Debt Free Life Hacks: Managing Money Like a Boss

You ever heard someone proclaim, "the more you make, the more they take"? Most likely they were talking about a paycheck and the amount of taxes taken out of it. Perhaps you worked overtime or received a bonus and was expecting a pretty nice check only to have your bubble popped when you realized that taxes have too taken its piece of your pie. What can you do? Gross Pay vs Net Pay Gross pay is what you earn before anything is taken out (deductions, taxes, etc.).  Net pay is the amount you're paid after taxes and deductions.  Gross Income could be $4000 while the net or take-home pay is $2800. There are a number of factors that contribute to the amount taken out of a check. In this post, we're looking at how to fully take advantage of pretax deductions to hopefully lose less to taxes. Why taking more out before taxes is a good thing... We're all responsible for paying our share of taxes, but there are ways to lower your overall tax burden. ...

Many people are not strangers to the challenges of health and wealth.  People often struggle in one or both of these categories.  How Health and Wealth Compare When it comes to health, oftentimes we know what we should or should not be doing. We know that we should be eating a healthy balanced diet and staying physically active. We know that we should not be eating lots of fast foods, processed foods and that we should not be inactive.  When you think of it that way it's quite simple.   Health = Eat Right and Exercise Yet, so many of us struggle with it. Why is that? The same is true when it comes to dealing with finances. We know what we should or should not be doing. We know that we should live within, if not below, our means, that we should save more and spend less. We know that we should not be overspending, spending wastefully, and we should not be increasing our debt.  So just like health, when it comes to money, the concept is simple.  ...

As I mentioned in a recent post, last week I started Financial Peace University (FPU). Ever heard of Dave Ramsey? He is the creator of FPU. FPU is a course that teaches participants how to budget, how to pay off debts, how to save and give.  While not in debt, I knew the program still had lots to offer and that I could only benefit from participating.  The course follows 7 "Baby Steps". While familiar with the program and the baby steps from the books and podcast, I still learned some new things. One thing was that no matter what your financial situation there is always room for growth and room for improvement. I've become even more determined to build wealth and do what is necessary to protect said wealth, once accumulated (when, not if 😁). I went home immediately trying to think of ways to grow my emergency fund (Baby Step 3) and then focus on Baby Step 3b, which is to save 20% for the down payment of a new home. Another thing that I was introduced to wa...