Blogging for ChangeBlogging For Change
by Kim McGrigg on June 30, 2008

A few weeks back, I wrote about my efforts to try and calculate what my time is worth. Thankfully, I just read an article in Real Simple magazine about quick and easy way to estimate the value of time. To get a ballpark idea of how much your time is worth, cut the last three zeros off your annual salary and then divide the number in half. For example, if you earn $40,000 a year, you would take 40 and divide by 2 to get a time value of $20 per hour. So now, when considering a $40 purchase, you can ask yourself if it is worth 2 hours of your work.

Obviously, there are a number of factors left out of this equation, such as the number of hours you work and the value of benefits. While this little exercise isn’t perfect, it can be a good reminder of how hard your work for your money.

Tags:  time value
Posted in:  Budgeting Advice
by Kim McGrigg on June 27, 2008

In the past six years, I have answered more than 30,000 individual consumer questions asked to MMI’s Advice Team. Actually, it might be more accurate to say that I have answered the same 10 questions 3,000 times each.

I experienced déjà vu when I opened Advice Team emails this morning. Here are some of the questions people are asking today:

-I got a foreclosure notice—what happens now?
-What do I do with a truck I can’t pay for anymore?
-My husband’s salary has been cut, how can I pay our debts?
-How will bankruptcy affect my career?
-Am I liable for my wife’s credit card debt?
-How much of my paycheck can be garnished by a creditor?
-What is the best way to repair my credit?

While I find it very satisfying to help consumers in trouble, I can’t help but wish that they would have written much sooner with questions like “how can I save for emergencies?” or “what is the proper way to use credit?”

If you have a question (proactive or reactive!) for the Advice Team, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Posted in:  Reflections
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Blogging For Change explains exactly what you can expect on a day-to-day basis: ideas and information to help you make positive changes. We look forward to reading your comments and encourage you to take advantage of our feeds and social bookmarking features to keep up to date and spread the word. We will also be using twitter to communicate on a more micro-level.

Kim McGrigg

Kim McGrigg,
Community Manager

 

 

 

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