By Shannon Christman
My mother grew up during the Depression as the youngest of four children and, as a result, she quickly grew tired of using well-worn items. Seventy years later, she still wants to buy almost everything new.
When I was a teenager and some of my friends discovered the joy of shopping in […]

Co-signing on a loan is not something to undertake lightly. The reason that people need you to co-sign is because they have some issues with their credit or otherwise there would be no need for you to do so. And even if they have the best intentions to pay, sometimes things don’t work out as […]

I had the opportunity to speak at an event. I asked the audience (100 or so people) to anonymously write down a secret money confession. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some of the more powerful of those confessions. This is number 3 in the series:

“I don’t believe people that say […]

You Owe The Government Half A Million Dollars: If the government was forced to do their accounting like you and me have to for the IRS, the numbers don’t look good. Each of us owed ove half a million dollars for promises the government has made that aren’t yet funded.
The World’s Best Functioning Welfare […]

The Supreme Court made a huge decision today which will likely hit everyone in the pocket book and it will likely result in some major changes in the retail market in the near future.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that manufacturers are allowed to set a fixed price for their product and forbid retailers from discounting […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
A good friend of mine who is an avid DVD collector and very regular customer of Best Buy shared these tips for making sure you get the best deal on all of your Best Buy purchases. Even if you aren’t a Best Buy customer, these tips will give you some ideas […]

I recently spoke at an event and asked the 100 or so people in attendance to anonymously write down a money confession. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some of the more powerful of those confessions. This is number 2 in the series:

“I lost my job 3 weeks ago and I […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
Familiarity breeds contempt, or so the old saying goes. Stay at the same job for too long, and no matter how much you liked it to begin with or how many good qualities it has, eventually the good qualities can start to pale in comparison to your co-workers’ quirks, your boss’s […]

By Shannon Christman
Advertisers do their jobs well; in fact, they have convinced a majority of us that many of the products we use are necessities when they are not. Long before we had all the modern conveniences we now take for granted, our grandparents and great-grandparents lived comfortably with more basic tools, doing their […]

I recently spoke at an event and asked the 100 or so people in attendance to anonymously write down a money confession. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be posting some of the more powerful of those confessions:

“I took all of my children’s savings to help pay for my face-lift”

Photo by :: The […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
While many travel gadgets will do nothing but drain your wallet and take up valuable space in your luggage, there are a few highly practical items that will give you a lot of bang for your buck. No item on this list costs more than $20, and you can purchase every […]

Compiled by Valerie S. Johnson from SA Forum Members
One issue many people have with trying to save money is that they believe it takes too much time and effort. The members of the forums came up with 33 money-saving tips, each of which takes less than a minute of your time to implement.
1. […]

By Teri Newton
I personally deal mostly with taxes in my professional capacity of an accountant. However, I have also come across a lot of the ins-and-outs when it comes to 401(k) plans as I used to audit 401(k) plans for large companies, and currently am involved in the setup, administration of, and accounting for 401(k) […]

By Robert I. Craig, Guest Writer
The closest connection I have to China is a Hawaiian-print shirt made there that I bought at Wal-Mart. But an article I read about China recently sent a shiver–literally–up my back.
It brought to mind a tough lesson my family and I learned when we got hit, years earlier, by an […]

Too much stuff. Most of us can probably relate to it. Martha Stewart claims that we don’t use 80% of the stuff that we own. When it is time to clear out some it it, what is the best way to go about it? This is the question I received from this reader over the […]

Compiled by Valerie S. Johnson from SA Forum Members
Many people assume that the penny is no longer good for anything, but not according to members from the forums - there are still a lot of things that you can do with a penny. Here are 83 of them (Disclaimer: Some of these activities involve defacing […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
NOTE: It appears that while the process described in this article originally worked, Fidelity has closed the loophole and you now need the minimums you described to open the account.
Most people have the impression that in order to open a retirement account, you need to do a lot of research, have a […]

By Valerie S. Johnson
We all know that walking has health rewards, but it can have financial rewards as well. Here are ten financial reasons you should consider walking:
It’s free. This is the most obvious reason. You have to pay to own or rent a car, hop a bus, or ride the subway. […]

By Tina Parcell
Great Barrington, MA has its own form of currency called a BerkShare. It’s not legally considered money, it’s what’s called a ‘paper scrip’. According to Wikipedia, paper scrip is “any substitute for currency which is not legal tender, and is often a form of credit”. You’re probably pretty familiar with the idea even […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
Many people don’t use temp agencies because they either don’t know what temp agencies are or think they should be able to find a job on their own. In my experience, temp agencies are a great resource for simplifying your job search. They are particularly useful for students, recent grads, […]