I should be calling this week’s installment “Sharing Saturday: The Selfish Edition” because it’s all about me. I’m hosting The Financial Simplicity Carnival this week (tomorrow, to be exact. So make sure you get your entries in!) and I didn’t want to write two huge round-up posts in one weekend. So instead, I’m just sharing all the shots I left around the interwebs this week. And man, was I prolific.

First, I started my new site, The Jealousy Files. It’s a whole new side to me and my writing so make sure you stop by. We’re having a good time over there. You don’t want to miss out.

After that, I had a bunch of other posts on some terrific sites:

What Does Rich Look Like at The Tight Fisted Miser

Using a Schedule to Stay Focused at Online Money Bloggers

I Do Trust You. Because We Did This at Enemy of Debt

Preparing for Baby at The Dog Ate My Wallet

Increasing Productivity With a Light Workload at Prairie Eco Thrifter

Why Having a Dining Out Budget Is Important at Dining Out Challenge

 

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The following is a guest post from Money Supermarket

People are now starting to realize that they cannot depend completely on the government to look after them when they retire. This is why it is so important to start putting savings into smart investment choices such as a cash ISA.

The term, ISA stands for Individual Savings Account and this is an account that allows individuals to place savings and other investments into it without having to pay taxes on the interest. These taxes can be as high as 50% depending on the tax bracket that you are in. A cash ISA can also be used to hold other investments such as stocks or bonds.

This is a great way to save for the future since the money is not taxed when it is withdrawn. There are limits to how much can be invested each year and this figure has risen annually over the last ten years. The amount that is allowed to be deposited each year continues to be adjusted to inflation.

Don’t Waste Money

In order to save enough money each year to contribute to cash ISA or other investment vehicles it is important to cut down on unnecessary spending. Many people do not realize how much money is wasted each month on items that do not add substantially to the quality of life.

Buying snack food and drinking expensive coffee at upscale coffee shops may be enjoyable but it does not contribute any added benefit to the average family. What these habits can do however is to cut substantially into the monthly savings budget. People are often surprised when they sit down and figure out where their money is being spent every month.

Because of heavy workloads many individuals find it necessary to buy fast food or eat at restaurants on a regular basis. This is very expensive and a half hour every day spent preparing a homemade meal can cut this cost substantially.

Monitor Your Spending

When Christmas comes around many parents buy their children the latest and most expensive toys on the market. Many of these expensive toys are soon discarded in favor of something new. Parents would do well to save their money and put it into an investment account instead.

This pays big dividends in the long term and can ensure there is enough money to send children to college. It is useful and highly interesting to keep track of monthly expenditure for a period of time to see where the money is flowing. This should help most individuals get their money expenditure under control and their savings back on track.

It is not that people are unable to save money every month, but rather that they often do not keep track of where unnecessary expenditure is going.