Spent: Looking for Change is a documentary that follows four financially under-served families who have been booted out of the traditional banking system due to different circumstances. If you ever thought “they got themselves into that situation,” think again. This can happen to anyone.
Keep reading to learn about each family’s situation and to watch the Spent documentary about payday loans, debt, and how our financial system is failing people.
Show some Luv
I have been blogging for a little over two months now and my only regret about blogging has been “Why didn’t I start doing it earlier?”
Blogging has been a lot of fun. It has driven me to gain more knowledge and to improve in ways I didn’t know I could improve. It has also given me the opportunity to meet different people that I otherwise would have never met.
I’m talking about other bloggers.
Okay, I have never physically met any other blogger, but by reading what they have to say I feel like I’m getting to know them – slowly. I am the new kid on the block but I feel like I’m starting to become part of a community – a blogging community.
The Friday Five
June 06th – June 12th
The Friday Five is a new series where I share what I consider are the week’s top-five money related articles from around the web. There are a lot of great personal finance websites publishing amazing content daily and I feel that I must share them with you. I hope you enjoy my five favorite articles of the week.
If you haven’t, please read this week’s posts on Cool Gifts for Dad and also check out my guest post at CNA Finance on How Haggling Saved Me $1,200. Please don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and like Million Dollar Ninja on Facebook.
In no particular order here are The Friday Five
Father’s Day is fast approaching people. And even though we’re all about saving money, if you don’t give your father a gift on Sunday, he’s going to cry… on the inside.
A lot of people wait until the last day to then rush to the store and buy dad a boring tie or a shirt that probably won’t fit him – oh wait, that’s me. Don’t be me and try to surprise your dad this year with something nice.
Not all dads are created equal, so assess the situation and put some thought into your gift. Pretend he’s your new boyfriend or new girlfriend and you want to impress him. Make him saw “Aww, how thoughtful of you.” Make him tear up a bit… who am I kidding? Dads are made of stone.
There are a lot of cool gifts for dad out there. Here are just some ideas for whatever type of Dad your old man – or husband – is.
Head over and read my Guest Post.
I want to thank Joshua Rodriguez at CNA Finance for giving me the opportunity to guest post on his site. Please head over to CNA Finance and read How Haggling Saved Me $1,200.
Here’s an excerpt of the post.
Some people don’t like haggling or negotiating because they don’t want to come off as rude or disrespectful, but that’s because they haven’t mastered the art of haggling. Okay, haggling might not be an art, but there is a right way to haggle and a wrong way to haggle.
Before we get into the right way to haggle and why you should always do it, let me first tell you a little bit about myself.
I come from the Dominican Republic and like in any third world country, haggling is the norm. Granted, there are places where you just don’t haggle – restaurants and supermarkets – but everything else is up for negotiation.
Read the whole post at CNA Finance.
The Friday Five
May 30th – June 5th
The Friday Five is a new series where I share what I consider are the week’s top-five money related articles from around the web. There are a lot of great personal finance websites publishing amazing content daily and I feel that I must share them with you. I hope you enjoy my five favorite articles of the week.
If you haven’t, please read this week’s posts on Our Trip To Boston and My Friend, The Artist. Please don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and like Million Dollar Ninja on Facebook.
In no particular order here are The Friday Five
I want to take this opportunity to help a family friend who is going through a life threatening event. Victor Koryagin is an Ukrainian artist who has been very close friends with Kate’s mom since they were 19 years old. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with Stage 3 sarcoma in his right knee. There is no medical insurance in Ukraine so he has to pay for the treatment himself.
Victor runs a small publishing business, which provides for his family, but it doesn’t make enough money to pay for the medical treatment that he needs. This is where we come in. Kate’s mom – Yelena – started a fundraiser at youcaring.com titled An artist in Ukraine fights cancer where she has been able to raise over $11,000 and she personally also gave thousands of dollars towards his treatment. She’s doing all she can, but she can’t pay for all of it on her own. Both Yelena and Victor are grateful for all the donations, but they’re still short of their goal.
Massachusetts State House
Kate and I have been working pretty hard at work lately – okay maybe Kate has been working hard – so we decided to take a much needed mini vacation. Our destination: Boston, MA.
Boston is renowned for its champion sports teams, world-class educational institutions and for its involvement in the American Revolution. It is also one of the oldest cities in the United States and it was the scene of major events of the American Revolution – Boston Tea Party, Battle of Bunker Hill, and Boston Massacre. Lonely Planet listed Boston as a Top 10 US Travel Destination because of its rich history.
Boston also has one of the highest cost of living in the United States, which means everything is expensive.
We wanted to enjoy a three-day weekend in Boston without having to spend a crazy amount of money – I guess we wanted to Visit Boston on A Budget. And I would say that we were quite successful at accomplishing this feat.
The Friday Five
May 23rd – May 29th
The Friday Five is a new series where I share what I consider are the week’s top-five money related articles from around the web. There are a lot of great personal finance websites publishing amazing content daily and I feel that I must share them with you. I hope you enjoy my five favorite articles of the week.
If you haven’t, please read my latest post on Saving for College and please follow me on Twitter and like Million Dollar Ninja on Facebook.
In no particular order here are The Friday Five
It’s easier than paying for Student Loans
It is graduation season – quite an exciting time for many families – and depending on how you planned to pay for school it could be a relief or a financial burden. I just read an article where a couple accumulated around $500,000 in debt to pay for their children’s college education – that’s cray-cray! I also hear a lot of co-workers talking about how much their kid’s college tuition cost and how they are broke because of it.
I understand we want the best for our children, but going into debt for them might not be the smartest move. There are plenty of ways our children can obtain a college education without having to put a dent in our savings – we just have to plan ahead.
According to a recent study conducted by Sallie Mae and Ipsos – How America Saves for College – only about 50% of families with children under the age of 18 are saving for college. The study also shows that out of those who are saving, about 75% are not utilizing the best options when saving for college.
