Personal Finance Advice

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie in the 70’s. Each episode had a moral to it, but it wasn’t until I staged a marathon viewing session courtesy of Netflix that I realized how many of those episodes dealt with the subject of money in some form. Maybe some of my money habits [...]

Yesterday I went to the gym. That, in and of itself, is almost apocalyptic in significance, as I never go to the gym. Nevertheless, I am forcing myself to go, at least for the remainder of my period of unemployment, because I need to feel like I am accomplishing something and because I [...]

Yesterday I received an education in the importance of office equipment, even for the home. My day began rather quietly. I had accepted that new employment listings would be quiet due to the Independence Day Weekend, so I sat down at my desk with every intention of doing some writing. Before opening [...]

Lately I’ve been speaking to a friend who doesn’t know what to do about her job. She hates it. She hates the work, the boss, and her coworkers. The environment is toxic, with a lot of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. She desperately wants to quit but can’t because she needs the money. She knows [...]

I am in the midst of a job search. Although I have excellent experience and academic credentials, I am one of the hundreds of thousands of intelligent, articulate and qualified jobseekers in the market today. I am sure I shall eventually find a job, but my job search has taught me that despite [...]

I’m making an assumption that you really shouldn’t be reading this post because, well, you’re doing exactly what you shouldn’t be doing. If you were looking for specific information to help you with your finances, you should be reading about that topic rather than this post about why you shouldn’t be reading this post.
One of [...]

An acquaintance came to me the other day and told me a sad story. She has been unemployed since December and unable to find work. Her husband also lost his job around the same time and although he has since found another, they went four months with no income and his new job pays considerably [...]

Yesterday, I got a dog. We named him “Peter’s Lucky Biscuit” and he is adorable. That’s him in the photo to the left. Biscuit is a pure bread labradoodle. We had to get a pure breed because we needed a hypoallergenic breed that would be more likely to be compatible with [...]

Last Sunday, my son overslept and could not go to church with the rest of the family. Accordingly, he went to a later service by himself. When I dropped him off at the church, I said to him, “Remember that you may sit down next to a girl who you may someday marry [...]

Who couldn’t use some extra money these days? I’m guessing you have a skill that people would pay you for, and freelancing can be a great way to earn some extra cash.
What work can you do as a freelancer? Take into account what you like to do in your spare time. Do you love yard [...]

Like millions of Americans, my family will likely face a layoff. And, like other families we aren’t sure when we will get the news. Tomorrow? In another month? The suspense makes one reach for the bismuth.
My husband has been a teacher all his adult life, but could be laid off at the end of the [...]

About ten years ago, a woman I know gave up a high paying job in Connecticut because she felt that she could not handle the stress. She moved to rural Florida for a few years, lived with a guy she had met in high school in a house that her parents bought and basically [...]

Suze Orman was on Oprah last week and one of the pieces of advice that she gave for dealing with the recession was to learn how to live on half your income. The reason behind the advice was that if you have a job loss or a reduction in hours you would have to live [...]

Many people are totally dependent on their (or their spouse’s) “regular” job for all of their income. This is a risky proposition even in good times, but especially now that jobs are being cut left and right. When that one job goes, all of the necessary income goes with it, leaving the person with no [...]

Okay, it’s no secret that the economy is in the tank. And it’s likely that this has you worried, angry, upset, and stressed out. And it’s no wonder. You’ve probably watched your investments fall, your retirement may be on hold indefinitely, you may have been laid off, your house is possibly worthless, and your credit [...]

I am frequently asked (and more often now that the economy is in the tank), “What can I do to generate some extra cash?” There are many ways to generate additional cash, some of them quicker than others. If you need a lot of cash, these tips alone probably won’t do it; few, if any, [...]

My dear friend recently went back to work after being unemployed for a time. She is grateful for the job, but this work earns her much less per hour than before. In fact, it offers both fewer hours and smaller per-hour pay.
Thus with a diminished earning power, she is understandably finding it hard to [...]

By now, almost everyone has probably read of the huge bonuses that AIG recently paid to more than seventy of its executives with money that AIG received from the US government as part of its bailout. If you have not read about it, take a few moments to do so. Although there is tremendous [...]

One of the things you learn when you live a life committed to being debt free is how to get by in tough times. We’ve had our share of lean years, emergencies, and layoffs and yet we’ve always managed to remain debt free. The worst time I can remember was after we were first married [...]

Knowing what to do when you first graduate isn’t easy. There’s so much at stake: paying off student loans, choosing a geographic location you’ll enjoy, starting your career off on the right foot—how do you know what jobs to spend your time and energy applying for, when to accept an offer, and when to keep [...]