Christmas and Chanukah and Kwanzaa are coming! That means that if you are a prudent shopper, you have been doing your holiday shopping for many months now. I am sure that all are doing a fine job of controlling their spending while they shop for holiday gifts but I wonder whether we are [...]

When I was a younger man, I used to spend most of my free time at night hopping from concerts to films to theatrical productions. It was easy then. I needed only to purchase tickets for myself and I could often find a way to get myself added to guest lists. As [...]

This week I was trawling one of my favorite message boards and noticed a thread on whether or not a child should have an expensive cell phone and, if so, should it be given as a gift for a big occasion, bought with the child’s own money, or just purchased outright by the parents. The [...]

There is so much involved when you are getting a divorce. The emotional shock seems to outweigh all else. You certainly don’t want to think about financial matters. But you must. Many unscrupulous lawyers make their monies on quick and dirty divorces. They don’t tell you everything that you need to know.
The following story is [...]

We talk a lot about money: How to get it, how to spend it, where to spend it, and how to save it. For all the time we devote to talking about, worrying about, and dealing with money, you’d think it was the most important thing in the world. If the time spent obsessing about [...]

Technology has made it much simpler to compare rates and find the cheapest prices for services and products. Why pull out the phone book to call several insurance agents to find the best price when you can visit one website to instantly get the most competitive price quotes? Why settle for paltry interest rates at [...]

Kids often view cash and gift cards as things that need to be used immediately. I recall how my now grown son spent all of his birthday money within two days after he had received it, often wasting it on things that he never used. When I voiced concern or suggested [...]

Not that long ago it was taboo to speak about money in public. But now, as with so many other things, talking about money has become more acceptable. I hear it all the time. Friends have asked me what kind of debt we have, wanting me to break it down into car payments, credit cards, [...]

I’m very careful with my money, but everything about it is not clear as crystal. Every year around January, questions I have to ask about taxes, income, claims and reporting. Later, around September, I do my business finances and re-configure my rates (I work on the school’s calendar year). I wake up and my [...]

Beer guys shouldn’t date champagne girls.
The party was out of my league. For the champagne girl, it was likely beneath her. Even though I knew this, I still approached her and struck up a conversation. In retrospect, I should have seen the car wreck coming 100 miles away, but there is something about [...]