This Week’s Money & Happiness Quotes to Live By

Every now and then we will be posting some of  our staff’s favorite money related quotes to live by! Without further ado, this week’s quotes:

Debt

• “Never spend your money before you have it.” -Thomas Jefferson
• “This would be a much better world if more married couples were as deeply in love as they are in debt.” -Earl Wilson
• “When a man is in love or in debt, someone else has the advantage.” -Bill Balance
• “It is poor judgment to countersign another’s note, to become responsible for his debts.” -The Bible
• “Youth is in danger until it learns to look upon debts as furies.” -Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
• “Debt, n.  An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slavedriver.” -Ambrose Bierce
• “I say to you never involve yourself in debt, and become no man’s surety.” -Andrew Jackson

Frugality

• “Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything.” – Benjamin Franklin
• “Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.” – Samuel Johnson
• “Buying cheap is expensive” – My friend’s grandmother on the differences between cheap and frugal

Financial F*ckery of the Day – “Memorial Day Weekend in Miami” Edition

Because spending your rent money and missed work hours at your temp job was well worth the investment…

(Shoulda opted for that time and a half Monday money, playa!)

"I cames ta Miami ta find mees a BALLUH!"/ Someone just ate Lil Kim

I guess they were playing the time honored game known as "Duck Duck Pigeon"

It’s Time to Stop Paying Your Debts. Yes. You Absolutely Read That Right.

Who do you think you are?

No, really. Do you think that you’re special? Some kind of failed, Hancock-esque superhuman? Do you think you’re the only one on earth who is going through what you’re currently going through? Think you’re the only one who’s fallen for the deadly trap of credit and debt?

You’re NOT.

So now that we have an understanding, lets talk.

Financial F*ckery of the Day

I’m sorry, I refuse to end up cuttin my asshole off simply to keep up with the joneses.

I’m sure their moms are both proud and upset after they couldn’t find the damn cereal box that morning…

Today’s Personal Finance Blog Highlights

As we previously stated, our love for other personal finance blogs on the net is almost second to non. Below are some highlights from posts we found interesting recently:

In an interesting personal finance-esque article posted on a non personal finance site, ESPN explores the details surrounding the debts of New York Kick’s Eddy Curry.  We still can’t believe the amount of money this man was/is bringing in and the type of loans he was “forced” to take out:

New York Knicks center Eddy Curry defaulted on a $570,000 personal loan while keeping up a lifestyle that included a $17,000-a-month suburban New York home, a $6,000-a-month personal chef and a dozen cars he’d bought for himself and relatives, a judge said.

On Friday, a Manhattan court ordered Curry to pay $75,000 a month to lender Allstar Capital Inc. to resolve a debt that swelled to$1.2 million with interest. The court also has issued an order letting Las Vegas-based Allstar seize three of the cars: a Rolls Royce Phantom convertible and two Land Rover SUVs, all 2009 models.

Lawyers for both Curry and Allstar said Monday they were headed toward a settlement that would make the order moot. They wouldn’t disclose terms. Curry’s lawyer, Mercedes Colvin, would say only that she believed the two sides had reached “a mutually satisfactory resolution of the matter.”

We can Learn a Lot From Our Parents (even if it isn’t what they planned on teaching us)

Many of us in the core age group on this site (25-35)  take all of the great advice we get for granted, namely the free advice we have right in front of our faces. The advice about the mistakes our parents made.

In a great post at GetRichSlowly.org, the guest author of the post, Neal, provides some advice on what you can learn from your parent’s generation:

If you know someone in their fifties (or sixties), don’t be surprised when you discover they’re afraid. I’m 52, and I checked with everyone. They confirmed it. It’s true.

The Mortgage Interest Hustle and Why You’re Falling for it.

Y’all know the mortgage interest hustle, right? No? Well lets start with the tax deduction side of it first:

Broker: Mr. Jones, your $2,400 mortgage payment only feels like $1,500 because you get to write the mortgage interest paid off of your income every year!”

Jones: Your sure about that?

Broker: Ab-sa-tively. ‘Course, my boss tells me that I’m required to also refer you to your tax advisor for further information.

Jones: Good idea. Can we do a conference call with the four of us, including my wife tomorrow before we sign the loan docs?

“Mommy, I wanna major in dumb sh*t when I grow up!”

Posted by: Paris Renee

“That major that she’s majorin in don’t make no money but she wont drop out her parents’ll look at her funny.”

Dumb Sh*t Major (noun) A specific major chosen to “speed through” college tenure and ensure graduating on time. However, the pursuer of such major pays the same amount of loan back as the pursuer of a “smart major” even though only the latter generates the funds to do so.

The vast majority of Americans have succumbed to the notion that you must do whatever it takes and pay whatever cost necessary in order to get a 4 year degree. Ever since we were kids we’ve been taught that unless you have a degree, then wealth is simply not an option for you, so

Teenage Girl Buys House With Cash….While Most of You Keep BS’n

Lindsay Binegar bought this Greenfield house with her $40,000 savings, which she started building at age 4 with $100 she won showing a hog. She rents the house to relatives, socking away the money to buy a home with her fiance when they marry next year.

Today’s Positive Minority Spotlight: The Smiths

Recently on Oprah, Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith appeared on Oprah and had a lengthy discussion on marriage and their family business. However, the specific reason we are placing them in the spotlight today was for this: