Personal Savings seem to have reached an all-time low this year. I’m not surprised. Given the very stormy economic conditions, the average American would have been thinking about surviving in the present day, rather than saving up for the future. Apart from the economic conditions, the level of financial literacy of the youth and the public in general is also responsible for this. Americans being spendthrifts by nature and being too optimistic about the future, till the recent recession, did not find the necessity to save up for the future, but the economic famine has woken up people to the harsh reality. Another reason that seems to have made the Americans sleep over the personal savings issue was the highly available consumer credit which has grown at an alarming rate in the last few years. [...]

As a school kid when I’d talk about money frugality, my friends would tease me saying I was stingy. But now the recession has taught even the greatest spendthrifts amongst us to be very prudent with our money. No more is it fashionable to spend big bucks for a lavish lifestyle. In fact, these days, you’re looked upon as a fool if you do that! Everybody is talking about money saving ideas. That gives hopeless misers a chance to be proud of their ways! Isn’t it ? Here are some easy time-tested ways that have been around for quite some days now. They are simple, short and effective. If you were to go by Financial Literacy survey 2009 of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, about 45 % of people spend lesser than what they used to in the previous year. It seems when conditions will [...]

Regardless of their culture, nationality, ethnic origin etc. women have traditionally been homemakers and men the money-earners of the family. Other than the knowledge of some basic money saving techniques while running the household, women were not really savvy of the complex financial world around them. But now, with the changing socio- cultural scenario of women having to take up the role of bread-winners of the family and divorces being at an all-time high, a woman needs to set up herself as an independent financial entity and for that she needs to equip herself with more financial knowledge than mere domestic budgeting skills. According to Ginita Wall, co-author of ‘It's More Than Your Money - It's Your Life!’, "A lot of women believe that wealth is a four-letter word. They are particularly [...]