Thriftism

What is the big deal with budgeting? It seems like everyone is talking about it, but they don't always mention why it is important. Creating your first budget might sound like a lot of work, but we will walk you through it and help you understand the why and how of it. Let's start with the why.   WHY???   Creating a budget is important for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that creating a budget means creating a spending plan for your money. This ensures that you have money for things you need or want. By having a plan for your money, you will be much less likely to go into debt and be able to begin chipping away at your current debt. It also keeps you from spending money you don't have. It is so easy to swipe that card, but if you're not tracking what you're spending, you may end up unable to pay the bill at the end of the month. When you're tracking your spending, you're also more likely to kick those bad spending habits. What doe...

I've come to realize that there are only so many ways to make extra money while holding down a full-time job. I don't always know what time I'll get off work which pretty much rules out getting a second part-time job. I have a few friends that do this and I don't know how they have the energy to keep up with it. I feel dead by the end of most days and couldn't imagine losing another 3 hours of sleep most nights. I used to donate plasma, but the last time I went in they suddenly decided my veins were now too small. So I started looking into participating in a study.  There a lots quite a few different companies that run medical studies around the country. We have two located in my area- Novum and Axis. Axis hadn't yet opened when I was looking which left me with Novum. From what I've seen so far they do a ton of dermatology tests, meaning no blood draws. Not that blood draws are the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn't pick to do them if I di...