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Build Savings or Payoff Debt – Which Comes First?

Newsflash: You can’t get out of debt until you stop being broke!

By Kevin M

Some argue that if you’re in debt the priority needs to be to payoff your debts before attempting to build a savings account. Many call for the establishment of a small emergency fund—typically $1000—to handle contingencies, and then to pour all extra funds into the pay down and eventual payoff of debt. Only when your debts are paid will you have the cash flow to truly build substantial savings.

While there is some merit to that advice, I believe it fails to address the basic reason a person might get into debt in the first place: a lack of savings, forcing the use of credit as a savings substitute.

Until that cycle is broken, it’s doubtful you’ll ever payoff your debts or accumulate substantial savings. Life has a way of throwing contingency after contingency at us and unless we’re fully prepared to deal with that reality, getting out of debt is little more than a fantasy.


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How to Save Money At The Movies

By Kevin M

Last Saturday night, we decided to go see Avatar, a highly acclaimed movie that lived up to its billing. It was the first time we’d been to the movies this year, and I’m almost embarrassed to admit that the reason we decided to go at all was that our daughter was at a weekend sleepover, which meant that only my wife, my son and myself would go, saving us money on the fare (OK, she wasn’t really excited about seeing the movie anyway).

Now we live in the Atlanta area, which is a region nearly famous for having a very reasonable cost of living. Despite this, here’s the run down of what it costs to take in a movie in these parts:

Movie ticket: $10.50 per person (seems to go up a dollar every year)
Medium popcorn: $7
Medium soft drink: $5
Box of candy: $5

I can only imagine what it costs to go to the movies in “high cost” areas.

If each person in the family goes for the “full package”—movie, popcorn, drink and candy, the cost is an astonishing $27.50 per person, or $110 for a family of four (a 12 year old is an “adult” at the ticket window)! And we haven’t even added dinner!


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Wasting (Money) Away Again in Margaritaville

The Local Watering Hole as a Financial Bottomless Pit

Kevin M

At the risk of personal safety I’m going to take aim today at an “expense” that may be sacrosanct for some, but that’s exactly why it needs to be discussed.

Jimmy Buffet’s 1977 sentimental favorite Margaritaville tells a tale of a carefree life lived on a warm beach in a perpetual state of inebriation. As appealing as that can be at times, when it’s romanticized into a regular activity at a local bar, the costs can be steep, and we aren’t just talking about money.

For the purpose of full disclosure, I’m a light drinker. I’ll indulge in an occasional beer or glass of wine (or two or three), most frequently with dinner guests, but consumption of alcohol has never been a priority in my life. I can go for months without drinking or sit in a bar for three or four hours nursing soft drinks, surrounded by people drinking the hard stuff. I don’t know if that status disqualifies me or gives me the vantage point of an objective outsider, or if it even matters.


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