second of all – i think its great to post links to others’ blogs …

third of all – i also like hte fact that people share how they track their finances.. from Quicken, to Money, to excel – it can get a little daunting – so thank you so much for giving the wide spectrum of ideas.

you guys are doing an awesome job!!!

The unanswered question about how to reach people before they are in a financial crisis is a common problem. There are a lot of people living beyond their means with unavoidable financial problems – yet they are not ready to talk about it until they hit the bottom. The ‘Status Syndrome’ is closely related to this. Many people are more afraid of social perception then financial collapse. They would rather look good in the eyes of their neighbors – then put their kids through college.

I would like to see the leading financial bloggers tackle this issue. Why do people make decisions that prop up their insecurities – while putting the future of the family at risk? Why are the emotions of social status that powerful?

When I was younger and had less, I would get worked up over having to spend $500. Now that I have more, it really doesn’t register when my wife brings home a $500 charge receipt. Now I still wouldn’t spend it, but now there is a higher limit before the “battle” begins.

Best Wishes,
D4L

This is very true. Sometimes I wonder if visitors to my blog think, “These people are just obsessed with saving money,” and if I’m making mountains out of molehills about saving a few dollars here and there.

But personal finance is a foundation upon which we build our lives. Money can’t buy happiness, but it buys a lot of things that contribute to the quality of life, which contributes to happiness. So, thanks for that reminder.

As for budgeting, I’m along the lines of SVB and Jeffrey… I don’t really do it because my wife and I are very frugal, don’t spend more than we earn, and research and discuss at length all large purchases. Our situation may change when we have children and go down to one income.

Guinness416, I love all my readers! Without them, my blog wouldn’t exist.

People are always looking back on their youth and asking “what was I thinking?”. Why should you expect a different reaction about how you spent your money?

Middle age people tend to look back with regret on their misspent youth. When you are securely retired, you are likely to start to regret not having misspent more of it. Retirement isn’t the only goal in life – in fact its not a goal at all. Just a phase that we pass through on the way to dying. Spending your whole life planning around it is foolish.

“Until you’ve reached rock bottom, you’re probably not ready to listen to financial advice.” In my case, it was moving out of my home country into the States. New country, new language, new people, having to start over from scratch. It doesn’t get any worse than that. All of a sudden all those personal finance books I was reading started making A LOT more sense.

“Personal finance is about money, sure, but it’s also about emotions and how you choose to spend your time.” This relates to the earlier point about values. Your investment and/or savings options will be directly determined by your goals when it comes to income and lifestyle, or by what your biggest fears are.

Actually my personal point of view is that many personal finance books would have a much bigger impact if they actually pictured what you stand to face if you don’t get your stuff together rather than stress financial prosperity, which most people can’t wrap their heads around. Why? Because negative emotions trigger more powerful emotional responses than positive emotions. Now whether or not such books would be marketable is an entirely different question

Maybe I should test the market with such a blog and see what the response is