A short while back I wrote about a co-worker's quest to pay off their credit card debts (a very worthwhile goal) and how she characterized it as being the "year of suck" because of all the sacrifices they were having to make not using as well as paying down their cards. Several of you wrote with...
Money Smart Week is coming, April 5 to 12, 2014. It's the best time of year to learn anything you want about managing your finances. Why is it the best time? It's all free. There will likely workshops near you. Over...
Many of us may have heard of the importance of having an emergency fund, but the value it can bring to our lives is often severely understated. Just recently my fiancé and I finalized saving for our very own emergency fund. Less than a week later we realized just how invaluable having a financial...
Way back in July I first wrote about cutting the cord on our paid TV. I talked about looking at our options and deciding how we "use" TV and what we watched (what were must watch and what we had on just for background and distraction). Several readers commented on how they too cut the cord and were...
America Saves Week, February 24-March 1st, is a time to review your finances, decide what you want to save for, and set up a system that will allow you to save automatically. That's why the America Saves Week theme is Set a Goal. Make a Plan. Save Automatically. Even if you are...
My husband is contributing to a Health Savings Account (HSA), so of course I wanted to learn all the in's and out's of this relatively new animal. If this is new to you, check out the benefits and who qualifies in last month's post...
I was talking with a coworker the other day about her family's financial goals and plan for the coming year. "We have decided not to use our credit cards-we want to pay them off." Great plan I said but as she looked glum, I asked what was wrong. She replied that she and her husband were calling...
Working families may get a larger tax refund this year because of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), but to get it, you must claim it. Today, January 31, marks the 8th National EITC Awareness Day, a nationwide effort to increase awareness about EITC and free tax preparation sites. If you worked...
It's a scary to think of someone stealing our money. When we hear about millions of accounts being hacked, we wonder "What can we do to protect our identity and our money?" 1) Look at your financial account statements frequently and report anything that looks odd...
