Talking about money can be tough. We tend to have all kinds of values, mixed messages, emotions and more tied to our money conversations. For some people, the last kind of talk they want to have with family is "the money talk." We tend to avoid the topic. Unfortunately, this means our children may...
In February's Podcast, Kathy, Camaya and Sasha discuss goals and goal setting. You can listen to the podcast on SoundCloud! Laugh and learn with us as the consumer economics team discusses goals together and how to make them less...
In celebration of America Saves Week, February 25-March 2, here are a few tips from americansaves.org to make the most out of your tax refund: It is not extra: most of it is the hard-earned...
Come to our party! We're celebrating America Saves Week online on Wednesday, February 27th! At noon, we kick off with a webinar about Money and Relationships. Register at go.uiillinois.edu/GetSavvyWebinars...
This is one of my favorite weeks of the year! Why? Because it's like a BIG party across the nation celebrating saving money! America Saves Week takes a simple message -- save money regularly -- and let's us focus on it. The message is simple, but the reality of saving isn't always! This week the...
Many people face tough economic times periodically, and some of the challenges they experience are due to unforeseen or unanticipated circumstances. As an educator who teaches personal finance, it is easy to discuss the merits or advantages of saving for the unexpected. In other words, it gives me...
When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 passed, I thought it might be a little extra stressful to prepare my tax return for 2018 with all the different changes. Well, now tax filing time is here and the number crunching begins! Let's look at steps you can take to reduce tax filing stress. Before you...
In November, Kathy Sweedler wrote a blog post titled "Money Avoider? Giver? What's your Money Personality?" Kathy and I really enjoy discussing money personalities, scripts and even habitudes, so much so we recorded a podcast about it. Listen to...
I remember when I first started to learn about how to build and manage my credit in college. Many financial numbers were thrown around and were often confusing to a novice like me. People who do not work in finance or who have little motivation to pay attention to the importance of different...