Saving Archives • Bitches Get Riches

Cheat on Your Bank—It’s Not Your Girlfriend

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 Piggy 16 Comments

Did you know you can have more than one bank?

It’s true! And in fact, it could actually be good for you and your financial situation. You can spread your money out among as many banks, credit unions, and investment firms as you like. Fidelity (the act of being faithful, not, y’know, the giant international banking corporation of the same name) counts for very little in the world of money management.

This topic was inspired by some of our wee baby bitchlings agonizing over the idea of spreading their money around to two or—gasp!—even more banks. These aspiring rich bitches came to us, all cute and nervous because they were worried about being disloyal, or even risking punishment by starting a savings or investment account outside of their primary bank.

“Am I allowed to put my money in multiple banks?” they asked. To which we replied: “Cheat away!” As Camilla Parker Bowles-Windsor is my witness, side ~~chicks~~ banks are totally allowed.

It’s one of those things no one really tells you when you’re first getting your adult finances together. Because of course you can use more than one bank!

And in fact, it may even be in your best interest. Here’s why.

You Have the Frugal Right to Repair Your Shit. Or Do You?

November 9, 2022November 9, 2022 Piggy 40 Comments

Let me tell you about my favorite pair of boots.

They’re calf-high brown leather with a one-inch heel that makes this short Bitch feel just a little more powerful. They’re the kind of boots you can wear with a dress, with leggings, with jeans—they’re exactly as dressy or as casual as you want. I got them almost five years ago for about $200.

Recently, the heels broke. I’d worn them down to the point that chunks of the sole had snapped off and gotten trapped inside the heel so they rattled when I walked. So I took them to a cobbler. $50 later, I had new, beautiful heels attached to my favorite boots. Good as new!

Now let me tell you about my last phone. It was a magical pocket-size computer that did everything from calculating tips to playing music to oversharing on social media. (Note: it did not call home often enough, which was a major design flaw as far as my mom’s concerned.) After three years, I noticed the battery failing. Soon it could barely hold a charge for a few hours, let alone all day.

I brought it in for repairs. And they told me that replacing the battery was so financially and technically inefficient that they simply… wouldn’t. But, they assured me, I could upgrade to a newer, better model for only $24.99! Per month, that is. Which is way cheaper than replacing the battery, promise!

I couldn’t get anyone to replace my phone battery. There was no cobbler-equivalent phone artisan wearing a leather apron and bifocals in a musty shop lovingly repairing old phones.

Out of options, I bought a new phone. And just to spite the fuckers, I paid the total cost up-front.

How To Protect Cash Savings During High Inflation

May 4, 2022August 2, 2022 Lauren Torres ("Kitty") 23 Comments

We’ve gotten a TON of questions recently from readers trying to protect cash savings during periods of high inflation.

Usually, having mad cash and not being sure how to spend it is a fun problem to solve. (Index funds + a nice seafood dinner at a non-chain restaurant is our default answer.) But right now, high inflation is sucking the pleasure out of Scrooge McDucking on a big pile of cash.

Now is a terrible time to be holding onto cash. Cash savings during times of high inflation are guaranteed to lose value. For example: if you had $1,000 saved a year ago, our 8.5% inflation rate means that money can only buy $915 worth of goods today. It sucks for everyone, but especially so for people who’ve been saving up for a long time to hit a life milestone.

We know how hard our readers work and sacrifice to put money away. And it’s so painful to watch it lose its value because of reasons outside your control. So if you’ve got money sitting idle in your checking account, listen up! We’ll do our best to help you take the sting out of shrinking cash savings during high inflation.

How to Save Money on Your Beloved Pets

February 8, 2022December 1, 2022 Piggy 42 Comments

Here at Bitches Get Riches, we don’t just think pets are better than people—we believe it with every fiber of our ornery little hearts. Down with the anthropocene! We welcome our fuzzy lil’ treat-obsessed overlords!

Here are 23 ways you can save money on pets, from food and toys to veterinary care and boarding.

I’ll be the first to admit it’s pretty dog-and-cat-centric, so your mileage may vary. But in my defense, I treat my chickens like queens. I’ve even gone so far as to build them the Taj Mahal of chicken coops and feed them organic heirloom kale straight from the garden. So when it comes to barnyard animals, I have exactly zero experience in being frugal.

Save money on pets... unless they're a flock of spoiled, entitled, lazy egg sluts.

How To Start Small by Saving Small

December 7, 2021March 4, 2022 Piggy 7 Comments

“If you don’t start saving your money when you’re young, you’re going to die impoverished, overworked, and alone!” says every personal finance guru ever to young people just starting out in the world.

And while it’s only a slight exaggeration, this kind of enormous pressure can be overwhelming and demoralizing when you’re just starting to get your financial life under control and barely bringing in enough money to make ends meet.

So what’s a young, financially inexperienced person to do? What’s anyone with bills and debt to do with the specter of an empty savings account looming and no solution in sight?

The answer, as with most personal finance, is to start small. Because when saving, your little savings really do add up.

How to Avoid Lifestyle Inflation … and When to Embrace It

November 2, 2021February 25, 2022 Piggy 32 Comments

A strange thing happens every time my income increases. My life magically gets… easier, better, and happier.

Getting my very first raise at work made it easier for me to pay off my student loans ahead of schedule. That meant the money I used to spend on student loans could instead be spent on making my life more comfortable. And that meant moving out of the house I rented with six roommates and finally buying decent food.

Getting a job that cut out my daily commute allowed me to spend more time doing things I love instead of impotently cursing the traffic. I could get drinks with friends after work, or go to the climbing gym, both of which cost money. Or, for free, I could stand by the highway yelling “SUCKERS!” at passing commuters at 5:30 p.m. every day!

And getting a new job at almost double my previous salary meant I could afford things I previously thought would take years of saving. Plane tickets to a friend’s destination wedding in Mexico. Drywall for my unfinished basement. Eating at a shmancy restaurant without checking the menu for prices.

If all of this sounds suspiciously like lifestyle inflation, that’s because it is! And yet I feel no guilt over inflating my lifestyle from time to time when my income significantly increases.

This is generally considered a cardinal sin of personal finance. It’s right up there with buying lattes or taking the name of Dave Ramsey in vain. So let’s unpack that.

Ask Not How Much You Should Save, Ask How Much You Should Spend

August 24, 2021August 24, 2021 Piggy 21 Comments

“How much of my income should I save?” How much indeed! The darling citizens of Bitch Nation ask us this question all the damn time. And we love it when you guys ask, because it means we get to give you our favorite answer: “It depends!”

A day may come when we stop harping on about how personal finance is personal. But it is not this day. When we stop giving vague, rambling answers to straightforward questions and instead cut straight through the nuance to the heart of the matter.

This day we ~~FIGHT~~ continue to drive home the point that an individual’s journey toward financial solvency is a complex and ever-evolving process! For while some people thrive under hard-and-fast money management rules, others decidedly do not. And today we want to reach those who prefer flexible guidelines to rules set in stone.

So instead of answering the question of how much you should save, let’s better define the question. Because I really don’t think you should be asking how much you should save. In fact, I think that’s entirely the wrong question.

Ask the Bitches: How Can I Make Myself Financially Secure Before Age 30?

August 10, 2021February 25, 2022 Piggy 26 Comments

Our beloved darlings of Tumblr ask the best questions. And we love answering them because the Tumblr kids are simply inspiring in their determination to get good at adulting. Some of our answers spin out into novel-length screeds on finance, feminism, and figuring shit out. And sometimes they ask us for help with the most quintessential financial problems. Like, how does one become financially secure before age 30?

Loyal follower of the Bitches pallid-etoiles asked:

Hey BGR! (Sue me I acronymed it.) (Please don’t.)
What are your wise ways of making yourself financially secure before you hit 30? What’s the best way to start financially with limited experience as a 17-year-old who hasn’t any of the knowledge of what to do on her own?
– A Tumblr follower on the Bitches Get Riches Tumblr

How indeed?

The fact that you’re even thinking about this at age 17 means you win ALL THE AWARDS! Seriously, this is a great time to start prepping for your future. You’re way ahead of the game by even reading finance blogs. Let alone trying to get your shit together and become financially secure!

Here’s our step-by-step advice for a teenager to get financially secure by age 30.

How To Pay for College Without Selling Your Soul to the Devil

August 5, 2020December 5, 2021 Piggy 47 Comments

Listen you lazy, entitled whiners: it’s easy to pay for college. Just get a summer job! Why, in my day I worked weekends as a fry cook down at the diner on Main, graduated without debt, and now I’m sixty-five years old and completely delusional about the inflated costs of higher education! Ask me more about the house I bought for $60,000 and how much I resent the respectful empathy of the children I raised!

Sorry, y’all. Probably should’ve started that with a trigger warning.

Whenever we write about student loans, we get at least one comment like this. Except with more caps lock. We delete them. For while we never silence interesting criticism, come on. This ain’t a public square for every old man who wants to yell at a cloud! We pay good money for this web hosting!

At least where the cost of college is concerned, things aren’t what they used to be. Thirty years ago, it cost the modern equivalent of $8K per year to attend a public college and $18K per year to attend a private college.

Today, the same year of school would cost $21K and $48K. And you’re supposed to buy FOUR of them!

If the cost of regular goods and services grows at a steady walking pace, the cost of higher education is galloping away like a Triple Crown winner whose ass just met a hornet. I didn’t even mention the cost of textbooks, room and board, and other academic fees, which are all even worse. Can’t be giving you nightmares!

Meanwhile, average hourly wages have barely increased 11% (adjusted for inflation), making the wage-to-college-cost-ratio just fucking laughable. Yet college is still a barrier to entry into not only white collar jobs, but an ever-increasing number of blue collar jobs.

My purpose here is not to unpack the absurd inflation of higher education costs in recent years (I’d need another 2,500 words, and I can only hold your attention through so many gifs). Nor is it to debate the relative value of a college degree (another 3,000 words).

Instead, I want to focus on practical solutions for people who’ve already weighed their options and decided that college is right for them. Yes, a traditional four-year undergraduate degree is heckin’ expensive as fuck. Short of The Deep Magic, how do we mere mortals even attempt to pay for it?

What’s the Difference Between Savings and Checking Accounts, and How Should I Be Using Them?

May 19, 2020January 8, 2022 Lauren Torres ("Kitty") 6 Comments

What Piggy said last week is very true: sometimes we’re so eager to lunge ahead and answer the most complex, interesting questions that we forget to cover the absolute beginner basics. So this week I’m going to take you to church (or, I guess, school) on the difference between savings and checking accounts.

These are the two most common kinds of bank accounts in America. So if you’re new to banking, the first account you get will likely be one of these.

The features of these accounts were very consistent for several decades. But the past few years have changed the dynamics of how we use savings and checking accounts. And as a result, we’re changing our advice on how and what they should be used for. And even those of you who are rock-solid on this topic are going to want to hear that! (We think.)

So let’s get into it!