Wardrobe: To Update or Not? How-to without breaking the bank
New clothes isn't exactly an emergency expense :) so I would strongly suggest that you budget for it on a monthly basis. This doesn't mean you have to go spend the money every month, just put a reasonable amount of money into the clothes budget/savings every month and when you need a new shirt or two, take the money out of the saved money and go shopping. If you buy a piece or two of good quality clothing at a time you'd also not run into the situation where all your clothes fall apart at the same time. Sounds more of a question for the fine people at StyleForum.net but i would suggest to start looking carefully at the quality of the fabrics: once you start studying the subject you will quickly recognize a solid shirt from a cheap one. That'll help you save money in the long term. Also keeping it simple (by choosing classic color tones and patterns) will make your wardrobe more resistant to the fashion du jour. "I buy new clothes when the old ones fall apart, literally. When jeans get holes in the knees, they're relegated to gardening or really messy jobs. Shirts go until they're worn so much that I can't reasonably wear them to work any more. Sounds like your ""dress code"" at work is about like mine (also a software engineer). I've found that the Dickies jeans and work pants are sturdy, long lasting, fit in reasonably at the workplace, and are very inexpensive. If you know that you're going to need to replace some pants or shirts, wait for a sale to roll around at a local store, and then stock up. I don't specifically budget for clothes since I spend so little. But I'd be at the bottom of anybody's list in terms of giving fashion advice..." The best way to save on clothes is up to you.  I have friends who save all year for two yearly shopping trips to update anything that may need updating at the time.  By allowing themselves only two trips, they control the money spent.  Bring it in cash and stop buying when you run out. On the other hand in my family we shop sales.  When we determine that we need something we wait until we find a sale.  When we see an exceptionally good sale on something we know we will need (basic work dress shoes, for example), we'll purchase it and save it until the existing item it is replacing has worn out.  Our strategy is to know what we need and buy it when the price is right.  We tend to wait on anything that isn't on sale until we can find the right item at a price we like, which sometimes means stretching the existing piece of clothing it is replacing until well after its prime. If you've got a list you're shopping from, you know what you need.  The question becomes: how will you control your spending best?  Carefully shopping sales and using coupons, or budgeting for a spree within limits? If you budget for cloths and save up the money, you may be able to take advantage of sales when they are on.   However only buy what you will use! You need to ask yourself what value you put on cloths compared to other things you can spend the money on.   Also would you rather have money in the bank encase you need it rather than lots of cloths in the wardrobe? The way I handle clothing purchases, is I save a little bit with each paycheck but don't commit to spending each month.  I wait until I find the exact item I need or know I will need in the near future.  I have a list of things to look for so I don't get off track and blow my budget.  And each time I consider hitting Starbucks or buying a random something at Target, I think which is a better investment - a great pair of pants that will work for me for a decade, or a latte? Thank you for linking to me.  Your question is one many people have.  I feel that clothing should be purchased slowly, with care.  If you do it this you will buy items that don't need to be replaced every two years, and will maintain style and quality longer. :) We have a ton of student loan debt (mostly mine) and right now, I'm on a strict 'replace' only budget.  I have some shirts I put elbow holes in that I'm only keeping around as a reminder to replace them.  I wait until there is a deal of some sort (50% off or BOGO Free) unless I really need it - a white dress shirt for job interviews for instance. Outside of that, make it a line item in your budget and decide when you will spend it. For example, budget $60/mo for it, but only spend it when it reaches $180 or $300 or either of those amounts AND a sale (memorial day is the next big shopping sale after Easter).  It is totally up to you. Waiting to replace two shirts (gray and green) and a pair of black dress pants.
Holy shit, there are so many experts in here!  The banks change software with physical access to the ATM, the type of access the public doesn't have without breaking into it and setting off an alarm.  And you linked a 4 year old article.  You think all ATM machines are still that vulnerable to physical attack?    I don't know where you live, but ATM machines here are very new.  And even if they run Windows XP, so what. "One of the places I've worked at held a mandatory meeting every week, and I telecommuted. I clocked something like 6 hours a month sitting around with muted phone watching movies or playing games, because it was all pointless recapping or the partners droning buzzwords and saying shit that was patently obvious or totally irrelevant to anything I did on any real level. I literally logged in, then unmuted myself to say some bullshit ""Good meeting, thanks for the update"" or ""Yeah, I think this is going to help break new ground, thanks!"" at the end just so they knew I was still on the line." Equity means having ownership, and I think that's a REALLY bad idea in the scenario that you described.  If you stay together, there's really no upside to either of you in this scheme.  If you break-up then you'll have a terrible mess, especially if the break-up goes badly.  If she's really building equity, you're going to be faced with several hard questions: If this went bad at the end, it might be worse than a divorce in some sense since at least in the divorce you have established law to sort out the issues.  You'll be on your own here without a formal contract. (Marriage being a special case of a contract for our purposes here.) If she wants to share costs (which seems perfectly fair) then agree to rent and a split on utilities.  If you really insist on going down the path that you described, I think that you'll need some sort of contract, which probably involves a lawyer.  Anything short of that could not be considered having equity at all and will be completely unenforceable in the event of a bad break-up. (There is some notion of a verbal contract, but that's very hard to prove and subject to misunderstanding and misremembering.) Aside from all of these potential problems in event of a break-up, you would probably also be violating the terms of your mortgage, if you have one. From the bank's perspective, you are selling the property that is the collateral for that loan, which you're almost surely not allowed to do. I don't think there's any law against having lots of bank accounts. But what are you really gaining? Every new account is a paperwork hassle. Every new account is another target for con men who might steal your information and write bad checks or make phony credit card purchases in your name. Yes, it's not unreasonable to have a credit card or two that you keep for emergencies. I'd advise anyone with running up debts while having no idea how you will pay them off. But to say that you might keep some credit available so that if you have a legitimate emergency -- like, say, your car breaks down and you don't have the cash to fix it and you can't get to work without it -- you have some a fallback. But do you really need ten credit cards for that sort of thing? And how much credit are they giving you on each card? I don't know how the banks work this, but I'd think if they're rational, they'd consider your total credit before giving you more.  I have three credit cards that I use regularly -- two personal and one business. And I find that a real pain to keep track of, to make sure that I keep each one paid by the due date and to keep a handle on how much I owe and so forth. I can't imagine trying to deal with ten. I suppose you could just stuff all these cards in a drawer and only use them in case of emergency. Sounds like you're a man, so you're in luck. Our formalwear all looks similar enough that you can get by on a very short rotation. You can buy 1 pair of decent slacks in a versatile color like navy or grey with a pair of brown shoes with matching belt then have as little as 2 button down shirts (white and light blue). You can help keep the button downs clean by wearing an undershirt. This outfit can even overlap your interview outfit if you want to save more (especially if you want a good jacket/sport coat). The real key is to just not pick anything flashy and nobody will ever notice. You'll be running to the dry cleaners every single weekend, but you won't have much in terms of up-front costs. For women though I have no clue how they manage this stuff. You don't need a book, you need to dig into the business and understand what has changed. How long has there been a struggle to make ends meet? What seasonality exists for the business? Look at the period-over-period change for each product category as well as each line item expense, and find correlations that may exist. If it's possible, find similar insights about competition -- both brick-and-mortar as well as online.   It's important to analyze the results of the business to understand (1) the normal ebbs and flows of the jewelry store seasonality, and (2) any erosion of the business to online or brick-and-mortar competitors. The other important takeaway is that you have to identify any changes in the business' expenses. Are utilities suddenly taking up more of a share of the profits, or are the costs of raw materials on the rise?  Look at the cash flow to see where the money is going, or if there is a revenue problem. If business is down (and revenue as a result), you know where to start. Perhaps the answer is marketing or providing additional products or services that better match the needs of the clientele who are dropping off (i.e., online ordering and free shipping), or product pricing is elevated above the competition. On the other side, if expenses have gotten out of control, you know where to apply controls. Keep in mind that these are not mutually exclusive, and the business could have a revenue and an expense problem.  If you've studied economics, you have the skills to understand the numbers and drive out the answers, but this problem requires application and not philosophy, sociology, or economics. No single book can give you the step by step process. Every business is unique, and no one but your family can provide the insights necessary to analyze the results.   Best of luck! Reach out with any additional questions. Well, I see that *[ThatMoron](http://www.reddit.com/r/business/comments/uocxp/my_small_family_company_really_needs_help_with/c4xccg2)* gave you some interesting advice; but it sounds to me like some minor renovations to your existing app might be the best way for you to go. I recommend you look into *that* option. Is the person / company who originally built the system someone you can reach out to? Or, do you have the source code and the right to modify the software as part of what you purchased?  *Edit:* link Accessorizing the home is concerned, they are never short of ideas use a single theme and buy each decorative accessory Sydney based on that theme and aim to give your home an eye-catching look and use each interior accessory Sydney in the right manner. Accessories ranging from furniture to the bed sheets come with ample scope for experimentation and customization in your home.