Editor: Crass Cash

SWIPE!  SWIPE!  SWIPE!

That's the sound that most of us are used to when we buy things.  I've blogged on this before and there have been numerous collegiate studies done as well on the impact of our spending habits with credit cards vs cash.  Well here's a real world one in case you don't like studies.  

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spent-2-weeks-using-cash-150000553.html

If you need to change  your spending habits dramatically, go to the all cash diet.  I makes you feel the pain.  No pain, no gain! 

Editor: Crass Cash

This recommendation came from a reader.  Scholarships are hugely important when it comes to paying for college.  Without I never would have been able to get out of school with no student loans.  Not to mention when I went to school the internet was around, but we never had sites like this one where we could apply and search for all available ones in order to maximize our benefits.  

http://www.collegescholarships.com/

If you have a kid or you're getting ready for college be sure to checkout this site and see what they have to offer.  California alone has over 3,000 scholarships!   

Editor: Crass Cash

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-why-people-crazy-even-195511534.html

Are you an "overearner"?  I'd never heard this word before I read the above article, but it's definitely interesting.  I fall into that category and it even baffles me.  I technically have more money than I need to live for the rest of my life and also I earn more than I know I need.  Reading the above it sounds irrational, but it's not.  

Everybody is different and there are certain circumstances in my life that have caused me to have certain financial insecurities regardless of how logical or illogical they may seem.  

Why does Warren Buffett still go to work or Larry Page, Donald Trump, or Sam Zell for that matter?  Well these cases are fairly easy to understand.  It's not that they're workaholics, it's more that they just really love what they do.  Deal making brings them happiness, as crazy as that may seem to you.  But what about the rest of us?

What about those of us who could leave, but don't because of some other reason.  For me it's due to watching people run out of money and having to live their remaining years in poverty surviving only thanks to the kindness of strangers.  Seeing this at a young age had a deep and profound impact on me.  

Others may do it for their children and future generations.  Working hard day in and day out to accumulate more in order to leave a legacy for their offspring.  This I think can be particularly dangerous.  As Warren Buffett has said, "I want to leave my kids enough money so that they can do anything, but not so much so that they don't have to do anything."  

This is a deeply personal question that everybody needs to answer for themselves.  Do you have enough money to retire and you hate your job?  Do you love your job?  Do you not know what you would do if you quit work?  

Life changes and I've seen people who love their job hate it a month later.  The important part that I think everybody needs to take away from this is that you should be able to walk away if you need/want to.  Get to a "position of fuck you" and have the ability to walk away, even if you don't have the desire.