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Here are some articles I’ve had open in browser tabs for the past couple of days:
London Telegraph: 50 Myths About Money
“Most myths are harmless, but some are potentially dangerous: believe them and you could end up out of pocket.” Some of the myths explored:
- I’m too young for a pension.
- Blue chip stocks are low risk.
- The more credit cards you apply for, the better your credit rating.
- I’m too young for life insurance.
Some of these are U.K.-specific, but there’s plenty of good money advice here.
The Motley Fool: The Cost of Going Organic
“If the prices at my local Safeway are used as a measuring stick, you have to be downright rich to afford an all-organic diet. But it’s not just the wealthiest among us who crave food free from pesticides or like the idea of fewer steps from field to table. What about average-income consumers who would like to buy organic but haven’t quite figured out how to do it on a real-life budget?”
Newsweek: Payday Loans Can Be a Trap
“In a phone interview, [a former employee] spoke of a customer who had paid $8,000 on a repeating $375 loan. ‘That made the picture clear to me,’ he said. He quit.”
The Frugal Law Student: DIY Halloween Countdown Calendar
“[I] saw the cutest Halloween Countdown Calendar last year in the Pottery Barn Catalog. But I’m sure many people, including myself, were not willing to fork over $60.00… I made [my own]. It is a little time consuming, but so worth the effort when it’s done.”
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October 2nd, 2007 at 5:39 pm
The Halloween link is awesome!
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:06 pm
As someone with experience working around food manufacturing plants, seeing a truck load of “organic” wheat literaly crawling around the truck was enough to make sure I never touch mass produced organics.
Not to mention the terrible naming of the stuff anyway. If you ever want to learn about all those terrible pesticides you’ll need to take an Organic Chemistry course. So, Organic food is stuff that hasn’t been treated with Organic chemicals. Who thought of that one?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
* I’m too young for a pension.
I’m 30 and my pension from the previous corporation I worked for is vested. Its not a lot, I only worked for them about 5.5 years, but hey, its like, free money.
* Blue chip stocks are low risk.
Heh. Yeah. Can you say “Enron”?
* The more credit cards you apply for, the better your credit rating.
Credit rating = “I love to borrow money” score, and has absolutely nothing to do with how responsible people are financially.
* I’m too young for life insurance.
Younger people need life insurance more than older people, because life insurance is primarily to replace lost income. If you build wealth like a responsible adult, save more than you spend, then you become self insured when you’re older.
Remember, no more than 20-30 year *level term* life insurance, depending on your age.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Frugality in practice: Do-it-yourself home repair…
This post comes from partner blog Get Rich Slowly . I hate plumbing. Whenever a faucet leaks or a drain…
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:33 am
Well I’m a student and I eat a (nigh on) fully organic diet. I think it’s mostly a matter of priorities because I’m certainly not rich. It’s true that I don’t have the money to spend eating out at restaurants and so on (like I frequently see mentioned), but to be honest that kind of thing never occurs to me anyway
As for organic food itself, I make just about everything from basic ingredients and buy quite a few from local farmers and small shops so that it’s as fresh as can be and I can avoid bad produce. It’s also nice to get to know local people. I’ve noticed the supermarkets are less picky though and recently they have had more bags of organic vegetables that are rotten or almost rotten before you even buy them!
Since I started eating organic food about 5 years ago I’ve noticed a huge change in my health and the way I feel. Nowadays if I eat say a bar of non-organic chocolate from the station on my commute to uni (45 miles each way) often I get painful mouth ulcers as a result! Now the human mind is an interesting thing, but I don’t think the symptoms are caused by myself.
Overall I’d recommend trying it, although it isn’t cheap and might require sacrifices to do so. I’ve found it’s best to switch to a wholly organic diet and try that for a few months so that any toxins in your system have time to flush out and not be replenished by new ones.
Hope that helps someone
James
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:43 am
Payday Loans baaaad… veeery baaad… there should always be an alternative to a payday loan, in every circumstance.
http://www.online-payday-loans.org/ is a great resource on those looking to shed light on the practice.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:27 am
I’m an expert in the organic foods industry, but left my job recently and even I now have to question some organic purchases (and just wrote about this on my blog, http://www.lainie.typepad.com/organic). The organic label IS meaningful, if not perfect, and is an important environmental choice. The Motley Fool list is a good reminder that staying connected to our farmers and to seasonal eating helps us make more organic choices, even on a budget.
Thanks for writing frequently on GRS about supporting organic in the context of smart choices and conscious living.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
Switching to an all organic diet is an investment in your health.
It should actually payoff in less sick days and medical bills.
Try an oragnic raw diet. My family of 2.5 spends $1200/month on groceries. :O
Of course we rarely eat out, so it may be a wash.
Ian
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
“I’m too young for life insurance.”
As mentioned, the purpose of life insurance is to replace lost income. So those with no dependants and retired individuals are the ones that actually don’t really need life insurance.
November 16th, 2007 at 11:29 am
“I’m too young for life insurance.”
The main purpose of life insurance is to replace income, but there are many other wonderful benefits that a perminant life insurance policy can provide. The younger you get your policy the less it will cost you will accumulate more cash value. There are many living benefits to a perminant life insurance policy as well, for instance, you can borrow money from your cash value and use the policy’s growth to pay back the loan. Most policys are self completing meaning if you were to get disabled the insurance company will pick up the premium for you. The younger you are when you get your policy the better off you will be in the long run. If you wait until you “need” life insurance you may be risking more than just low premiums, you may not be able to get it at all. The older you get the more likly you can become disabled, or uninsurable all together. A very close family member waited until he was in his late 30’s and married before he thought about life insurance, he was deemed unisurable and is the primary wage earner with 2 children and no protection. Please when looking for insurance do your homework and research the different types of perminant insurance and talk to a knowledgeble agent. Do not get cheap when shopping for insurance, look at all the options and then purchase, this is a purchase that will be with you for the rest of your life. I have had a policy since the day I turned 18 and every year my cash value grows and my death benefit grows, nobody can sue me and take my cash value, and all the growth is tax free. I love my policy and would never give it up.