Bankrate offers a list of the 10 commandments of personal finance that I'll be sharing with all of you as well as providing my thoughts on their selections. The commandment for today:
II. Thou shalt not spend more than you make
They don't have much to say on this commandment, probably because it's so easy to understand. Easy to understand? Yes. Easy to do? Not for many people.
For me, this is the fundamental principle of personal finance. If you spend less than you earn, you're increasing your net worth. But if you spend more than you earn, you're going backwards, no matter how much you're earning.
For related thoughts on this topic from Free Money Finance, see these posts:
like you say - easy to understand, not so easy to do sometimes. I've found that having the money come out of my paycheck before i even see it helps me to save - then it doesn't feel like saving.
Pete
Posted by: Pete | January 24, 2008 at 11:56 AM
I thought of your column when I read this story this morning at breakfast. She was clearly someone who lived within her means...and was a good saver. Impressive.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1201148718278210.xml&coll=7
It also points out the importance of letting someone know where your documents, accounts and safety deposit boxes are.
Posted by: Marjory | January 24, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Marjory --
Interesting story indeed! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: FMF | January 24, 2008 at 01:09 PM
What is so remarkable about this story?
Why did she stash CASH in her safe deposit box? Why wasn't it invested? (psst, doesn't a certain parable come to mind?)
Considering her earnings as well as the presumed earnings of her husband, her monthly Social Security was probably in the neighborhood of $1,500 or so. Add in her small monthly pension, and she may well have had $2,000 income per month.
The lawyer estimated she had probably saved about $500 per month, leaving her with approx $1,500 per month to spend.
She presumably did not have a house payment - the mortgage was probably paid off years earlier, and anyway would have been a low payment considering the lower purchase price of decades ago.
Millions of Americans work full-time for lower incomes, and pay 40-50 percent of that income for rent.
So what's so great about this story?
Posted by: Perplexed Peruser | January 24, 2008 at 02:21 PM
PP --
"So what's so great about this story?"
She left a net worth of $425k while at her PEAK earning she pulled in $25k per year. That's pretty good.
Posted by: FMF | January 24, 2008 at 02:28 PM
Well, um, er, uh, I missed the $425K at the end of the story first time I read it. So I sit corrected. (D'oh!)
Still, we don't know how much of that $425K is represented by her house. Considering its location (northeast Portland includes a wide range of income and housing values), the house should be worth at least $200K and possibly considerably more. I'm guessing that the $105K represented only cash and not the expired CDs.
Posted by: Perplexed Peruser | January 24, 2008 at 03:52 PM
PP --
BTW, I know it's you.
Posted by: FMF | January 24, 2008 at 03:58 PM
Well, I assume my IP address is in your logs, so I figured as much.
It's a nice story which deserves a writeup in the Shriners' press but I'm not so sure about a general newspaper. Many of the personal stories of PF bloggers are more worthy of newspaper ink. (grin)
But it is good to see that there are some (apparently) honest lawyers.
Posted by: Occasionally Amused | January 24, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Perhaps this should be commandment No: 1.
Just like you have said that this would be your best pf advise ever.
Posted by: fathersez | January 25, 2008 at 01:38 AM