If you look around the web there are a whole host of suggestions on what the "right" or "best" percentage of your income can be spent on a house. Today we'll look at a couple of methods that suggest what you should budget for a house. I'll also share what we've done through the years and my recommendations on what to spend when you buy. The Highest Percentage Most … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2016
How to Ace an Interview
One of my projects since retiring has been to help my son find a job. We started by going through a couple books from the library. First we read Private Notes of a Headhunter: Proven Job Search and Interviewing Techniques for College Students and Recent Grads and then Knock 'Em Dead 2016: The Ultimate Job Search Guide. I would give my son assigned, daily reading … [Read more...]
Great Advice from an ESI Reader
If you do not read the comments here at ESI Money, you are missing a lot. One mark of a great site (IMO) is the quality of people who read the site and leave comments. I am thankful for so many great readers and that they leave comments that are just as valuable as the posts I write. One such comment that I found very compelling was from reader Mike H who commented on … [Read more...]
Stack Multiple Discounts to Save Big
One of my favorite saving activities is to stack multiple discounts to get the best deal possible. In today's post I'm going to go through the basic discounts available plus share some ways our family stacks them to save. And I hope you will chime in with some suggestions of your own! Discounts Available Before we get into the specific examples, let's review the various … [Read more...]
How to Retire Early
When I tell people that I've retired early I get a variety of reactions. But once the surprise (which is always part of the reaction in some measure) wears off, the questions begin. And the most common one is something like this, "How did you do it? How can a person retire early?" That's what I plan to cover in today's post. Live Like No One Else Before I get into … [Read more...]
Lose Weight and Gain Money
This is the next post in my series on simultaneously getting in shape and improving your finances. For those of you who haven't been following along, you can catch up by reading Physical Fitness and Financial Fitness and Being Healthy Can Grow Your Net Worth. Today we're going to talk about a Money Magazine article that says you can save a boatload of money by slimming … [Read more...]
How Small Spending Can Add Up
It all started with a simple gift. We had just moved to Oklahoma and my sister-in-law got us a Keurig machine as a housewarming present. None of us were really coffee drinkers at that time, but one of us (me) was about to become one. :) The machine came with a wide range of flavored k-cups. We tried them all and over time I found that I actually liked coffee. The kids … [Read more...]
