We are friends with a couple I’ll call the Joneses. The Joneses are exactly what they sound like. They are the ones on the block with the latest cars, toys, and gizmos. Despite that, they are nice people and we’ve been friends for years. Each year we go on vacation together to a small resort [...]
Conventional wisdom says that you should have a budget to get the most out of your money. While I believe a budget is a good thing to have when money is tight and you are first learning how to take reign of your personal finances, the ultimate goal should be not to have a budget [...]
Several years ago, my husband paid for a pizza entirely in change. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any money left at the end of the week; on the contrary, he had just deposited his paycheck in the bank that evening. He simply wanted to use his change and save his bills. Had I been [...]
If you’re interested in personal finance, you probably know who Dave Ramsey is. If you don’t know, he’s a television and radio personality (and author) who preaches a “common sense” approach to getting out of debt and creating wealth. His plan is built around seven “Baby Steps” that are designed to lead you to financial [...]
Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance reading that has caught our eye that may be of interest to you: Discussions From The Forums These are threads started this past week within the forums which have created quite a bit of discussion: What is your definition of middle class? If total income is $80,000, [...]
I’m a huge fan of reading. I believe that reading, both fiction and non-fiction, is a great way to learn new things and be exposed to more than you typically see in your daily life. If you want to learn something new, like personal finance, you can’t beat a good book. You can go at [...]
By Jeffrey Strain Have you ever thought about why you spend money? If you are like most people, you never have. The problem is that not understanding the motivation behind why you spend will make it much more difficult for you to limit your spending (if that is what you want or choose to do). [...]
Every time I turn on the television or visit Internet news sites, I’m assaulted by bad financial news (and other bad news, as well). We all know that the media likes to focus on the bad and, “If it bleeds, it leads.” These days the financial news is filled with reports of foreclosures, high food [...]
A few weeks ago I heard someone say this when teaching about finances: “When we change the way we think about money, it will change the way we handle money.” This statement made me stop and think because I realized that it is so true. I know that when I changed the way I thought [...]
It’s that time of year again. Some of us know it as spring; others call it the start of yard sale season. Yard sales (also known as garage sales, tag sales, rummage sales, and stoop sales) attract an interesting and diverse subculture of bargain hunters, environmentalists, and treasure hunters; they are an interesting form of [...]
