Keep On Keepin' On | Mony Mony round-up

I won't bother to run through the FearWatch File... it's difficult to escape the fact the global financial markets have tanked (cb), the loonie's wings have been clipped (fp), job losses are rising quickly (cb), high personal debt is leading a rise in bankrupcy, major corporations we once thought invincible are walking the tightrope-with-oblivion-game (and bringing down entire industries), home starts and building permits are slowing (fp) (cb), and at least one government that I know of (Stevie Canuck might take a stick to the 'nads, so to speak...) is being threatened with a Coalition-led toppling unless they produce "comprehensive" budgets to address dire circumstances (cbc) (fp) (cb)... and so on...

I think the Take-Away is that we need to keep an eye on our cookie-jars. So here's a fairly random round-up of money-saving, finance-watching type posts that have caught my eye lately.

Let's start with the "general-getting-your-finances-together" types, like the Personal Finance Section of the CBC. And Get Rich Slowly has a good list of 9 methods for 2009. (grs)

The basic list for getting it together looks like this:

First you need to figure out what comes in and where it goes. In other words, it's time to learn, or review, the tracking-the-cash and budgeting-skills. (grs) (cbc)

Then deal with debt: the CBC has a good "in depth" section to look through. (cbc) You can go right to the tips here.

And make sure your investments are in order. (cbc) It's also good to check your credit rating. (cbc)

Cutting down on expenses will help with staying in the budget and reduce the debt-load. There are lots of tips out there. Like creating a "price book" for comparison shopping with your groceries. (frugalhacks) And why you should only buy your gas at gas stations, not groceries. (mbh)

You can increase your income... like leveraging your hobbies into paying work. (dumblittleman)

Make sure you're planning your retirement. (cbc)

And... "after your retirement" is politely called Estate Planning. (cbc)

There are lots of good sites to check out.

Festival of Frugality.
Frugal Hacks.
Frugal Living.
Get Rich Slowly.
The Simple Dollar.
I Will Teach You To Get Rich.
Mighty Bargain Hunter.
Not Made of Money.