Some are even fleeing the country. People have discovered that if they can go where the standard of living is much lower, then they can stretch their social security really far.

Think about, when we get money here we are paying for high priced things. When we get the same amount of money in another country our dollar can go a lot farther.

So if you want to retire and moving south does not bother you, then leaving the country may be just your answer.

How much have we let this economy work to our advantage? Have we properly invested so we are going to benefit when it finally settles down? These are questions we need to answer before taking a break from what is going on.

Right now with everything recovering it is still low. This may not be the case in a year or even just a couple months. We still have time so we should still jump into the waters of investments.

Now that we are not making as much money thanks to unemployment rates increasing and income cuts, we are not paying as many taxes. As we pay less taxes there is less money funding cities and their respective employees. Realizing this, it would make sense these cities would encourage other ways to receive funding.

One of these ways could be through traffic violation tickets. Think about it, police officers have a quota of tickets they have to give out each month. Well imagine if they rocked that quota and brought in a ton of money. It makes sense for the temptation to be there.

Because they can make more money by issuing more speeding tickets we need to be cautious on the road. They’re probably less inclined to let us talk our way out of tickets so take great care to avoid getting pulled over.

This is so interesting because when you think about the American Dream people have long envisioned a world of lots of money and lots of leisure time. Well for the first time we are discovering that those with higher paying jobs are spending less time at leisure activities.

One thing that is important to realize is that those with less education have a higher unemployment rate, so some of this is out of their control.What was concerning though and definitely within everyone’s control was that those with less education spend less quality time with their children and exercising. This means that they have more leisure time yet spend less of it doing important things.

I just hope this is not a trend that is long lasting because I want to believe that we will once again be a people that values our family and progression and working for something.

Many investors have been benefitting lately from the up and down market in the auto industry. They buy low and sell high, very quickly for a quick buck. It hasn’t been all that bad for those investors until now. They can’t buy more, can’t sell what they have, and some don’t know what they will do with their shares. Many investors thought that they were buying into the new GM that recently came out of bankruptcy, but they were really buying into the semi-dead GMGMQ.

Many investors, however, steered clear of GMGMQ and knew that the companies shares would not bring them any profit. MAny have been saying that the trading should have been halted weeks ago.

Marriage is not just about the love of two people anymore. In our modern day and age marriage is a true business partnership. This is why it is so important to financially understand one another before putting on a tux or bridal gown.

Studies show married people make more than single people. When getting into a marriage you are heading in a financially positive direction. Problems arise when there is financial infidelity and disagreement regarding how to spend money.

Before your marriage you should sit down as a couple and figure out what you both expect from your financial future. Try to fix any current problems and make a joint plan.

Getting divorced is extremely costly. Not only do you have to split the wealth but you have to pay a number of other fees. Because of this you should review your financial plan every couple months with one another to determine how successful you have been and what you can do to improve.

Your marriage will be better if you openly communicate about your financial situation. This is especially true when you review things with one another. You will be surprised how much your love will actually grow by recognizing the business side to you marriage.

Do you really want to save money?  Ask yourself again – do you really want to save money?  Some people say they want to, but don’t really care to put forth any effort into it.  Is that really wanting to save money?  I’m not so sure it is.

People need to first understand the importance of saving money.  Especially in these hard economic times, saving money is a smart thing to do in case of any really big hardships in the future.  It is also a skill – one that can be learned only with sacrifice.

If you really want to save money, I believe you.  But you need to dig down and figure out why you want to save money and continually use that as a motivator.  So ask yourself again and again if you really want to save money.

When the answer is yes, come on back and find a ton of ways to save money.

Each month, you pay bills right?  How much do you pay on your bills?  What can you do in order to cut down the cost of those bills?  Once you have some new-found money, take it and put it into a new bill.  This isn’t a bad bill though.  On the contrary, this bill will actually help you out in the times you need it most.

I’m talking about paying yourself.  Take the time to figure out how much you can pay yourself every month.  Even $10 is better than nothing.  Could you even do more?  You’ll be so grateful you did.  So go!  Get on it!

Let me know how it is working out for you.

Sometimes we need to stop and talk to ourselves.  Maybe we don’t always need to talk outloud and with people around, but it’s always good to be aware of your conscience trying to talk to you.  It might just tell you to buy the cheaper cereal.

If we do finally take the time to talk to ourselves, we should evaluate our lives – especially our finances.  Ask yourself some questions…

“When is my next paycheck coming in and for how much?”
“How are we doing this month with our budget?”
“Am I working toward getting out of debt?”
“Am I saving enough for the future?”
“Where is all of my money going?”
etc. etc.

By doing a self-evaluation, you should be able to find areas you need to work harder in.  You will find that you have more money and more freedom.  Your stress will go down and you will feel like you are on top of your life again.  Give it a try!