Frugality expert Sara Tetreault from GoGingham.com joins us to discuss five awesome ways to improve your holiday season without breaking the bank. If you’re gifting, entertaining, cooking….whatever, we have you covered this week.
Our roundtable of Paula, Greg and Len tackle emergency funds. Do you really need one? Greg says “probably not,” Len says, “Not until your debt is paid,” while Paula and Joe say “Absolutely, you need one.” It’s a fun discussion about a topic that the financial blogging community has probably beaten to death….
PK discusses stock valuations. Doug has trivia. Joe & OG make fun of Kiplinger headlines, read letters, and talk films (AND we have our first ever guest film review with Erin from BrokeMillenial.com!).
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SHOW NOTES
<> Open
<> Jemstep.com – Use a time-tested approach for your asset allocation. Check out our sponsor, Jemstep.com, to decide if they’re right for you. Use promo code STACK when purchasing to score a free month! Here’s the link to Jemstep’s site: Jemstep.com.
<> Joe & OG – The New Kiplinger Cover. Stocks you need to own? Predictions about 2014?
Here’s the cover that set Joe off: Kiplinger Magazine – 2014 Investing Outlook
<> Sara Tetreault – 5 Fancy and Frugal Ideas For The Holidays
Sara’s site: GoGingham.com – Stylishly Frugal Living
<> PK’s Fractional Sense – Stock Valuations….when is a stock ripe to buy?
PK’s Website: DQYDJ.net
<> Shortwave Roundtable – Emergency Funds
Here’s the piece we debate from Control Your Cash: How Big Should Your Tranquility Fund Be?
Len Penzo’s site: LenPenzo.com
Greg McFarlane’s site: ControlYourCash.com
Paul Pant’s site: AffordAnything.com
<> Letters!
Send emails you wish to have us address on the show to Joe at StackingBenjamins dot com.
Looking for your chance to win an Apple iPad Mini? Here’s the giveaway page.
<> End/Films
Our guest reviewer is Erin Lowry from BrokeMillenial.com
Erin’s site: BrokeMillenial.com
Joe, I was going to leave a heated comment but the Roundtable gave a nice variety of opinions about emergency savings. It was educational and thought-provoking.
It also confirmed the need for me to extend my reach to help those who took the wrong advice that was given!
I loved the discussion on emergency funds (and even tried to comment on Control Your Cash’s facebook page, but couldn’t figure it out…know I know you you feel. 🙂
I see both sides of the coin but think I fall into the camp that the small opportunity costs of $1k in an emergency fund pale in comparison to the habit changing that ought to occur to the newly initiated learning how to wean himself off of credit. Hard to quantify or prove, but my guess is that the latter approach pays off much more handsomely long term.
I thought about this more after the show and feel even more adamantly about an emergency fund. Sure, Greg says you can insure anything, but Steve Stewart reminded me that you can’t insure against extended layoffs. That’s the #1 reason to have a fund in the first place.