pimpmyretirement
Recycles dryer sheets
I am curious what the most productive financial changes are others have made over the past year. My top 3 are:
As financially productive as it feels, being frugal really has hit the point of diminishing returns for my household. Short of moving or taking on a boarder, trying to improve our financial defense has become a game of chasing scraps.
Given this, next year, the time I spent trying to become more frugal will be focused on relationships instead. I believe investing time with family, friends and coworkers will yield greater rewards, both financially and personally.
Looking into an employer funded MBA program and learning to better understand my investments is also in the hopper, but I doubt either will yield significant returns during 2012.
1. We will close on a mortgage refinance Friday, reducing expected interest costs by about 50% over the next 10 years.
2. My wife was promoted significantly and I got minor raise, increasing our household income by about 18%.
3. With dozens, if not hundreds of hours of painstaking effort, our recurring household expenses were reduced by about $2500. The bulk of this was from lowering food costs, taking the bus to work and dumping ATT as our cell provider.
2. My wife was promoted significantly and I got minor raise, increasing our household income by about 18%.
3. With dozens, if not hundreds of hours of painstaking effort, our recurring household expenses were reduced by about $2500. The bulk of this was from lowering food costs, taking the bus to work and dumping ATT as our cell provider.
As financially productive as it feels, being frugal really has hit the point of diminishing returns for my household. Short of moving or taking on a boarder, trying to improve our financial defense has become a game of chasing scraps.
Given this, next year, the time I spent trying to become more frugal will be focused on relationships instead. I believe investing time with family, friends and coworkers will yield greater rewards, both financially and personally.
Looking into an employer funded MBA program and learning to better understand my investments is also in the hopper, but I doubt either will yield significant returns during 2012.