Easy Change

Christmas is right around the corner and this year, I am getting an early start with Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, others in my family are the same way. In fact, some family members have already bought entire shopping bags of toys for the little ones in my family. So, to avoid adding to the clutter, I've decided to give zeros for Christmas. Zeros (or zero coupon bonds, in other words, EE savings bonds that you can get at the bank where there is no interest paid out regularly...) are a great option if you have someone in your life that already has met a quota of reasonable amounts of toys/gifts for Christmas. Deals abound this year, that is certain. So shop around both online and in the brick-and-mortar stores and resist the urge to buy lots of items that people don't need just to fill up the space under the tree. In the end, I think that nearly any decent investment aimed at the long term (like a zero bond) is the best choice for the little kids in my life. There may be so

A Freedom Fund is a great supplement to the Emergency Fund. It stands to reason that there are categories of upcoming expenses that are likely to come up within a year or two and you can easily save for these expenses, a little each month, above and beyond your normal savings. This past weekend, the cat got sick and required an ER visit which totalled over 300 dollars. This was an unexpected expense -- the reality is that most people can't easily absorb it. My budget is certainly tighter now this month, but it is not undoable in any way. Fortunately, the experience has showed me it is a good idea to review the expenses to see what, if any need to be revised. The first that you might be overlooking (if you're like me) is pet expenses. These can run into thousands of dollars, so it is important to budget for this so that a pet-emergency doesn't totally ruin your finances. The second is an inflation buffer. This seems a little strange, but the reality is that our normal adjust