Personal Finance Advice

I was recently helping a friend with her family’s vacation planning. They desperately wanted to go to Disney World, but felt like they couldn’t afford it. “It’s just so much more expensive than other places,” she said. I asked her what they were going to do instead. “Well, we’ll probably go to Cedar Point, instead. [...]

Now that the kids are in school and the back to school shopping is done, it’s time to think about the next big spending event: Christmas. Christmas is a little less than four months away. It’s time to take action now so that you have the money you need for Christmas shopping. It’s also time [...]

Just about every time we go on vacation, someone gets sick. I think it’s because we’re all off our normal routines and we’re exposed to a lot more people. We eat food that we don’t normally eat, we stay out later and get less sleep, we’re around large crowds of germy people, and we are [...]

A lot of times when you go shopping on vacation, it isn’t only those on the trip with you that you’re shopping for. You’ll probably want to get something for your friends, classmates, and family members who are back home. But how do you shop for other people plus yourself without breaking the bank? There [...]

If you travel with kids, you’re likely to have a bout of the “gimmies” at some point during your vacation. Your kids are likely to want everything they see and you’ll be trying to stick to your budget. How can you manage the “gimmies” while still allowing your kids to have some shopping fun? Buy [...]

A vacation can be a lot of fun. It can also be very expensive, although it does not have to be. There are many ways to cut costs on a vacation, but even the most conscientious cost cutters are sometimes guilty of throwing away money needlessly. It’s easy to waste money on vacation. You get [...]

Father’s Day has come and gone. My family dutifully celebrated my status as “Dad” by going out for breakfast and, later in the day, ice cream. In deference to the day, no one complained when I ordered only coffee for breakfast and passed up the ice cream as I am trying to drop a few [...]

It’s January. If you live anywhere in the USA, you are probably cold right now, at least at the moment of this writing. That means that you are probably inside and have plenty of time to think about things. Stop! If you start thinking, you may arrive at a New Year’s resolution that you have [...]

By C Craig It’s that time of year, when we set down promises to make this — and the coming years — the best yet. “I’ll lose that 10 pounds!” we promise ourselves, “Give up late night snacking, get to the gym, and get organized.” Most of us share a common aspect of New Year’s [...]

We’re heading toward the time of year when thoughts turn to New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you’re making some specific financial resolutions: To get out of debt, save for a home, increase your retirement savings, or cut your grocery spending. Those are great ideas, but even if your resolutions aren’t specifically financial, your hard work to [...]

I had to go out the other day to run some errands and I got caught in the Christmas shopping rush. At Target, people were pushing carts heaped with toys through the aisles and there was a beat down going on in the toy department over a shipment of Zhu Zhu pets. I overheard someone [...]

Christmas is less than three weeks away. In past years, I would have completed my shopping by now. Indeed, in past years my shopping has always been done by about the middle of October. This year presents new challenges and I don’t know what to do about them. My kids are too old for gifts, [...]

As we head into the holiday season and start looking for gifts to give to those hard to buy for people, gift cards stand out as easy gifts that everyone enjoys. But if you’re thinking of giving a pre-paid gift card that’s branded with a credit card logo, you might want to think of another [...]

Now that Halloween is over, the retailers have removed the gloves and stopped pretending like any other holiday matters. It’s now full speed ahead to Christmas. Usually I dread this time of year. I enjoy Christmas itself but I hate all the trappings that go along with it. I hate the marketing hype and the [...]

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the War to End All Wars finally drew to a close when the combatant nations signed an armistice to end the First World War. That event was commemorated for the first time on November 11, 1919. Over the years since, November [...]

I love October, as it starts my favorite three months of the year: autumn weather, the beautiful transition from the final days of summer weather to the first days of winter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! There is not a better ninety days in the calendar. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, the consumerism that infected [...]

As I write this, the final days of summer are winding down in the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn is upon us and most of us are looking forward to cooler weather, football and Halloween. It will be December before we know it and Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve will occupy our thoughts and our [...]

Today I rode Atlantis another seven times. That brings my total up to twenty-two rides in the past three weeks. Atlantis, for those of you who are not familiar with SeaWorld Orlando, is a flume ride that my son and I rather enjoy — so much so that we have decided to ride it at [...]

We just had our first cool snap of the year. While it will be hot again by the end of the week, the cool weather reminded me of the things I need to do to get my home and family ready for the colder months ahead. Some simple preparation and prevention efforts now will save [...]

A friend of mine who, like me, has always lived a debt free life recently ran into a perfect storm of disasters. He was diagnosed with an illness and, despite having good medical coverage, ended up with bills that threatened to eat up much of his non-retirement savings. As if that weren’t bad enough, he [...]