Don't forget what today is about. Family and friends come first!

Editor: Crass Cash

There's a General Motors commercial out right now about Black Friday. The terrorized shoppers brags about he saved hundreds. The new GM owners then looks at cars and smirks, "Slept in and saved thousands.".

This highlights an important personal financial principle known as the "latte factor". The latte factor is where you're able to save large sums of money over time with a relatively small amount like the price of a $3 latte.

The latte factor is a very real financial principle made possible by compounding interest. However, this doesn't mean that if you just start brewing your own coffee at home everything with be ok. It's no excuse to avoid or to splurge on the big ticket items!

For instance, driving your car for one extra year will save you an entire years worth of lattes in just depreciation. You can do one or the other or even both. Now what about that exotic trip? That whole new $2,000 winter wardrobe? The public in state tuition vs the private college? The boat that you'd driven 3 times? See where I'm going?

It's not just about the small items. The small items are meant to create awareness in your spending habits, but in the end it's about how much you save after everything is said and done.

Editor: Crass Cash

Sitting on some cash that need to find a long-term home for?  How about looking abroad?  

I'm putting my money where my mouth and I invested in it last week after noticing the disparity in value and dividend return between this ETF and the S&P.  I'm talking about the Vanguard all world except the US ETF.  It's symbol is VEU and it's throwing off a fat 3.37% dividend.  

This ETF invests in big companies abroad from Europe to Asia all for a tiny 0.15% expense ratio.  I sunk a big chunk of my retirement assets into this last week instead of the S&P 500 because I just think it's too expensive.  There are no American companies in this ETF, so it's a great way to also diversify if you only own American stocks. 

Caution: you should never invest in stocks if you can't mentally stand the thought of losing at least 50% of your investment and if you need the money in 5 years or less.  This is an investment for the long-run.  Invest at your own risk.  I was not paid in any manner by Vanguard for this.