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 both have 401ks, etc). I’m…
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, most limits. Unfortunately, there’s…
Should you pay cash for a car? That question isn’t just a hypothetical anymore. We need to buy a car. And that means we need to make a five-figure decision. It’s been almost two months since Will’s car got stolen, and it’s time to buy a replacement. His last car, as you may recall, was…
Imagine staring down the road, seeing dozens of half-built houses. I’m not talking about houses that are actively under construction. And I’m not talking about decrepit old houses that need to be torn down. I’m talking about houses that were partially built … and then nothing. No active construction. No wheelbarrows or cement mixers…
What if the most common strategies to repay debt are wrong? Two popular methods are used to repay debt. One focuses on the interest rate; the other focuses on “small wins.” I recommend reading this post if you want a solid understanding of these two methods. Here’s the executive summary: the “Debt Stacking” method says…
What would you do if reason says one thing but your heart says another? That’s the predicament many people find themselves in as they search for the best strategy to repay debt. Reason says you should repay the debt with the highest interest rate first. Your emotions say to — well, really, they say to…
Recently, Ben — a nice-looking fellow who works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico — wrote a detailed story about how he and his wife repaid $90,000 in debt. Their debt didn’t include a mortgage: it consisted of car loans, credit card balances, student loans, and a $10,000 bank loan to pay…
Yesterday I read three great posts all on the same topic: what would I do if I won a million dollars? One blogger says she’d pay off debt, save for retirement, take a vacation and remodel a home. Another blogger would “stare in sheer disbelief at the balance in my bank account.” And a third…