Probably the most difficult step in getting ones personal finances in order is the step to actually begin working on them. If you have a great adversion to looking at your personal finances, it makes it that much more difficult as this reader knows: I hate personal finance and my finances shows this. They are [...]
Taking care of another person, even someone you love, can be stressful on your emotions, your body, and your (or the other person’s) pocketbook. Even if you have great insurance for medicine, the cost of incidentals – everything from blood pressure monitors to incontinence products – adds up. Drugstores and grocery stores sometimes offer one-check [...]
At craft shows, a maze of booths show off handcrafted original wares. Some things are common from show to show, like polymer clay jewelry, stained-glass window décor, and beaded designs, but it’s not the medium that matters, it’s the artist’s individuality and handiwork. I go into stores and see things mass produced and refuse to [...]
I know most people are not techie geeks like me. They don’t want to get involved with the “guts” of their computers and the software that runs on them. However, if you do any shopping online, you need to know about cookies and how they can cost you money. Cookies are tiny files, implanted into [...]
Advertising sells products. Yet, for all the time advertisers spend trying to make their products stand out, many ads don’t seem to be very well thought out. In fact, many of them have the opposite of the intended effect on me. More often than I would expect, I see an advertisement that either insults my [...]
Spave (SPAYV) v. Spending money in order to save money by purchasing items at less than their retail cost. Spaver n. Spaving means “spending to save.” In other words, you’re spending money now in order to save money in the future. This may be by buying needed items on sale, using a coupon, or submitting [...]
It’s an old saying: “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” But what if it did? What would that look like? Would everybody be rich and well taken care of due to readily available money? Or would we still end up with rich, middle class and poor people? Here’s what I bet would happen if money really [...]
By David John Marotta and Beth Anderson Nedelisky Before reverse mortgages, pensioners wishing to tap into home equity were presented with two options: either sell the house or get a home equity loan. But since their humble beginnings in the late ’80s, reverse mortgages provided seniors with an additional tool for accessing home equity. The [...]
By Wixx, special contributor Recently, as I am sure you have noticed, retailers have begun to move Christmas to an earlier timeslot. No longer is it the White Christmas in the middle of the winter. This year Christmas moved into a tie with Halloween for space in retail stores and card shops in October. It [...]
This is a question that often comes up — the difference between being frugal and being cheap. This reader asks for help in trying to remain frugal without becoming cheap: I have a huge problem with my husband’s family. They don’t understand there is a difference between being frugal and being cheap. They constantly complain [...]
