Catchy title, huh?  But, in this case it is simply that…a title aimed at getting attention.  I have noticed, however, an increasing trend when it comes to personal finance blogs and many comments posted on such blogs, which inspired my choice of words.  You see, there are a great many blogs and articles dedicated to what people call “frugal living” and a great deal that also promote the “cash-only” lifestyle and it seems that many of the messages regarding these lifestyle choices are being interpreted (by me at least) almost like gospel.  It often times feels like authors and commentators are saying something to the effect of “This is what works for me, and what I believe, so you should too”.

Anyone who has, or will read my blog in the future can see that I am not a part of either of the aforementioned camps.  In fact, I do tend to take a hard line stance on certain subjects such as personal accountability and the benefits of credit, but never have I taken shots at anyone simply because their views differ from my own.  I prefer to take a more objective approach and kindly disagree while providing my reasons. A perfect example would be my post entitled Credit Is Not the Enemy, You Are! in which I argue the benefits of using credit as a tool.  I do not even once belittle or denigrate those who choose to live without credit, while still enforcing my point that those who misuse it have no one to blame but themselves.

I guess it is my background in accounting and financial advising that allows me to understand that being constructive with criticism is more useful that flat-out dismissing someone else’s viewpoints even if they conflict with my own.  I prefer to educate others on different matters rather than force my views upon them.  Maybe it is because many other bloggers are not in the field in which they write about, that they do not see their writings as preaching their own personal gospel on financial matters.  Or, perhaps like religion or politics, they feel so strongly about something that works for them and believe in, they cannot see any other viewpoint objectively.

I will reference another of my posts, Financial advice is not a one size fits all proposition, which more closely matches the message that I am trying to convey here.  Financial advice is not something that can be applied to all people in all situations.  What works for one person or family may or may not work for another, even if the situations appear similar.  Everyone has to decide what works best for them, and although it may go against what another feels is right, should not be shot down on the simple basis of ideological differences.  Granted, one may have a very compelling case for disagreeing, but without backing it up intellectually and thoughtfully, such an argument can be interpreted as being a put down or an attack.

There are two people whose blogs I do reading very much because they are able to strike an accord and see things from differing standpoints.  J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly specifically states this point in an addendum to a guest post entitled Three Reasons Cash is King as he writes:

I know that GRS readers are divided between the “cash only” and the “wise use of credit” camps. I believe both have their merits. Though I’ve elected to join the “wise use of credit” folks, I support those who opt for a cash-only lifestyle.

NCN from No Credit Needed has similar remarks in a post titled Top 10 Ways To Save Money - Number 3 - Avoid Paying Credit Card Interest where he writes:

Now, there are those who will reject my idea of paying cash and they will extol the virtues of credit cards, with low interest rates, and the power of using other people’s money.  Hey, I’m cool.  If others want to borrow money, that’s fine by me…I am very open to the idea that I am wrong, and I know that many of my personal finance blogging brothers and sisters love their credit cards, but I’m just not going to use them.

If only everyone could be so open-minded to varying views on any number of subjects, it would be much easier to read many of the blogs that are out there for the world to discover.  One additional note: I did not mention any specific posters or bloggers whom I found to fall into the context of this post because I prefer to focus on and promote positive people.

A friend of mine had her television go dead on her last week, and tried everything to diagnose the problem: unhooking all of the peripheral components, wiring the cable directly into the television, unplugging the unit from the outlet completely for a few hours all to no avail.  She called a licensed repairman to come out and try to solve the problem (who subsequently ended up failing to do so).  Basically she tried everything to avoid having to spend what she was afraid would amount to huge amount of money to replace the television–which by the way was an 8 year old rear-projection Mitsubishi 60″ unit that looked like a monstrosity to be honest.

I offered my services as a self-admitted tech-geek to go with her and research all of her options and do price comparisons, but after a full day of shopping she was even more confused, not to mention sore and hungry.  At the end of the day, we had a list two pages long of model numbers, features, prices, delivery and set-up quotes, and two pretty big headaches.  She thought it would be a good idea to wake up on Black Friday and try to fight the crowds to get a better deal on one of the many potential televisions we had seen, but I suggested we wait to see if anyone was going to have one of those special “pre-Black Friday sales”.

As it turned out I received an e-mail from Best Buy which was promoting sale that was available on Thanksgiving day for online shoppers.  What she ended up getting was a heck of a better deal than those people fighting the crowds for parking and employee assistance in the store.  The Samsung LN52A580 52″ LCD she ended up ordering only cost $1499.99 plus tax, and came with free delivery, free set-up, and free haul-away.  Most people are saying to themselves, “Well that’s not such a great deal.  I’ve seen 42′ Plasmas for $800″ (or something similar).  But to fully appreciate the deal she got, you have to understand that besides plasma being an already dying technology, the original cost of the television was $2299.99, the for televisions is $99 (and is almost never free on such a large unit), the installation cost was regularly $99, and the haul-away is a $99 service for a total of $2596.99 excluding taxes which would have run an additional $156 for a grand walk-away total of $2752.99.  Her tax-inclusive purchase price was $1589.99 for a saving of $1163.00, which in and of itself was a great savings.

The story doesn’t end there, however.  On top of saving almost $1600, since she is a member of Upromise, and shopping through their portal website, she also is getting an additional $30 in college contributions, and Since I am a member of Best Buy’s Business Reward Zone, I get double the points for which she will be getting certificates totalling $60 for future use.  When everything was said and done, adding up the values of the Upromise contributions, Reward Zone certificates, television, and services she saved nearly 50% plus she doesn’t have to lift a finger to get it to her house, unpacked, installed, set-up, and cleaned up.  And, this particular model has better features than some higher-prices units that we had considered to begin with, making it an even better deal for her.

All without having to leave the comfort of home and deal with the vultures at the malls!

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time abut being with family and friends, giving thanks for what we have in our lives, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and perhaps some football as well.  Once the day is over people’s attentions turn to the next ”holiday” that immediately follows: Black Friday, the unofficial kick-off to the holiday gift-giving season.  While Thanksgiving is supposed to be about giving thanks and being with loved ones, thousands of stores require employees to cut short their holiday in order to return to work to stock shelves and prepare for the throngs of shoppers that will descend upon the stores come the early morning hours of the fourth Friday in November.  Millions of people cut short their holiday to head off to bed in order to get their sleep so that they may join the hoards of shoppers lining up outside stores to be among the first to enter.  The day of thanks turns to a pathetic display of greed and insanity.

On Long Island, NY a Walmart employee was trampled to death, while shoppers continued to push their way into the store as emergency workers attempted to assist the man.  At a Troy, MI Meijers store, three brothers attempted to use a blow up doll to purchase a 42-inch plasma television that was discounted $400.  In Sunrise, FL Roxana Sonora and her daughter Sierra, 13 were the first shoppers in line at a Best Buy store where they waited since Tuesday at 10 PM.  The stories range from ridiculously funny to horribly tragic.

While this may seem like a commentary on the lack of morals or family values of today’s society, it is actually a commentary on the utter lack of prioritization of society.  I won’t even get into the the state of the economy, but imagine if everyone put even a fraction of the energy and dedication into their everyday finances as they do into when going into Black Friday–no one would be in the trouble that they are today.  Just like managing finances, this huge shopping event takes planning, which begs the question: Why can people plan for Black Friday but claim to be unable to plan and budget their normal finances?

The reality is that it takes a large amount of time to go through all of the store advertisements and research products.  It takes time to plan the schedule for the day of shopping: coordinating schedules, finding someone to watch the kids, planning out the travel and shopping routes, figuring out which are the best places and arranging the day accordingly.  It takes time to sit out in front of a store for hours or even days to ensure getting the best deals.  Now if that kind of time and dedication was put into setting up and following a budget for things like saving for a college education or retirement, building up a savings/emergency account, and paying down debt, many people would be in a much better position than they are right now.  Even the holiday shopping season would be easier if more time and effort were used toward planning and budgeting for it.  High-yield savings accounts could provide a buffer and interest earned can be used to offset some of the costs.  Store loyalty programs can be used to gain even more savings. 

Truth be told, many people are perfectly capable of making sacrifices in order to reach what they claim to be their “goals”.  Unfortunately, as evidenced by the amount of time and effort that goes into planning and budgeting for Black Friday, people are simply too lazy or just do not care enough to commit the same type of effort into their everyday finances.

Sending out our warmest wishes to everyone on Thanksgiving from GreenBridge Advisors!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Yes times are tough: people are upside down on their mortgages or even going through the foreclosure process, the banking industry is in turmoil, retail stores are closing at a record pace, jobs are being lost.  It is certainly difficult to imagine that all of these events are happening all at the same time, but things happen that are beyond our control.  Everywhere You turn people are crying for help, and pointing fingers everywhere except for where they should be pointed.  Here is a novel idea, though: take a good long look in the mirror and see who is truly to blame for you own person situation: you!

For years, people have been worried about keeping up with the “Jonses”: their neighbors, family, friends, emulating what they see on entertainment tv programs.  They go out and purchase cars and houses that consume most of their take-home pay just to say that they drive this car or that car, or so they can say that they live in this zip code or that city.  They struggle to live paycheck-to-paycheck using almost every last cent to pay for the luxuries that they thought would bring them status, but only drive them deeper into debt.  Did they not think that one day this would all catch up to them?

For years the national savings rate was at historically low levels under 1%.  A majority of the country wasn’t concerned with saving, just outspending and upstaging the next person.  Savings accounts?  Emergency funds?  Retirement savings?  Most reports concluded all of those things were virtually non-existent.  What happened once the ARMs started adjusting upward?  Foreclosures increased.  Defaults increased.  Banks, which are not in the business of selling real estate are seeing their risky lending practices come back and bite them in the rear.  Then the layoffs come, and there is no savings account, no emergency fund.  What do people do?  What else, blame everyone possible without taking personal responsibility for their own actions and decisions.

It’s really quite simple:

• House in foreclosure? Blame the bank for giving you a mortgage that you swore you could afford
• Car being repossessed? Again, blame the bank
• Job loss with no money in the bank?  Blame the employer for making a rational business decision
• Credit cards maxed out? Blame the bank yet again for giving you a line of credit that you couldn’t use responsibly or society for making it so easy to spend.
• Credit rating in the toilet?  Blame everyone else for expecting you to pay your bills on time and the credit agencies for calculating credit scores the way they do

Sometimes, people need a good slap in the face to wake them up to the fact that they are responsible for each of these situations.  It’s not the banks who extended the line of credit.  It’s not society (totally) for making you feel that you needed to keep up with those who actually have the means to afford their lifestyles.  It’s not the former employer that had to let you go in order for the business to survive.  Ultimately you are responsible for where you are right now.  You decided to buy rather than rent even though you knew you couldn’t afford it.  It was you who purchased a luxury car versus the affordable sedan even though the payments, insurance, and fuel costs would be stretching your budget.  You are the one who made the decision to spend your bonus and/or raise rather than fund your retirement account, savings account, or emergency fund.  It is al on you for living above your means, and you have no one but the person looking back at you in the mirror for where you are at this very minute.

Obviously this is not the same for everyone, but for the great many people who brought their current money woes upon themselves, this presents an excellent opportunity to learn something about yourselves and about money.  Look back to see how you got to this point.  See what you could have done differently, perhaps sought out a financial advisor, or read a book on money management.  Sit down and make a plan, outline your priorities, just do something to come out of this situation a more informed, more responsible consumer.