The Best Money Blog – How to Save Money, Live Frugally, and Earn Passive Income

Similarities can be drawn between two seemingly unrelated things, in this case, personal finance and working out. To be successful in either discipline takes change as it is usually contrary to human nature.

By studying positive aspects in one facet of your life, you can learn a lot about what it takes to be successful in other areas. Below is a list of five ways that personal finance is like working out, and by learning to apply these five character traits, you can see growth in both areas.

It’s easy to see financial problems when you’re on the outside looking in. When you see your friends wasting money on stupid things you are quick to point it out because you can’t find the logic in why they are spending their money so irresponsibly.

It really does take a strong person to admit that they have a lot to learn when it comes to money, and sometimes it’s helpful to share criticisms of the way others spend their money because it helps us realize our own downfalls. Below is a short list of some of my biggest pet peeves with money. Be sure to add some of your own in the comments below.

A few articles back, I posted my first money saving idea, which was to use cash for groceries in order to track our expenses better. This week I wanted to talk about something that has been in the works for the past month that will finally come to fruition about a week from now.

We have rented out our house and are downsizing to an apartment! Before any congratulations or bashing begins, read the rest of the article to see our reasoning behind the move.

I’ll give you my answer right now, yes. Back in the old days, before Al Gore invented the Internet, people balanced their bank accounts using a pen and paper. This is not how it is done today.

More and more, people are relying on services like Mint.com to keep their finances in check, and it is only going to continue in this direction. By not cashing checks immediately, you are basically giving people the idea that they have more money than they do, and while I realize you are not responsible for their finances, there are other negative consequences as well.

Thanks to Evan over at My Journey to Millions for hosting the 264th Carnival of Personal Finance. The Best Money Blog was featured in the “savings” section.

You’ve read hundreds of blogs telling you 1,286 different ways you can save money. Some of them might seem crazy, and they often are, but others are tried and true methods that have been successfully practiced since before money was first printed. Why aren’t you using any of them?

We’re going to dive deeper into the reasons for inaction on your quest for financial freedom. You know exactly what you have to do to get there but you aren’t doing them, so what is holding you back?

Acting rich is a good thing. Acting how you think rich people act is a bad thing. One of the most common misconceptions about rich folks is that they spend their money frivolously because they are so wealthy that they don’t have to worry about it. While it is true that some wealthy people, professional athletes in particular, live an over-extravagant lifestyle, the majority of rich people got to where they are by living below their means and persistently investing money. Once you learn to act rich, you will hear the phrase, “You spend money like a millionaire”, and take it as a compliment.

I first heard of lifestyle inflation in an article at the wonderful personal finance blog, Budgets Are Sexy, and it really got me thinking. Having gotten a raise at each new job I’ve worked at, shouldn’t my rate of saving increased exponentially. If I was as financially savvy back then as I am now, I would venture to say that the answer would be yes. Then why am I not saving as much as I could be? The answer is lifestyle inflation.

Buy everything you want. That’s it, that’s the secret. It seems obvious, but the more you look at it, the more you’ll realize that you do it every day.

See that laptop over there? Charge it, you’ll pay it off eventually. See those new designer shoes? It’s buy one get one half off right? You might as well get the extra large drink; after all, it’s only $1 more.