America’s Top Financial Bloggers: Sometimes the Best Choice is a Difficult One

by A Dawn

Award-winning author A Dawn is a City University of New York Economics graduate. The former Financial Advisor now works as a Data Integrity Analyst for a major Canadian wealth management corporation. He created Canada’s Personal Finance Website to make the world of personal finance easy and accessible for everyone. Invest Now is author’s first book. He makes his home in the world class city of Toronto.

There is no denying the fact that in times of economic hardship, people begin to look at their own situation and consider whether they can continue to live as they have been. Spending money is great fun when it is plentiful and you know there is more to come. But in times of recession, there is always a danger that the next company to announce major job cuts will be either yours, a family member’s, or one of your customers. It is then that you need to ask yourself if you should change the way you look at financial matters.

Read more about where to make budget cuts

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: What is the Best Way to Manage Personal or Family Finances during Difficult Economic Times

By Andy Hough

Andy Hough is the writer of Tight Fisted Miser.  Tight Fisted Miser provides information on extreme frugality and personal financial advice for the modest earner.

‘”What is the best way to manage personal or family finances during difficult economic times by making smart financial choices?”

My advice on what you should do during difficult economic times is similar to my advice for any time.  If you implement the following three tactics you will be prepared for financial difficulties.

Read more about strategies for managing your expenses

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: What is the Best Way to Survive these Economic Times

By Ron Haynes

Ron writes for The Wisdom Journal, a blog about making wise choices, improving your finances, and living a better life. Ron is a husband of 19 years with three children. He has an MBA and is a partner in a 141 store chain with locations in 16 states.  Having made many of the financial mistakes he writes about, he is now on better footing and is eager to share what’s he has learned along the way. Though many people learn faster on their own dime than on another’s, “experience is the best teacher,” he says, “especially if that experience comes from someone else!”

Have you noticed the bright pricing stickers being used on shelves today? The prices aren’t lower, they’re just more visible and eye-catching. Some brands will go out of their way to highlight their price even though it was cheaper all along. Try to scan the shelves and make sure that apparent markdown is real.

Learn how to protect yourself and your budget when shopping around

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: A Personal Finance Toolbox

By Sharon Harvey Rosenberg

Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of the Frugal Duchess: How to Live Well and Save Money – a coming of age memoir about money — and a contributing writer in Wise Bread’s 10,0001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. She is a freelance journalist and a blogger for Wisebread.com. The Frugal Duchess blog is located at www.sharonhr.blogspot.com.

Creativity, accountability and flexibility are key tools in my personal finance toolbox.  With education and discipline, I use those tools to handle financial difficulties.

Here’s how my toolbox works:

1. Creativity: I try to find new uses for aging products, including my workplace skills. For cast-off household items, such as an old teapot, this process helps me to spend less money and save a small corner of the environment. Here are a few ideas for my teapot’s second life: plant potter, pen holder and a napkin centerpiece.

Learn more about the tools to financial success

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: What is the Best Way to Manage Personal or Family Finances during Difficult Economic Times by Making Smart Financial Choices?”

By Max Messner

MaximizingMoney.com offers cash bonus opportunities, money-making tips, and financial articles to help you save more money and earn extra cash with banking bonuses, credit card offers, travel discounts, investment opportunities, and more ways to make more money.

What is the best way to manage personal or family finances during difficult economic times by making smart financial choices?”

As far as I can tell, the best way to manage your finances during difficult economic times is to make smart financial choices during good economic times.

Of course, it’s too late for that if you’re in financial trouble now, but consider this your second chance to prepare for the future.

Learn more about how to prepare your finances for the future

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: What is the Best Way to Manage Personal or Family Finances During Difficult Economic Times?

by LAL

I’m LAL (livingalmostlarge), from LivingAlmostLarge and LAL Musings.  I recently turned 30, and am married with a dual income and no kids.  I write about personal finance from the perspective of someone searching for financial freedom.  I one day want to live large.  To me that means not worrying about paying my bills or losing my job.  So join my on my journey and see what pitfalls and successes I have.

What is the best way to manage personal or family finances during difficult economic times by making smart financial choices?

Honestly, making smart financial choices starts before difficult economic times.  I am not a fan of the “latte” factor.  You know, the term coined by David Bach talking about people who spend $3/day on a latte.  That works out to $1000/year on coffee at Starbucks.  Well why not?

Read more about budgetting for major purchases

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: “Budget 101″ – Ten changes you can make that will save you money

by Cheryl Smith

Cheryl Smith is a columnist and blogger for The Examiner, covering her local area of Ft. Lauderdale.  She writes helpful first-person observations and advice concerning financial matters among other topics.  For more articles by Cheryl, visit her personal website on The Examiner.

As the recession drags on and unemployment continues to skyrocket above 10%, we must look for ways to stretch our budgets. The Sun Sentinel/CNN.com ran a series of Tips of the Day ideas which listed twenty ways to fix “leaks in our household budgets” by changing the way we spend money for of variety of services. I have picked out a few of them for you to try. I’ve noted where we’ve tried these suggestions and how it worked out for us.

Learn how to easily cut your budget

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: 5 Surefire Smart Financial Moves To Make Amidst A Recession

by GingerLatte

Ginger is the writer of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds.  Girls Just Wanna Have Funds is dedicated to the woman that wants to take charge of her personal finances. We value budgeting, investing, frugality and remain mindful of our spending habits. Move over and make way for women who are in control of their financial destinies and not afraid to say it. We’re armed with a positive net worth and not afraid to flaunt it while breaking financial ceilings one stiletto at a time!

People all over are scrambling to make ends meet in one way or another across income brackets.  Virtually everyone is feeling the pinch of the recession and they are surely thinking about next steps.  There are no more HELOCs or credit cards to fill the gaps as banks are cutting limits like a lumber jack wading through the forest.  Jobs are also scant as businesses are cutting back in critical areas to stay afloat.

So what’s a well intentioned person to do?

Discover smart financial advice for suriving the recession

America’s Top Financial Bloggers: What is the Best Way to Manage During Difficult Economic Times?

By Christina Brown

Christina Brown writes for Northern Cheapskate, a blog dedicated to helping others live a frugal lifestyle through coupons, freebies, and money-saving ideas.  Learn how she saves money as a stay-at-home mom living in the rural northwoods of Minnesota at www.northerncheapskate.com.

Many of us have lived well for a long time. We dressed nicely, we ate out at restaurants and took exotic vacations.  But now layoffs arrive with little notice, and families are struggling to make ends meet. The days of spending without thinking have disappeared.  For many of us, it is a cold, hard reality we’re not prepared to deal with.

Here are five ways to take control of your personal finances during these tough economic times.

Read more about how to save money from one of America's top financial bloggers

Hints for Reducing Debt

We often speak of the importance of paying off debt as a means to financial freedom, but what is equally, if not more important, is a discussion of ways to pay off that debt.  We’ve compiled some helpful hints on how to pay off your personal debt (whether it be credit card, student or other types of debt).  With a little smart shopping, saving sense, and the willingness to seek help, anyone can get themselves out of debt without having to go the dreaded bankruptcy route.

Talk to your credit lender. They may be willing to cut you some slack if you explain to them that you plan on paying off all the debt.  Ask for a reduced payment schedule.  The key is to ensure them (in not so many words) not to give the debt over to a collection agency.  If you can talk to them and ensure them that the debt will be paid off, then you may convince them that getting the full amount of money you owe is preferably to hiking up your interest rate and never getting most of it.

Learn more about reducing your debt

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