Personal Finance Advice

My husband is on the verge of a life-changing diagnosis: type 2 diabetes. I’m proud to say that he is looking this impending diagnosis in the face and calling its bluff. Besides the symptoms is the sheer expense of diabetes: insulin, blood meters and co-pays for the doctors’ appointments, to name a few. In our [...]

In the days when I worked at an office, I would often get up late, rush to work and hit the coffee place on my break. I’d head to the corner shop for a snack in the afternoon, and then run to get more groceries on the way home since I had no idea what [...]

As my father says, “When you own a home, there is always something to do.” I might add that there is always something to spend money on too. In fact, when money is tight, it’s often home maintenance that suffers. Most people have at least half their wealth tied up in their home. Some of [...]

The other day I found myself considering the purchase of another filing cabinet. Yes, not quite a monumental decision, but one that takes careful consideration because my family lives in a 1000-square-foot home. Where will that filing cabinet take away precious space? There just aren’t many options. The size of my home isn’t much smaller [...]

As the child of people who lived through the Great Depression, I grew up on an “energy diet.” My parents encouraged us to turn off the lights when leaving the room, put on a sweater instead of turn up the heat, and walk to the store instead of drive. My parents ingrained these habits into [...]

It’s that time of year. The Holidays are just around the corner and it’s time to think about gift-giving, parties and such. On top of it all is the ongoing meltdown of our financial institutions. I was already considering how to handle the holidays with my children and their “gotta haves” from Santa when the [...]

When my mother died, I worried a lot about my father. How will he cope? What will he eat? Despite my worrying, I didn’t need to worry much about his finances. His forethought saved his financial life, despite our family’s terrible loss. Dad always has been a stickler for details. This carries over into his [...]

When I was in college, I was content to open my kitchen cupboard and find it full of Ramen. Every flavor – except shrimp (yuck) – was represented after a trip to the grocery store. Not only did I know where my next meal was coming from, but I had saved money. Never mind that [...]

If there’s anything designed to ruin a marriage, it’s money. Not only could tension be created by the amount coming in, but there could be different money styles – a hoarder vs. a spender. My husband and I, thankfully, have similar styles. He’s more of a tightwad than I am, but we can find the [...]

It all started after my mother graduated from college in 1979. With a teaching degree in hand, a student loan to pay off, and a family to support, she began shopping at thrift stores. We had fun those Saturday mornings, going through our community’s small thrift stores. Over time we bought everything we needed: clothes, [...]