Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Glen Craig

Use Google Calendar To Pay Your Bills On Time

Published or updated by

Have you ever realized you had a bill sitting around that was due today?

Or worse, yesterday?

If you are lucky you can pay the bill online but that’s not always an option (I’ve found that some companies have a cut-off time).

There was a time when I had a lot of credit card debt.  Digging out of it was tough but what made it harder was paying late fees because I would miss the credit card due date by a few days or so.

There is just about nothing more frustrating than looking through your bills and realizing one was already past due!

I definitely needed a bill/pay calendar system that would work for me!

Keep reading and I’ll tell you about a few systems I’ve used to pay bills on time including how to set up one of my favorites — Google Calendar.

How to Set Up Google Calendar Reminders to Pay Your Bills on Time

[Read more…] about Use Google Calendar To Pay Your Bills On Time

Discover it® Chrome Review – A Good On-The-Road Travel Card, and Still Good to the Consumer

Published or updated by

A while back Discover decided to re-brand their cards.

They essentially started from scratch to create credit cards that were fair for the consumer.

The Discover it® series of cards was born.

They recently tinkered around with their cards again and have released some new additions to the “it” family: Discover it® Chrome.  These new cards make cash back a little simpler, especially if you eat out and drive often.  Follow along below and I’ll tell you all you need to know about the Discover it Chrome cards.

Discover it Chrome Card – Eating Out, Driving, and Still Fair to the Consumer

[Read more…] about Discover it® Chrome Review – A Good On-The-Road Travel Card, and Still Good to the Consumer

Your 4 Step Guide on How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Published or updated by

For more than a decade, wages, in real terms, have been pretty much stagnant.

Even as productivity has increased among the middle class, wages have failed to improve to match.  So, even though the recession has been over for more than five years, many Americans still feel the pinch.

Recent research suggests that more than 25 million middle-class Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

According to a study from the Brookings Institution, 66 percent of the American households living “hand-to-mouth” are families with median incomes of around $41,000.

This means that, even though there is an economic recovery underway (albeit a rather lukewarm recovery), millions of Americans — many of them with jobs — aren’t reaping the benefits of the recovery.

When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you don’t usually have liquid assets, such as savings accounts.  The research finds that these Americans do have homes and retirement accounts, but, even then, the median net worth is still only $41,000.

To get beyond living paycheck to paycheck, the Americans in this study needed an income of $51,000 a year and had assets of $116,000.

But that doesn’t mean that you are doomed to live paycheck to paycheck, no matter how much (or little) you make.  You can stop living paycheck to paycheck if you are willing to make changes to the way you handle your budget.

Here’s How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

[Read more…] about Your 4 Step Guide on How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Frugal And Free Things To Do And See In New York City

Published or updated by

New York City.  The city so nice they named it twice!

Before I show you frugal, cheap, and free things to do and see in New York City let’s look at the first paragraph from Wikipedia:

New York City (officially The City of New York) is the largest city in the United States, with its metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world. Founded as a commercial trading post by the Dutch in 1625, it served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790, and has been the nation’s largest city since 1790. Located on one of the world’s finest natural harbors, New York is one of the world’s major centers of commerce and finance. New York also exerts global influence in media, education, entertainment, arts, fashion and advertising.  The city is also a major center for international affairs, hosting the headquarters of the United Nations.

Pretty cool, huh?

What is NYC?

First off I think we need to put some borders on NYC.

Most people think of NYC as Manhattan but you’d be doing a disservice to yourself if you only looked to Manhattan for things to do.

NYC is made up of five boroughs – Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island.  All but the Bronx are islands.  I tried to spread the love around the entire city as much as I could but don’t be offended if I don’t give every borough equal weight.

So here are Frugal And Free Things To Do And See In New York City (in no particular order):

[Read more…] about Frugal And Free Things To Do And See In New York City