Shopping for Christmas presents to give to friends and family is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. It ranks right up there with baking cookies and trimming the tree. I love to see the smiles they give me when the gift they opened is just the right one for them. But shopping for holiday […]
Cheap Holiday Candy Alternatives
Time is supposed to be a constant, but I’m not sure I believe it. Fall seems to have arrived faster than ever this year. Not only that, but Halloween is just around the corner, and the other holidays will follow shortly thereafter. One thing I used to struggle with during the holidays is how to […]
How to Use BillSnip to Save Money On Your Bills
When you’re working hard to cut expenses, save on your budget, and reduce debt, each extra dollar you can put toward your bills feels like a win. This is especially true if you have had bad spending habits in the past. As you pay debt, another thing you may find yourself constantly doing is looking […]
How to Enjoy Autumn on a Dime
Autumn is my favorite time of year because there are a lot of really great things to enjoy about it. For example, temperatures begin to cool off a bit and there are lots of fall vegetables available to make yummy after-harvest dishes. The leaves start changing and so do the menus of some of my […]
5 Ways to Save Around Your Home that Add Up
I don’t know what the arrangement is for who pays the bills in your household, but in mine it’s my husband. My contribution is to work and bring in money to help pay the bills and reduce our debt. No matter who pays the bills in your home, though, there are lots of ways to […]
Pros and Cons of Bartering to Lower Your Budget
Problem solving and creative solutions are sometimes the very things that keep a budget in line. I believe that bartering is one way we humans found to problem solve and get creative centuries ago. For example, the fairytale of “Jack and the Beanstalk”, which originated in the year 1734, is a classic story that begins […]
Should You Stay Married for Financial Reasons?
Many people believe that about half of all marriages end in divorce. In fact, those statistics have been quoted by a great number of people for years. However, according to a recent article in Psychology Today, those figures are not necessarily correct. The article goes on to hint that there is controversy over the true […]
5 Percentages You Need to Remember That Will Optimize Your Savings Habits
When it comes to managing our finances, Iíve got one trick for keeping it simple: The percentage. Itís the baseline for virtually any financial decision Iím about to make.† The ìpercentageî can either be how much money Iím going to make, or it could be how much money I stand to lose. Either way, determining […]
How to Get the Best Personal Finance Advice
Trust forms the bedrock of personal finance advisory services. All investors want peace of mind when it comes to the handling of their money. Nobody wants to be swindled out of their hard-earned money, and that’s why credible personal financial advisors are so highly sought after. For many people, personal financial advisors are crucial to […]
How to Get Financially Fit by Summer
This is a post from Pauline of InvestmentZen.com Summer is just a few months away, and as bikini diets are on the covers of so many magazines, I thought I’d cover little things you can do to get your financial fitness back on as well. The new energy brought by spring is a great time […]
Breaking The Paycheck To Paycheck Cycle For Good
This is a guest post by Jon Dulin from Money Smart Guides. There is a saying that goes around that seems to be more common among our households these days: There is more month at the end of the money. A survey of households revealed that about one in three aren’t able to save money each […]
3 Ways To Stop Being So Wasteful
As Americans, we are wasteful. If something breaks, most times we toss it in the trash and go buy a new one. While this makes life fairly easy, it does tend to cost us more money in the long run. If we instead figure out ways to repair or fix our broken items, we can […]
How to Grow Your Closet on a Budget
Shopping for clothes can be extremely tricky, if you care about how you look, how your clothing feels, and depending on the job you have. Luckily, the holidays are right around the corner, and do you know what that means? Sales on clothes! Depending on what you’re looking for, some times of the year are […]
The Chainsmokers’ ‘Closer’ Re-Written
As you may already know by now, I listen to a lot of pop music, partly because it’s fun to listen to and partly because I have a 2 hour commute and can only handle talk radio and podcasts so long before I just need background noise. So it should come as no surprise that […]
Should You Move Into Your Parents’ House to Save Money?
Young Americans are more likely to live with their parents, with 32% of people ages 18-34 living in their parents’ houses, according to the Pew Research Center. This is partly because of the Great Recession, but also because wages are stagnating or falling, leaving more people under- or unemployed. It’s clear that moving into Mom […]
How to Handle Multiple Emergency Expenses
Life has a funny way of kicking you when you’re down sometimes. As you’ll know from my previous posts, my husband and I recently bought a house, and it’s been expensive. We knew that going in, but several more emergencies have popped up since we bought the home and began some light remodeling. On that […]
How Challenging Everything Can Save You Money
The other day, I received a jaw-dropping notice that over $1,000 was going to be deducted from my checking account for my student loans. This is over double what I typically pay, so I immediately knew something was up and called my loan servicer. After clearing up the (wrong) charges, I ended up leaving with […]
How to Break These 3 Bad Financial Habits
By the end of the year, all of our resolutions to be better and save more money are usually broken. Emergencies, parties, and unexpected surprises all conspire to drain our willpower and our bank accounts, if we’re not careful. Throughout the year, it’s easy to fall into bad financial habits because they’re just so easy. […]
Why You Need to Fight Lifestyle Inflation
After graduating from college, or moving out of your parents’ house and into your own place, it’s easy and sometimes necessary to increase your lifestyle. After all, eating ramen every single day is affordable, but not healthy. Upgrading your food budget to incorporate fruits and vegetables may be a little more expensive at first, but […]
5 Money Lessons You Won’t Learn in College
Graduating from college is a momentous occasion. Your brain is (hopefully) stuffed with knowledge about your chosen major, plus a ton of life skills you learned while keeping yourself alive and not setting anything on fire while making macaroni and cheese… sober or not. That said, one thing many college students leave without is a […]