Stale Green Light

…then do what rich people do. If you want to be poor, do what poor people do. I don’t know where the saying comes from, but I have heard it a bunch of times. It’s very true. Rich and poor people aren’t where they are at because of some misfortune, one bad decision, one good decision, or anything else. The reason they are where they are at is because of habits.

There are habits that make us rich and habits that make us poor. Knowing the difference can help us in our finances. So let’s look at the habits of people who are struggling financially.

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This is a simple post, short and sweet. Lots of people often ask how they should divide their paycheck up. Well, that all depends on how much you make. If your rent/mortgage costs 75% of your income, then that’s different than if it only costs 25% of your income.

Regardless, most people should divide their paycheck like this:

Rent/Mortgage: 30%
Groceries/Food: 10%
Utilities: 10%
Debts: 10%
Auto/gas: 5%
Household: 5%
Discretionary Allowance: 5%
Savings/Investments: 25%, everything else

The average person would be wise to structure their monthly income this way.

Senator Dick Durbin is attempting to limit the credit options of millions of Americans. I for one am outraged, and you should be too. The proposed “Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act” will put a federal interest rate cap on all loans at 36% APR. What does this mean to you and me? Well, nothing, unless you have ever needed short-term credit like a cash advance.

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