For other money saving tips to get to retirement early visit me at Frugal Retirement

Yesterday my wife and I received our $165 gift cards from Sears and it reminded me of how many of you received gift cards from the Christmas season. Now they are either sitting in your wallet waiting to be used or are lost in a pile of bills, socks, or in the junk drawer. Many companies get rich off your lack of organization or discipline in knowing that you still have a gift card for their stores. Its almost the end of January now, so if you haven't already...spend your gift cards before the end of the month, because more then like as the year goes on you'll either forget or lose your gift card and the stores will profit. Don't waste your money...be responsible and manage your gift cards.

Just another helpful reminder to help you retire early!

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For other money saving tips to get to retirement early visit me at Frugal Retirement

Recently my company started offering the Roth 401k to its employees, and our family started contributing a little to this fund. It looks like more and more companies are starting to offer the new Roth 401k. Does your employer offer this great saving vehicle?

I don’t know of any better tax shelter that can beat the Roth 401k. With our national debt being so large right now and taxes being historically low, isn’t it a great time to start leveraging our savings by using the Roth 401k. More then likely people that are in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s will be faced with higher taxes near or at retirement to help pay down our country’s national debt. Why not pay the taxes now and never have to pay the taxes again.

Another nice advantage of the Roth 401k too is that when you turn 70 ½ you won’t be required to take mandatory withdrawls and that you can will some or all of your Roth 401k to your children or whoever. Its an excellent vehicle with lots of opportunities! Check it out.

Read the rest of my blog at Frugal Retirement

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For other money saving tips to get to retirement early visit me at Frugal Retirement

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As a Christian I struggle a lot with this question and what inside of me pushes me to want to be frugal, save, and invest. Yesterday I came across a quote that sums up exactly why I do all the above things to one day be a millionaire:

“Many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us,” writes author Kristyn Kusek Lewis. “What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring.”

Its not the attraction of lots of material possessions that stimulate me but the fact that I can 1) make my dollar go further, 2) create more options on what I can spend my hard earned dollars on 3) create the possibility of giving more, and 4) invest more then the average American does.

What is your motivation for being frugal, wanting to be a millionaire, retire early, or just get out of debt?

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With the government announcing that they are going to give each family $1600 to save the economy from falling into a recession. The question is...what are you going to do with that money?
I know my family would like to do a little more home remodelling, so a lot will probably go towards that. Anyhow, just wanted to get your thoughts on what you might use you new found $$'s for.

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Hey all...I need your help. I'm contemplating paying off my student loan this year and currently I owe about $9100 on it. I have about an extra $1500 in my savings account and I'm saving it either for redoing somethings in the house, investing, or paying off debt. I feel really split on what to do. My current interest rate is 5.5% and my monthly payments are $117. What would you all do? Just trying to get some opinions. Thanks.

Today I had a very productive day. Changed the oil in one car, total redid the laundry room, and found a great deal for a year subscription to Sports Illustrated and Money magazine for $4 total!!! Now that is a slickdeal!!

https://xp3.mybonuscenter.com/ixp/splash.tmpl?afk=04962522

Today we took our first step to designing our bedroom by purchasing some restoration hardware duvet and shams off ebay.


This is a lot of money for us to spend on bedding, but we really like this one! We are also thinking about how we want to paint the walls. I'm thinking we might paint the walls the graphite grey, which is accented in the picture. What are other people's thoughts?

After 14 months of trying and lot of frustration and wondering - we finally found out this morning that our family is going to have another baby. It was definitely a hard year in 2007, but what a wonderful way to start off this year!!! This will be our second child and our other child is already 3 1/2, and we wanted to have a child sooner then this so there wouldn't be so much space between kids. Oh well...its all in the Lord's good timing! Praise the Lord though for the gift he has brought us this year!! We aren't telling many people so just wanted to share it with all of you. Looks like we'll have to adjust the finances to prepare for another baby!

My attempt to make a little extra cash this year is starting to pay off. Purchased some items on ebay then resold two of them for a little more per item. With the fees I should be able to make a little dough. Cha-ching! Every little bit helps.

Sold another book on amazon, ran 14 miles out in subzero wind chill, and started using cash for all purchases in 2008. I tell you that by using cash so far it definitely makes you realize how many dollars you are really spending and it isn't just an digital number that appears on a statement or a bank website. Other task left for today are to pay off wife's credit card balance, which isn't charge any interest, because we pay off the balance every month but gives us a fresh start to the new year.