The burning question I have is why do so many women neglect their financial lives? Is it fear? Is it lack of interest? Do you assume that someone else will handle this? If so, why do you believe that your financial life is someone else’s responsibility?
I believe that one of the reasons more of [...]

What makes some people spendthrifts and others tightwads? My undergraduate biology degree requires that I frame the question in terms of “Nature or Nurture?” I wonder about my grandmother who lived through the depression? Did a frugal nature simply allow her and others like her to survive it? Or did the circumstance itself create the [...]

Instead of mumbling, “What a rip off” to yourself as you walk out of a place of business, tell the business owner or manager what has you steamed. Companies who deserve your business will listen. Here are three positive experiences, and one negative, I had.
Get an estimate in advance Recently, I took my road [...]

Women, in addition to spending hours poring over encyclopedic bridal magazines, I wish you would spend that same amount of time with your future spouse talking over these important points before you decide if you two should get married at all. In twenty years, the veil you selected will not come up in a [...]

I cringe every time I hear a woman list shopping as one of her hobbies. It’s usually said with a coy smile or a giggle as if she is trying to look like a thirteen-year-old girl. If a woman makes her own cash, has socked away enough for retirement and has met all of [...]

When I sold life insurance, I fantasized about shaking the shoulders of women who responded to a financial question with, “Oh, I don’t know any of that stuff. My husband makes the money. I just spend it.”
Outwardly, I remained professional and found restrained ways to encourage them to wake up to the danger [...]

Leftovers used to make me gag. Unfortunately, I was too cheap to eat out frequently, and too lazy to cook a completely new meal every night. This caused internal conflicts. I had to find creative ways to enjoy eating at home more often. Here are some ideas I experimented with that finally convinced my [...]

Remember in the movie, The Firm, after everything has gone horribly wrong, the wife (Jeanne Tripplehorn) reminds the husband (Tom Cruise) how happy they were back when they were broke and enjoyed take-out from a carton? I don’t believe that being broke equals marital happiness, but I believe that we must remember that the things [...]

One simple way to save money is to keep your fixed costs low. In order to do this, you must first asses each of your regular expenses and see what subjective value it has for you. There are many items and services that we view as necessities or the basics these days that didn’t even [...]

How much does it cost to raise happy children who go on to be productive citizens? My husband and I decided not to be parents since our few surviving houseplants have to spell out H2O — like the Village People dancing to YMCA — just to get water. However, since I was a child [...]