My Mind on Mortgages

I am not a wealth manager or retirement planner but I do have a passion for personal finance and as I’ve mentioned before on this blog I am currently enrolled in an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning class at the University of Portland Pamplin School of Business.
I am currently in the middle of our retirement [...]

On the way into the office this morning I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR Radio and heard this story about a new book entitled ‘In Cheap We Trust‘ written by Lauren Weber.  The book is a history of frugality (AKA “cheapness”) in the United States.  If you’re looking for some historical inspiration [...]

I came across this video with Steve Martin over the weekend and thought it was amusing. Here is the transcript:
Wife: I just can’t get these numbers to add up.
Husband: Like we’re never going to get out of this hole.
Wife: Credit card debt, does it ever end?
Salesman: [entering from who-knows-where] Maybe I can help.
Husband: We [...]

I blogged about the process of “deleveraging” balance sheets for US households back in September and October.  Deleveraging is the process of US households reducing their debt and hopefully increasing their assets.

For the past few years US households “leveraged” themselves by borrowing money on easy credit qualification.  Not only did US households engage in this [...]

I’ve had the conversation many times with other financial professionals and I think that everyone would agree.
At the root of success or failure regarding a household’s finances is how well they control their spending.
A household that spends LESS THAN they bring in will be flush with cash that they can save, invest, and allow to [...]

I was introduced to wasbe.com through reading an article on spending analysis.  It looks like a pretty good online tool for those who need to get a handle on where their money is going.  I currently use www.mint.com but may be making the switch.  Here is a you tube tutorial about wasbe.com:

With a recession looming many households across America are cutting back on spending.
I came across this article on Kiplinger.com which provides a variety of ideas for saving money in the areas of investing, food, transportation, travel, utlilities, phone/ internet/ cable, credit, and entertainment.
Among my favorite ideas:
* Investing: Buy beaten down ETF’s & index funds instead [...]

I found this article on Inman news which is disturbing.  According to the article 15% of US homeowners carry mortgage payments which are at least 50% of their gross monthly income.
Let’s look at the math on this:
Let’s take a household that makes $75,000 per year.  This translates to $6,250 per month.
Monthly gross income: $6,250
50% housing [...]