Personal Finance Advice

I’m a huge fan of reading. I believe that reading, both fiction and non-fiction, is a great way to learn new things and be exposed to more than you typically see in your daily life. If you want to learn something new, like personal finance, you can’t beat a good book. You can go at [...]

I’ve personally never seen this game show, but recently I saw a parody of it that was done at my church when they were talking about finances. It was actually very interesting how they laid it out and made the correlation and it made a lot of sense. They had a “contestant” come up (he [...]

This weekend I was reading “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be: How to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead” by Larry Winget. (A pretty good read, by the way. The advice is nothing groundbreaking, but his straight talk and no excuses approach is entertaining.) Anyway, in the book he states that most people [...]

This past weekend I went to the annual bridal expo with a friend who is getting married soon. As my wedding was many years ago, I was astounded to see how far the bridal industry has come. Or maybe I should say I was astounded to see how far the bridal industry will go (to [...]

The football season is over now, and while that makes my husband very sad, it actually makes me pretty happy since I don’t particularly enjoy football. While I can’t get too interested in watching the game itself, I know there are some things to learn from the game. For instance, it’s better to be on [...]

Just recently my husband and I have decided to tighten up our spending a little more than we have been doing in the past. We currently have an amount budgeted for extra spending (entertainment, fun things, clothes, etc.) and in the past, this has been more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. [...]

Somewhere along my most recent three-week vacation, I started to compare it to last year’s three-week road trip. I began to make a list of the little things that make a big difference when it comes to the price, cost, or value on vacation. Here are 20 lessons that I have learned. 1. If you [...]

The drumbeat of recession talk continues to grow louder in the media and amongst financial analysts. The housing crisis, the credit crunch, high energy prices, the falling dollar, inflation, and slowing consumer spending are all contributing to a troubled economy. While no one can see into the future and know for certain whether or not [...]

It falls, taunting you, flake after flake, coating everything you see with white wet and cold crystals. It piles up in the corners, and in its complete blinding whiteness, all you can do is fork over your wallet. It’s a beautiful thief. You must turn on your heat. The blanket of whiteness is on your [...]

It’s very frustrating when people who don’t know us well attribute our decent financial situation to “luck.” As in, “You’re so lucky that you don’t have debt,” or, “You’re so lucky not to have to worry about your bills.” The conversation usually ends with the other person saying something along the lines of, “I wish [...]