Financial Advice in the Oddest Places

I was reading the latest Cosmopolitan Magazine (August 2014) and found a good piece of financial advice by their financial columnist Alexa von Tobel .

Let me preface this with a short explanation about why I might be reading Cosmo: First, I am the Father of 3 lovely young ladies and married to a wonderful wife who enjoys reading the magazine, and I enjoy reading it; Second, I was reading it at the Library so it was free, well not really, I was reading it using the Ottawa Public Library’s Overdrive App ; Finally, I read many different magazines, not just the Economist, Bloomberg, or the like for personal finance ideas to write about.

Tips for Your Me$$

Ms. von Tobel’s 1-page teaser titled, “Are Your Finances a Total Me$$?”, brings some very useful financial advice points forward that I have talked about before (but they can never be repeated enough) (see Page 130 August 2014 Cosmopolitan for the complete article):

1. “Clean out your Wallet”, I have talked about my GeorgeConstanza-like wallet, so I really do need to do something about that.
   • “Keep gift cards at home“, only bring them when you have decided what to buy.
   • “Carry your driver’s license”, what is it with folks not carrying ID with them? I always have my license, but I seem to be the exception.
   • She doesn’t mention the importance of not having a big fat wallet and how it might throw your back out if you carry it in your back pocket and sit on it, but that really wasn’t the point of her writing either. A big fat waller is a Chiropractor’s best friend, as you will throw your back out with it eventually.
2. “Control your paperwork”, has lots of standard things, that are good to remember. What you need to do is start scanning things, or only keeping E-copies of things. I am not completely clear on the CRA’s point of view on only have scanned copies of original documents.
3. “Never Miss a Payment”, has a few things that made me nod my head and mutter, “Good idea”.
   • “Keep money e-mails separate”, which is not a bad idea. Make sure the account you use is something you look at often. If you don’t check it, you’ll end up having an out of sight, out of mind problem.
   • “Set Calendar Alerts” is really important too. I do that using my Google Calendar.  I share my calendar with my phone and my wife. This way, I don’t have the “I forgot about that bill” excuse.

Advice Where ?

A fun article, and it shows you can find really interesting financial advice everywhere.