Sort of a financial topic but a funny spin on it. I have to say joint accounts are absolutely necessary when you are marrying a foreigner. Sounds counterintuitive, that you should have separate accounts, but actually when you are doing the INS paper work you WANT joint accounts. Otherwise you will be crying I promise!

Since I have experience with this area, I’ll tell you a story. When you are married to a foreigner, everyone else who is thinking of marrying a foreigner or dating a foreigner will ask you what the process is like. For us it was easy-peasy compared to most!

Probably because everything was joint, we were really married, and we documented everything. I did cry at the INS, but heck we had been waiting hours only to find out we hadn’t filled out all the paperwork necessary.

At the time we were too broke to afford a lawyer so we had to sit and meticulously fill out everything. We carried a box with EVERYTHING. We had our mortgage, bank statements, copies of credit cards, titles of cars, pictures, etc. You name it we had it.

But back to why you want a joint account. Our friends got married at the same time and were interviewing at the same time, etc. Except the man was an American and the woman Brazilian, and they had meet while he was vacationing in Brazil. My DH and I met while in school and were living together. They were “long distance” dating and then got married.

So we had everything together because well we lived together. We knew the day was coming so we set up everything joint, insurance, car titles, bank accounts, etc. But our friends well it was hard to do everything because they had to apply for a fiance visa, then get married, then start making everything joint after the wife moved here. And they had only been dating 12 - 18 months or something short. We had been living together almost 5 years prior.

Anyway, the husband hadn’t had time to add his wife to his accounts, she wasn’t on the mortgage, not on the car, not a beneficiary for life insurance. And it looked bad. They had a very rough time with the interview and getting their spousal green card.

For us it took us 6 months to get the card, they waited over 1 year. They were investigated and interviewed more intensively than we were. Our interview was 15 minutes and basically the person just reviewed all the paperwork. You submit everything, wait a long time, then go back for an interview. They review everything, then get back to you.

As we were relating our stories, they admitted they hadn’t planned or thought through the process at all. Hence the difficulties. After 2 years of green card you get to remove the conditional status and apply for permenant status.

Anyway, the moral of the story? After hearing their story and others similar to it, we figured our we had cruised through our interview and process WITHOUT a lawyer. Yep we were probably more married than the rest of them. So if you are considering marriage and getting a green card, tip - start setting things up joint asap. Trying to show you are married with all seperate accounts is more hassle than it’s worth.

Beside you have to talk finances eventually. And it should be done before marriage anyway.

Wedding season has arrived once again. In past summers, I blissfully ignored all the wedding magazines, chuckled at a few episodes of whatever Bridzella show was hot, and sent off a gift or two. After a flurry of weddings in my early 20s, I wasn’t too involved in all the drama past idle daydreams about my own wedding day.

Now, in my early 30s, its 60 days and counting until I’m at the epicenter of the wacky world of weddings. Yes, I bore my friends with the minutiae of how I stuffed the wedding invitations. Yes, I read magazines, and planners, and websites. Yes, I even had a near-bridezilla meltdown about my dress.

During all those years, one thing I never daydreamed about was the budget. In my 20s, I had grandiose dreams about cocktail receptions, designer shoes, and string quartets. How I would pay for it all never entered into the fantasies.

Now, determined to start my marriage on the right foot financially, I’ve set the wedding budget at $4050. My parents are helping, and I’ll have the rest paid for by the wedding date. And, one month after that, I should have close to $9,000 in credit card debt knocked off.

How am I doing it? I’m flexible about everything about the wedding except for the budget and the groom.

In My Frugal Wedding series of posts, you can see how my thinking has evolved from fanciful to sensible. In “5 Tips for a Wedding Under $5,000,” I discovered the most important thing. This wedding is about the beginning of something, a marriage; it’s not an end in and of itself.

If relatives are grumpy that they didn’t get an expensive meal, it doesn’t matter. If the typeset of my invitations doesn’t match the RSVP cards exactly, it doesn’t matter. If we serve wine and beer without a signature cocktail, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I am committing to share my life with a wonderful, supportive, interesting man. All the rest is window dressing.

Armed with a firm sense of who you are and what you want from your wedding, the next important step is to set a budget and stick to it. I have every budget category written in my planner, and I treat each category as a final purchase. That way, when I’m looking for photographers, I keep thinking $500, my photography budget, not $4000, my total budget.

If you think about the big number, it’s so easy to go over budget. What’s $80 for disposable wedding cameras compared to $4000? But, what’s $80 for cameras compared to a $70 budget for wedding favors? Too expensive! By being flexible about everything except the numbers, I’ve done a nice job staying under budget for each category. That will give us more wiggle room for the unexpected costs that may come closer to the big day.

So my advice for a frugal wedding? Stick with the right guy and the right budget. Be flexible about everything else.

Ten years from now, you won’t worry about the color of the bridesmaid dress matching the color of the jordan almonds. You won’t care if you served roast beef, chicken, or a choice of sushi rolls. Heck, you probably won’t even remember what the invitation inserts looked like. After that one day, two things will remain: your debt and your husband.

Pick the right guy and the right budget and be flexible about everything else!

Image by Manassas Cakery

The conventional advice is that all workers should aim to save 10 percent of income. I reject this idea.

It is a bad idea to consult a rule of thumb when deciding how much to save. Effective saving plans are customized saving plans, not prefab saving plans. What you need to determine is, what percentage of income should someone pursuing your particular Life Goals and faced with your particular financial circumstances be pursuing?

Someone working a low-paying job because she believes that the skills she is acquiring will pay off big down the road may well not be able to afford to save 10 percent. Someone who has recently received a 50 percent raise can almost certainly afford to save far more than 10 percent.

There are many people today saving negative percentages of income (by going into debt). But a high percentage of effective savers save far more than 10 percent of income. It is not uncommon for effective savers to save 50 percent. In my best year, I saved 80 percent of post-tax income.

It is hard to save 10 percent of income if you are not pursuing a saving goal that provides strong motivation. That’s why most today are poor savers.

For those who are effective savers, saving 10 percent per year is usually a frustrating experience. When you only save 10 percent, you only save enough to be able to afford an old-age retirement. That’s none too inspiring a saving goal. Who gets excited about giving up things he could be doing with his life in his 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s to provide for his needs in his 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s? Most effective savers quickly graduate to more inspiring saving visions and higher saving percentages.

Save more and you will see results from your saving effort far more quickly. That will cause you to love saving more and more. Saving begets saving. It is when you begin saving more than 10 percent that your saving efforts kick into high gear.

Telling people to save 10 percent places a ceiling on their saving efforts as often as it places a floor on them. The save-10-percent advice encourages a way of thinking about saving in which people see it as something that must be forced, something that is boring, something that requires self-denial. Saving 10 percent is death.

A personal finance and life blogger from metropolitan New York, bripblap is extremely well travelled. Enjoy his tips below and subscribe to his excellent feed.
American Express - don’t leave home without it! That may be one of the most famous phrases in advertising history, but it tapped into a deep fear for most travelers: the fear of being stranded in the distant unknown parts of the world without ready access to their money. What are some simple tricks to use to safeguard access to your money when traveling?

1. If you are traveling to very remote areas, make sure you have plenty of cash. The parts of the world that don’t accept credit cards or debit cards are dwindling, but there are still places. Keep plenty of cash, but keep it spread amongst your wallet, your luggage and even a bit hidden somewhere else. I used to prefer to keep some spare money hidden in my toiletry bag on the theory that nobody is going to check there.

2. Carry dollars. Despite the fact that the dollar is terribly weak right now, it is still the most accepted currency in the world. Carry $100 bills; these are far easier to exchange, ironically enough, overseas than in the US. If you are coming from another country (you’re a European traveler, etc.) I would still recommend carrying US dollars. Don’t count on your drachmas or forints being accepted everywhere.

3. Keep a list of your credit card numbers and customer service - and give a copy to someone at home. There is nothing like having your wallet stolen overseas. However, you want to be able to quickly cancel them if you do lose them or have them stolen, and the easiest way is to have a separate “panic card” ready. Give one to a friend at home in case your panic card is stolen, too.

4. Debit cards are convenient, but pricey. When I started traveling in the early 90s, debit cards were almost worthless when traveling. As time has passed, though, they have become far more useful. Be careful when changing money, though - you may pay a fee to your bank and the local bank. In addition, you may get hit with an exceptionally unfriendly exchange rate.

5. Go gray. I can’t emphasize enough that you should stay in compliance with the laws of the countries you visit, which often prohibit individual currency exchanges. Depending on the country you visit, though, you may find significantly better exchange rates dealing with individuals than with banks or exchanges. In developing countries with high inflation rates local people will often be willing to give you better rates simply to protect their earnings by converting them to dollars. I would not recommend exchanging with locals, however, unless laws (and safety) permit.

6. Get rid of change. Spend your change as fast as you get it, and small bills, too. These are often difficult - if not impossible - to exchange on your return. Try to spend all of your local currency before you leave the country. Exchanging your money to local money and then back to your money is a terrible waste. Try to spend down to 0 before you leave; put your last few expenses on a credit card.

7. The most important money tip when traveling, of course, is to keep it and yourself safe. Never flash large sums, never discuss how much you have, keep it well hidden and ensure you know how you could get ‘emergency money’ if you needed it (for example, where ATMs are that accept your bank’s ATM network).

Fun (and safe) travels!

Hopefully this post is not too “Americentric” for plonkee’s readership –

The December 2007 issue of Money Magazine recently highlighted a question from a reader about patronage and politics in a column on ethics. It seems that this reader works out at a gym where the owner was a financial contributor to a presidential candidate that the reader strongly opposed. The reader’s question boiled down to whether or not he should support a business where a portion of his fees would end up in the coffers of a politician with whom he had a sharp disagreement. The reader’s alternatives were to discontinue working out or drive an hour away to another gym.

On one hand, the question seems silly – why would anyone take the time to write a national magazine about such and inconsequential matter? Who cares what a retailer does with our cash? Does anybody really take the time to figure out the politics of every business we visit? It is for this reason that I am not a big fan of boycotts – you can find something you don’t like about every single business out there – if you look hard enough. And with whom are we to agree – the CEO, the board of directors, the store manager, the register clerk? Any pressure to patronize businesses with whom we agree 100% seems to be artificial and needless.

I think plonkee’s boycott of chocolate is a slightly different issue because it is based on objective, concrete wrongdoing on the part of the manufacturers. The question I want to ask is, do you ever boycott a company based solely on the political views of the owner?

I tried to think of any businesses where I withhold my business based on the political views of the company and I came up with the following:

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream – The owners of this outfit are two of the most liberal guys around. I can’t stand the thought of giving them any money. But this isn’t a real boycott, I can’t afford B and J’s ice cream in the first place and all ice cream tastes the same to me anyway. I am just as happy with the $2, ½ gallon carton of ice milk from the supermarket as I am with any kind of premium brand.

Citgo Gasoline – Since it is owned by the Hugo Chavez’ leftist government in Venezuela. But then, I don’t think we have a Citgo in our city…

When it comes to boycotts – I guess I stand on principle – unless it’s inconvenient.

I sure hope my political viewpoints are compatible with Starbucks…

[plonkee’s note – not only do I think that ice cream should be made into a major food group, I’m a fan of the sort of liberal politics that the Ben and Jerry’s founders espouse and that rocketc dislikes so much. Rocketc assures me that he won’t boycott my blog based on my political views, and likewise, I won’t boycott his blog because we disagree about politics, and religion, and…]

Many people have a difficult time with the holidays. Perhaps you’ve lost someone dear to you in the last year. Or maybe you’re living far from relatives. Whatever the reason, there are ways you can cope with the holiday blues without breaking the bank.

1. Put on some upbeat holiday music. I have a really hard time being sad when I’m listening to happy music. Go ahead. Dance if you like. If you’re home alone, nobody will see you. If you’re at home with the kids, they’ll enjoy the fun. Pretty soon you may find yourself crumpled on the floor, laughing so hard you can’t breathe.

2. Keep a gratitude journal. Keeping a record of the little things you’re thankful for makes it easier to remember that life isn’t all bad. Even if the only gratitude you can muster is for a couple of hours of sunshine, it’s something positive. And the more you seek out things to be grateful for, the easier it is to be content, even if your situation isn’t ideal this year.

3. Remember that it’s just one holiday. Things are bound to change by next year. Last year we had possibly the worst holiday season of our lives. My father-in-law entered the hospital on Thanksgiving morning with breathing problems, and he passed away on December 8th. So in the midst of the holidays we were planning a funeral and celebrating Christmas without one of our parents for the first time. It helped to remember that we weren’t the only people in the world who had been faced with this situation, and that many people survive grief during the holidays. We face another challenge this year, facing the first anniversary of my father-in-law’s death, but things are definitely a little bit easier this year. And I suspect each passing year will continue to get easier.

4. Shake things up. If you’ve always had a big ham dinner at noon on Christmas, and you’re facing Christmas alone this year, go to a friend’s house and have turkey. Or have Christmas dinner at 5:00. Unwrap gifts on Christmas Eve if you’re used to opening them on Christmas morning. By not following your usual traditions, it will be easier to forget about what you’re missing. On the other hand, if you find comfort from traditions you’ve always followed, by all means follow them.

5. Give back. There’s no better way to get out of a holiday funk than to focus on other people. Serve food at a soup kitchen. Volunteer at a Toys for Tots distribution center. Charities always need help during the holidays. Find a charity you support, and volunteer. You will feel good by giving back to the community.

However you deal with the holidays, remember the holiday season is temporary. In a short month, life will get back to it’s normal routine. And if you ever feel like you can’t deal with the holidays at all, seeking some help from your family physician or psychologist is a must.

Consider this.

One man lives modestly. He contents himself with simple pleasures: reading, good food, and friendship.

He aspires to live a good life. So he finds fulfilling work and pursues those things he is passionate about.

In all this, he earns some money, spends some money, and saves some money. He avoids using credit.

Thirty years later, this man is healthy, happy, and content. He has saved enough to live comfortably and continue doing those things he loves.

Another man lives extravagantly. He indulges in luxury: fancy cars, big houses, and beautiful women.

He desires to be noticed. So he finds a high-profile corporate job and does not what he loves, but what will provide him with the biggest paycheck.

In all this, he earns a lot of money, spends even more, and saves nothing. He uses credit and carries a balance.

Thirty years later, this man is unhealthy, unhappy, and discontent. He has no savings. He continues working in a job he doesn’t like so he can keep his creditors at bay.

The lives of these two men are vastly different. What made the difference?

One man sought no public approval; only a life of simple pleasures. In the end, he found what he was looking for and was glad of it.

The other sought to be noticed. He filled himself on the fruit of pride. But pride was no easy master; it drove him to excess. In the end, he was financially and emotionally ruined.

The lives of these two men are instructive if you will but take a moment for self-reflection. You follow their patterns to one degree or another. And so you must ask yourself, “What master am I serving?”

How you answer that question will tell you much about your future and what changes you might need to make.

Since Plonkee’s visiting DC this week, I thought it would be appropriate to make my guest post about DC. DC’s a great place to visit. It doesn’t have to be expensive…the best way to save money is to prepare ahead of time.

Here’s some tips from a DC girl, kind of long but I hope it’s helpful.

Use the metro not cabs!

The good news is that the bizarre “zone” system is gone. Now DC cabs run on meters like everyone else and a two-block trip won’t cost some crazy amount. But don’t use them. And renting a car will kill you with parking fees and DC traffic. Plus, there’ve been enough carjackings in DC that I wouldn’t want to drive downtown.

Use the Metrorail system; it’s much cheaper and takes you almost everywhere. Before you come, print out a map from the WMATA site. This is the classic system map It doesn’t overlay the streets, but it gives you a pretty good idea of where things are. You can also buy maps in DC which go into more detail about streets and stations.

If you have internet access while in DC, consider also using the handy trip planner to help you figure out where you’re going.

When it comes to metro fares, DC has two options which would be good for plonkee.
The first is the 7-day short trip pass. During “peak hours” 5:30-9:30am and 3-7pm on weekdays, it’ll cover any trip up to $2.20. That works for most trips you’d want to take, I don’t think I’ve ever traveled farther than that.

And outside those hours, you can go as far as you want. It’s good for 7 consecutive days. If you go farther than $2.20 will take you, you have to put in additional fare (keep some coins on you!!) at the kiosks right before the exit. Cost: $22.00. I’d recommend using this one and keeping a bit of change on hand just in case.

Or you can use the 7-day unlimited pass. Go wherever you want whenever you want and never add money. It costs $32.50. Good buy if you don’t want to keep change on hand or if you’re in a hurry. Or you’re just making lots of really long trips.

If you want a day pass, they sell those for $6.50, and you can go anywhere for a day. Better buy if you’re only in town for less than 4 days (3 days = $19.50; 4 days = $26.00). From 4 days on, you want the short trip card.

You can buy all these kinds of passes in any metro station farecard machine. Just select the pass option and pick the one you want. Most will accept credit cards, but if the machine’s connection isn’t working it may only take cash. Stupid machine.

And now a little warning about the DC metro system: allow extra time. Hopefully you won’t be in a rush because you’re a tourist. The Red line has particularly sucked in the last few weeks and some bad stuff has been happening on the outer limits of the Blue and Orange lines.

Oh, and for the love of everything you hold dear—the left side of the escalator is for walking. The right side is for riding. It’s very simple. I’m sure plonkee’s fine at this, but DC tourists can lead to some real traffic jams. DC residents will already be in a bad mood from the metro delays and won’t be happy with you.

If you want, you can do all your touring for free!

All the National Gallery and Smithsonian branches (that I know of) are free! The National Archives are free! The Botanical Gardens are free! The National Mall (not a shopping center) is free! The Library of Congress is free! The National Zoo is free! The Capitol building and White House are free! The monuments are free!

Most of these places offer free tours, though check their sites for more details of when they’re offered. And in some places like the Capitol and the White House, you have to be on a tour–national security and all that. (And I’m not sure you can get on a White House tour without scheduling it ahead of time….it seems confusing. But there’s a visitors’ center, anyway.)

The Old Post Office Building is now a food court, but the tower is really cool and it feels so full of history. There’s free tours of the tower. And the building gives you a great understanding of Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal!

National Geographic has a site with a huge list of things you can see free. It’s much too long to copy here. Don’t forget to check and make sure the hours are still the same ones they list.

Basically, there’s a lot of free stuff to see. Take advantage of it. Then you can visit places like the spy museum–which looks fun but costs $16 for a normal adult.
And sometimes, it’s nice just to walk around and enjoy the history.

Fine (and not-so-fine) Dining: where it gets expensive!

If you’re in the downtown area, where all the important buildings and monuments are, you’ll find a mix of cafes and restaurants. I’m sorry to say that I don’t really eat there, but I know there’s a number of places. Most of these are higher-end. And museum food is really expensive, so don’t do it!

One chain I enjoy is Chipotle–it offers reasonably priced burritos and such. They’re absolutely delicious and it’s much higher-end than a fast-food place, but it’s also good for someone on a budget.

Silver Spring, Maryland offers lots of good options, most within an easy walk of the Red line Metro station. Their city’s site has dozens listed.

Georgetown’s site has a handy feature which lets you sort by price (as well as cuisine and features).

Rosslyn, VA (part of Arlington) doesn’t have as many, but there’s still quite a few. Note, I’d recommend Cafe Asia as a good one, I’ve actually been there! Most of them are within easy walking distance of the Rosslyn Metro station (Orange and Blue lines).

These are the “good” areas of town. If you venture into my area, I can’t guarantee much—not even a good diner.

DC has food options for every budget—though the food tends towards being expensive. It’s just a matter of finding them. And, of course, you can stick with a simple appetizer at a higher-end place or split an entree/appetizer if you’re traveling with someone.

If your hotel room has a microwave, consider saving money by buying microwave meals and eating in. Or have half of last night’s dinner if you’ve got a fridge to store it in. Then eat out for lunch, which is less expensive overall. Don’t forget these standard PF tips while traveling.

So while you’re in DC:

• Travel cheap—walk and use a 7-day metro pass.
• Tour cheap—seriously, you can spend 7 days sightseeing and not pay a dime. Or spend your money on a few things you really want to see and do the rest for free.
• Eat… well, you can eat cheap but it’s not always easy outside of fast food. Just do your best on the other stuff and save your money for this. Maybe if I ate out more I’d be more help. Clever Dude recommends the Chinatown Express for big portions and low prices. I like Chipotle.
• Stay. I didn’t cover this in the post because I know very little about it. Consider alternatives like hostels and house/apartment swapping. Also, make sure your hotel isn’t too far from a metro station. Otherwise you’ll have to ride the bus, get a bus pass, or walk. Long walks in DC can be nice, but not at night in some parts. So distance from the station may mean you’ll be paying some cab or bus fare which you could have otherwise avoided.

And have fun! There’s lots to see and do in DC, I hope you enjoy it!

One of the biggest ways I personally have found to be successful in managing my money is to know myself. And in knowing myself, know what types of things are motivating for me versus what types of things discourage me. What is one woman’s motivation is another woman’s downfall, after all. That’s why there can be so many different financial gurus giving their own personal spin on basically the same types of advice, and be a market and an audience for a good number of them.

A healthy dose of reality is essential for all of us, but if all that reality does is depress us and keep us from moving forward, there’s no reason to wallow in it. For some, a constant reminder of how far they have to go is motivating. For some, it is defeating. Know yourself and which you are, and be true to it. You’ll make much more progress that way.

My motivation comes in micro-goals, and it took me a while to figure that out. I know my overall picture, but I don’t spend a lot of time focusing on it. $30,000 in debt is a whole lot and the number is so large as to seem unreal to me. But breaking that number into smaller micro-goals works to keep me motivated and focused on the overall goal without setting me up for depression and anxiety. I focus on one debt at a time, and just think about reducing that total while paying the minimums elsewhere. That, of course, reduces the overall total as well, but until I got dangerously close to getting under that $30,000 mark, I really didn’t give that big number much thought. And once I am under it, I’ll stop thinking about the total again until it hovers near $20,000.

I also work at making small changes. Those small changes add up to a big difference, but I simply focus on the small changes. I don’t try to figure out ways to apply an extra $1000 to debt. Or even an extra $100. I find ways over and over again to apply an extra $10 here, and extra $20 there, and over the course of a month that adds up to more than I ever imagined.

Small things motivate me. Large things overwhelm me. I’ve learned to not ignore the big picture, but to not completely focus on it and focus on the small things I feel I can accomplish, and let the big picture take care of itself.