Speculating began a little more than 6 months ago with talk of the new film ‘Skyfall’ and the re-casting of Bond sensation Daniel Craig. However, in concert with the spy themed blockbuster, details on the film were scarce. Today, 007 enthusiasts rest a little easier as we can all enjoy the release of the film’s official trailer.

It is sad that I won’t be able to add this to my summer movie list, which, by the way, has absolutely no movies on it as of yet. Movies, in recent years, have dwindled on my own personal scale of valued entertainment (at least new movies in theatres) because of disappointment after disappointment. Movie-going is a Quizzologists approved entertainment activity, 2 hours of a good time at less than six dollars an hour is still a pretty good deal, if the movie is actually good. In tight times, I actually recommend taking advantage of the dollar, or in most cases the dollar fifty or two dollar theatres, to beat the summer heat and find some good, but cheap fun.

That being said, from a personal finance perspective, shelling out the 11 or 12 bucks for the new Bond movie this November is a sound investment. In the coming weeks the Quizzle Wire will be conducting a more extensive investigation into all forms of entertainment and ranking them according to their cost effectiveness. Stay tuned.

Bond is Back! was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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According to a survey conducted by travel and leisure group AAA, 30.7 million Americans will hit the open road over Memorial Day weekend, a 1.2 percent bump from a year ago. While thicker traffic might mean longer car rides, drivers have to be feeling a little less pain as fuel prices hover around $3.74 per gallon, down nearly 20 cents from last year at the same time.

A Bigger Picture
Energy is everything. It sounds trite, but there is no shame in avoiding calming euphemisms when we talk about the causes and effects of the very thing that moves our world. Like an economic singularity the position of the energy market, most importantly the price of gas, reverberates through our economic universe. The recent decline in gas prices have contributed to a modest increase in consumer spending and a critical stabilization of inflation rates. It’s a little more complicated than that, but the fact of the matter is Americans have a little bit more money in their pockets and essentials like gas, food and shelter are costing the same, or a little less. If you like numbers, the Associated Press breaks it down for you.

Not the Time for Spending
Trust me, everyone wants you to spend that extra bit of money you have. Business leaders, politicians, unemployed people, your mailman, etc… Spending equals growth, of that there is no question, but this is an opportunity to finally start getting ahead financially without having to make so much personal sacrifice. Use the extra cash in your wallet to build a rainy day fund, pay down your credit cards, double-pay on your student loans, or check your credit report and pay off that lingering collection; anything except springing for that 54 inch flat screen.

And now that I am officially the economic party-pooper… Enjoy the relief and the holiday weekend, but remember this is still a time for saving, not spending.

Memorial Day Weekend Offers Americans a Gas Holiday was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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If your friends are struggling financially, here are some ideas for how you can help:

Don’t give them money: If one of your friends comes to you asking for financial help, it can be tempting to give them money. But as “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert discovered, sometimes too much financial generosity between friends can be a bad thing. Friendships can all too often be damaged when money comes into the picture. Giving money to friends can create uncomfortable feelings of obligation, resentment, or an unwelcome power imbalance in the relationship.

Don’t co-sign on a loan: Many people might be tempted to help their friends by co-signing on a loan, making it possible for the friend to borrow money to buy a car or pay off debt. This is a well meaning but all-too-common money mistake. If you co-sign on a loan, no matter how much you trust your friend and no matter how sincere they are in wanting to repay the loan, the truth is that you are taking a big risk. As a co-signer on the loan, you are responsible for paying it back if your friend cannot make the payments. You might find that co-signing on a loan leads to a lot of lost money as well as a lost friendship.

Do give them your time: Instead of giving money to your friends, give them your time, attention and support. Have your friends over for dinner. Offer ideas and encouragement. Help them find supportive resources like Consumer Credit Counseling. If your friend needs to find a new job, offer to introduce them to helpful new connections from your professional network. Help them get ideas for helpful tools to set a budget, improve their credit and create a stronger financial foundation.

Do encourage them to look for the root cause: Have a conversation with your friend about what might be causing their financial problems. Of course, if someone has lost a job, the answer is easy – but often when people have financial problems there is a deeper, underlying cause that is limiting their ability to manage their personal finances. Do they have a lack of motivation? Are they depressed? Are they spending too much because they’re trying to “keep up with the Joneses” and live a lifestyle that they can’t afford and don’t even want? Can they simplify their life and drastically cut their spending? Do they need career counseling to find a new career path that is more fulfilling and more lucrative? What is holding them back from financial success?

Often when people are having financial problems they feel isolated and ashamed. Make it clear to your friend that you care about them and you want to help. But make sure you help in the right way. When people are in financial trouble, getting a loan from friends might do more harm than good. Friends can often help most by helping get their friends connected to supportive resources, new ideas, and helping their friends come out of the financial difficulties feeling stronger and more empowered than ever.

How to Help a Friend with Financial Problems was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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Like many of our future picks, this weeks honored money maven tops Wise Bread’s chart of Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs. If you’re looking to run a tighter household budget, Crystal Paine – The Money Saving Mom is just what you need.

Crystal, mother of two, describes herself as a Home Economist and it’s clear she has a PhD in stretching dollars. The Money Saving Mom offers readers a multitude of opportunities to not only learn how to better manager their funds, but find leads on today’s best deals and coupons from almost all the major retailers. A personal favorite of mine is one of her more popular series of articles, 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget. All in all, the Money Saving Mom gives you the skinny on making, earning and finding more from less. Complete with a great sense of humor and a few quick turns of phrase, we highly recommend checking this blog out.

Personal Finance Blogger of the Week – Money Saving Mom was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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The 2012 Kentucky Derby is Sunday, May 5. While millions of TV viewers will watch to see who wins the race, there are also some fun insights and lessons that we can learn about personal finance from the “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

What can the Kentucky Derby teach us about personal finance?

A lot can change in an instant: The Kentucky Derby is a 1.2 mile race, but the winner is determined by constant shifting of positions and delicate maneuvers throughout each turn of the track. One wrong move by a horse or its jockey, and one of the competitors can gain a tiny advantage that becomes a lasting lead. In the same way, your personal finances can change in a short amount of time – if you get in a car accident, lose your job, suffer an illness or sustain an injury, you can quickly find yourself in financial trouble unless you’ve planned to manage those risks. Protect yourself from quickly falling behind in the race toward your financial goals by buying insurance (car insurance, health insurance and disability insurance), and make sure you’ve saved up an emergency fund.

Appearances can be deceiving: The horse that wins the Kentucky Derby is usually not “the favorite.” The fanciest looking thoroughbreds with the richest pedigrees and the most high-priced trainers don’t always win a the Derby. Instead, sometimes there is a long shot horse that comes from out of nowhere to defy expectations and shock the world by winning the race. (In 2009, Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby with 50-1 odds.)

In the world of personal finance, appearances are not always what they seem. People who drive the nicest cars and live in the fanciest houses aren’t necessarily in the best financial shape – they are often just living beyond their means by taking on bigger debts. Don’t worry about “keeping up with the Joneses.” The safest bet for financial success is to focus on living within your means.

Run your own race: The Kentucky Derby is a highly competitive race, but fortunately, personal finance is not a race. True financial success isn’t about “doing better” than other people around you; instead it’s about doing better for yourself and for your family. Good personal financial management is a lifelong practice of trying to live within your means, save money, and spend smarter. The only person you’re trying to “beat” is you – by continually getting better at managing money, paying off debt, and living with financial freedom to spend your life with the people you love, doing the things you love most.

The Kentucky Derby is a truly stirring, exciting sports event, but we can all be grateful that we have a lifetime to get better at managing our personal finances, and not just a single 2 minute lap around the track.

A Kentucky Derby Personal Finance Lesson was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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Having struggled through my very own trials of personal finance, for years I have been on the prowl for ways to stretch dollars and, at times, how to make a quick buck. With the Kentucky Derby coming up this weekend, this morning I stumbled on a wonderful amalgamation of Derby trends that any serious horse player is going to consider before laying down their bets. While I might be excited, the Quizzologists and personal finance gurus I have the pleasure of working with warn all that gambling is no way to a secure a sound financial foundation for any individual – to which I respond, ‘but its fun’. And they retorted, ‘so are shopping sprees but they don’t save you money.’

A Few Historical Trends
While a true horse purveyor I am not, if you’re considering putting a few bucks on that horse with the fanciest name here are a few historical trends you should consider before bellying up to the physical or digital betting window.

No races as a two-year old… There has been no horse that won the derby that didn’t race at least once as a two-year old since 1882. In fact, only two other horses in that time managed to come as close as second.

The Layoff… Known as a layoff, this is the amount of time a horse is given to rest before running in the Kentucky Derby. A layoff of longer than three weeks used to be considered too long for potential Derby winners. Barbaro broke this trend, resting for four weeks before the starting gun clapped the air in his victorious run in 2006. Since then, three other horses have taken the Derby on the heels of a long rest. Don’t let a little down time sour you on your favorite horse.

Trends and tricks aside, betting on horses probably won’t make you rich, but if you’re going to do it, do your homework first and give yourself a puncher’s chance.

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Playing the Ponies… Winning Trends at the Kentucky Derby was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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Here are two reasons why getting a big tax refund can be bad for your personal finances:

1. You’re letting the government keep too much of your money. Your tax refund isn’t “free money,” it’s your money that was withheld from your paychecks all year long. Since you didn’t owe that money in tax, you could have kept more of it for yourself throughout the year.
2. You could have earned interest. Instead of letting the government hold your money all year, if you didn’t get such a big tax refund you could have invested that money in a savings account or even stocks and bonds.

Of course, getting a tax refund isn’t all bad. It gives you a sudden boost of cash that you can use to pay down debt, add to your emergency savings or save for retirement. Just don’t spend your tax refund all in one place!

Is getting a tax refund a “bad thing?” was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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Here are a few reasons why parents need to talk with their kids about personal finance:

• Kids are managing their own money – over $15 billion per year is spent by “tween” children.
• College kids are taking on credit card debt – the average college student has $4,100 in credit card debt by the time they graduate.
• Financial literacy is part of a healthy, critical-thinking approach to managing your life. Without sound budgeting skills, people are likely to fall short of their goals in life.

If you’re a parent, don’t let financial literacy fall by the wayside with all the other important conversations you need to have with your children. Talk to your kids about how they can better manage their money, save money, spend smarter, and build a stronger financial foundation for the rest of their lives.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, Julia Heath, “Financial literacy more important than ever for teens,” March 30, 2012

Why you can’t afford not to talk to your kids about money was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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If you have acquired a decent stash of emergency savings, you’ll be better prepared for whatever challenges life sends your way.

Here are a few of our favorite Quizzle personal finance articles on how to build up your emergency savings fund:

• 6 Weird Ways to Boost Your Emergency Fund
• How to Prioritize Your Personal Financial Life
• Building a Financial Foundation to Help Weather Life’s Storms
• What You Can Learn from Unemployment

Quizzle Weekend Round-up: Emergency Savings Fund was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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Every time people apply for a credit card, take out a loan or sign up for a mortgage, it’s important to understand the risks, obligations and benefits of your financial decisions.

We hope the Quizzle blog can be part of improving your own financial literacy, helping you save money and spend smarter while making better choices about your money.

For other resources, check out MyMoney.gov and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

April is National Financial Literacy Month – are you ready to learn? was originally featured on Quizzle Wire

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