The 7 Personal Finance Articles We Loved This Week
It’s Thursday, and you know what that means: time for another round of awesome personal finance articles hand-picked by ESI of Rockstar Finance!
I’ve been with my partner, Peter, for three years, and we’re getting married this November. I feel so lucky to be in a happy and healthy relationship, but I can’t ignore how much it influences the ways I spend money. This became especially true after we moved in together — even with separate accounts, it’s clear how much each of our spending and saving habits affects the other person, especially when we’re splitting rent and other costs and making long-term decisions as a team.
Knowing how much your financial lives mesh when you’re in a long-term relationship, I really feel for anyone in the midst of a breakup — especially one that results in needing to uproot your life and find a new place to live. I really appreciated this incredibly personal look at what a breakup can cost and the importance of having a breakup fund. No matter how optimistic I am and how secure I feel in my relationship, I will always advocate for having your own individual emergency savings. Here’s a look at just what these situations can cost:
My property managers are only human and I was able to talk to them about our situation. I emphasized the fact that though both my and the ex’s names were on the lease, I would have to front this expense on my own and I just couldn’t swing that.
Long, stressful story short: they sympathized with me and agreed to waive the $5,125 concession. The ex split the one month fee with me. THANK F**KING GOD. Moving on.
- Portion of January rent = $500
- First and last month rent at new apartment = $1,800
- Movers = $400
- New dresser b/c I did not own the “shared” one = $380
- Buying back other furniture we initailly split = $150
- City moving signs = $69
- Car registration change = $25
- = $4,799
Be sure to check out the full post below, as well as the rest of this week’s great picks!
1. Lifestyle Creep Can Make You Richer – Mommy Makes the Money
“Yes, when lifestyle creep is misdirected, it can truly be a bad thing. So bad it can destroy you. But I propose a contrarian view. Lifestyle creep can be good. In fact, it could even help you live a richer life. There is one caveat. You need to know how to rebalance it. Not unlike rebalancing your investment portfolio.”
2. 9 Reasons Riding the Bus is Better than Driving – The Frugal Convert
“In L.A., traffic is literally a trending topic when anyone talks about our city. Our streets are busy and our commute time always ranges between 20 minutes with no traffic to 1.5 hours during rush hour. And I’m only talking about commuting 10-15 miles.”
3. Time Is More Valuable Than Money, Self-Made Millionaire Grant Sabatier Says – Rachael Ray
“Grant explains that time is actually much more valuable than money. You can always try to go out and make more money. You can start a part-time job or get a side hustle. But your time? The truth is, you can never get back your time.”
4. How to Deal With FOMO on a Debt Free Journey – Leveraged Mama
“FOMO distracted me from long term savings, house deposits, investments, and debt freedom. Fear of missing out on events and experiences was a major cause of poor financial outcomes for me. There was no avoiding it – I had to address this spending trigger. I feel like I’ve done a heap of work on this so that it doesn’t happen again – or at least as often (we are all human!).”
5. The Immigrant’s Edge in Wealth Building – Immigrant Finances
“As an immigrant, you are typically not used to a lifestyle of debt. At least if you’re an immigrant like me. From where I come from, it’s either you have the money to make a purchase or you just forget about it. It’s cash and carry. As a fresh immigrant with this mindset in America, if you avoid the shackles of debt to reign you in, you will get ahead faster.”
6. 4 Busted Myths About Women and Money – Financial Mechanic
“For too long, the myth that women are somehow bad with money has perpetuated our media, marketing, and minds. Advice based on these false assumptions conveys that women are at fault. If they only negotiated harder, took on more risks, and (in short) acted more like a man, then they would succeed.”
7. Why I Needed A Breakup Fund – Refine My Money
“My break up fund was essentially my year-end bonus that I was 100% planning to put to any other use you could think of rather than helping me crutch my way out of an emotionally abusive and manipulative relationship.”
Image via Unsplash
