duplex for $45,000 – $100,000.
My partner and I want to get a house with great rentability. We’ll live in it for 4 years while I finish graduate school, at which point we’ll move.
We hope to keep the place – as […]
Written By Paula Pant
You can summarize the answer to almost every financial problem in two words: Earn more.
Snag extra work on the side. Save every dime of this extra income. (After all, you don’t “need” the money. You’re already living fine without it.)
Boom — you’ve instantly super-charged your savings.
When I wrote that, a […]
Written By Paula Pant
I’d like to tell you about a stupid money mistake I made last week.
I’ll share why it was so dumb … and how you can do the opposite.
Let’s go:
During the past three months, I’ve been overseeing the renovations on one of my six rental property units.
We’re ripping everything […]
Written By Paula Pant
One reader asks:
I’m young (23), and my fiancee and I are looking at getting her a used car to replace her old clunker.
We’re looking in the $6,000 – $10,000 range and easily have the cash to pay for the car. (This is seperate from our emergency fund, we […]
Written By Paula Pant
Finish the following sentence:
“My dream is _____.”
Maybe you want to buy a house, or backpack Europe, or retire early.
No matter what you want, having a Big Ol’ Heap of Savings makes each these goals a million times easier.
“Gee, thanks Captain Obvious,” you’re probably thinking. “Easier said than done.”
Do you think […]
Written By Paula Pant
During the holidays, millions of Americans swarm upon stores across the nation.
Stores respond by dropping prices.
Why? Why does a surge in demand trigger lower prices?
If demand spikes and supply stays (mostly) the same, prices should rise instead of fall. Right?
Humor me for a moment:
Imagine that you own a retail […]
Written By Paula Pant
You can smash almost any limit.
You can escape the cubicle. You can fire your boss. You can overcome your internal self-doubts.
You can sculpt a flat stomach, make dozens of new friends, and speak a foreign language. Heck, you can even learn to dance.
Limits don’t apply to you.
Well, […]
Written By Paula Pant
Once Upon a Time … Two newly-minted college graduates step out into the world. Their names are Abel and Kant.
Both have Bachelor of Arts degrees from state universities. Both carry $25,000 in student loans. Both have average family backgrounds.
They feature similar height, build and appearance. They project the same grammar, diction […]
Written By Paula Pant
Note from Paula: Today I’m featuring a guest post from my friend Brandon Turner, who is officially The Tallest Guy I’ve Ever Met.
I suggested that he write a post about “How I Got So Friggin’ Tall.”
He countered by offering the juicy details on how he created $4,600 per […]
