Carnivals for the Week ...

Here are some of the carnivals Free Money Finance was in this week: EDITOR’S CHOICE! Festival of Frugality Carnival of Personal Finance Totally Money Blog Carnival Financial Simplicity Carnival Enjoy! P.S. Carnival Hosts — If my post is in your carnival in a given week,...

How is Your Emergency F...

The Wall Street Journal discussed emergency funds recently and noted the following: The oft-quoted rule of thumb is to save three to six months of living expenses in your emergency fund. But many people these days will need nine months to a year of expenses covered just to get by....

Help a Reader: Pay Off ...

Here’s an email I recently received from a reader: I have $21,000 in student loan debt that was consolidated in 2005 and is now sitting at a fixed rate of 1.625% for 20 years (original balance was close to $31,000).  The monthly payments equal $170.  My question is, with such a...

Does God Want You to Be...

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here’s why . Here are the opening lines from a recent Wall Street Journal article : God does not want you to be rich. Every so often, he raises up a prophet to teach wayward profiteers about the...

Reader Profile: CW...

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be,...

Star Money Articles and...

Here are some pieces I found especially worthwhile and some of the carnivals Free Money Finance was in this week: EDITOR’S CHOICE! Carnival of Personal Finance EDITOR’S CHOICE! Festival of Frugality My Money Counselor tells how he paid off his debt . Carnival of Wealth Lazy...

The Butterfly Effect...

The Butterfly Effect is the term given to the theory that small, seemingly insignificant actions can have far-reaching effects. The term was first used in the 1960s by Edward Lorenz, while modeling weather patterns. He theorized that the formation of a hurricane could be impacted by...

Help a Reader: Loan Rep...

Here’s an email I recently received from a reader: Recently, I’ve had some issues with choosing whether to repay my college debt aggressively OR pump money into a savings account.  I’ll give a little bit of background that may be necessary.  I’m 23 years old...

The Difference between ...

Achieving financial security is greatly dependent on our ability to make wise choices when it comes to spending money. Spending, not earning, is the key to financial security (though both are important, of course). And yet we live in a society where over-spending is almost the norm. The...

Reader Profile: WW...

The following is the latest post in my “Reader Profiles” series. Each post in this series details the financial situation and challenges of an FMF reader. The purpose of this series is to help us all identify with people like us (in similar situations — not all will be,...