Comments on: 8 Big Reasons Why You’re Getting an F in Personal Finance 101

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:35:13 +0000

It’s not how you start the school year, it’s how you finish. Glad you were able to bring your personal finance grade up!

By: B Kelly @ MoneyMasteryAcademy

B Kelly @ MoneyMasteryAcademy — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:05:29 +0000

Reading your article, I’ll be honest and say I was a major F myself as I checked off way too many of your top 8 reasons… luckily I’ve also been lucky to crawl my way out of those weaknesses or laziness and been holding on tightly to the reins of my finances since then.. Great job on the article! ;p

By: Kyle C.

Kyle C. — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

I think you could relate all of these back to the same problem your son had. Complete indifference or lack of effort. If you don’t try and you don’t care you are going to fail.

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Absolutely, Kyle. You and I both know maintaining your personal finances requires effort and constant review. We can’t put them on auto-pilot and hope for the best.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

I’ve been talking to a lot of friends about your number one point: 1. You don’t have an emergency fund. As a recent college graduate how long does it usually take to set up an emergency fund? Seems to be tricky to save up 6 months of salary your first couple years at a job.

By: ChrisFM

ChrisFM — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

I’ll have to co-sign (I know, bad thing to do right!?) Kyle’s comment. The thing to note is once you do wake up, you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself. I’m sure you’ll let your son know that when/if he has to join the summer chain gang.

By: Money Smarts

Money Smarts — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

Great post! In the past when I was getting an F in personal finance, I think it was mainly due to the face that I was indifferent to where my money went, and I just wasn’t paying close attention. My wants and needs were blurred together, and I just had no plan. thankfully things have changed!

By: Jeff @DeliverAwayDebt

Jeff @DeliverAwayDebt — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

All great points. The best part about the whole post, you can earn an A just by making a stand and follow the rules/reasons. We don’t have to settle for an F. A little work and focus can turn everything around.

And here I thought you were going to tell us how to do a jumping jack. That’s the exercise you do while lying on your back right, oops that’s a snow angel

By: T-Bone

T-Bone — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

I really like this one. Everybody is right. I discovered most of my money issues (like overdrafts and ending the month with not quite enough money to cover the rent because I spent too much bar hopping every weekend) went away as soon as I started setting aside about 15 minutes every week making sure my personal finances were being attended to.

It’s amazing what a little attention to detail can do for your money situation!

By: Len Penzo

Len Penzo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:48:56 +0000

@Jenna: Actually, I think you’ll be happy to know it is three to six months of expenses – not salary! Hopefully, that should be a fairly significant difference – assuming you haven’t already over-extended yourself. If you have to, save up gradually – even if it is only $10 or $25 per week. The important thing is to just keep plugging away.
@Chris: If Matthew is not in denial, he’ll know before I do whether he’ll be “cracking rocks” all summer long.
@MoneySmarts: Thank you, Mr. Money! I’m glad to hear you’ve brought your personal finance grades up to par!
@Jeff: Ha! If I had my way, I would much rather prefer to do my jumping jacks lying on my back!
@T-bone: It really doesn’t take a lot of effort to manage our personal finances, does it? It may take a bit of effort when you first get things started, tracking your expenses and establishing a budget, but then it’s like you said: a few minutes each week keeping track of everything.