Lifestyle blogger – cruises, organizing, managing money, and parenting.
There! I said it – I think college is a huge rip-off. I know it’s supposed to be the American Dream, but I was skeptical of it when I was a kid. If anything, I’ve gotten more skeptical as I’ve gotten older. College tuition has skyrocketed FAR more than it should have. The latest stat […] Read more…
I know most people think that money is just money. But I can tell you that there is an enormous difference between paying for things with cash and with other forms of payment – including credit/debit cards, checks, or your phone. Behavioral scientists have done probably hundreds of experiments over the years that clearly prove […] Read more…
As I mentioned recently, my son got married. It was a very nice wedding, but there were several glitches that marred the day. There were enough small problems that we ended up making a formal complaint to the reception company. Which actually worked quite nicely. It was kind of ironic because my daughter-in-law and […] Read more…
So, my middle son Matt got married about a month ago. I haven’t posted the pictures from it because it’s taken a while to get the pictures back from the photographer. But it was a lovely day and we were all excited to see them married. Great weather – perfect since it was a rooftop […] Read more…
I am always surprised when I find that most people have not heard about a water alarm. These things are BRILLIANT and have saved our bacon more times than I can count. Water damage can be very expensive. We’ve had water in our basement at least 10 times now from either our washer, our water […] Read more…
This post was inspired by today’s real-life experience. One of my previous posts was about my son Matt’s big mistake (90 days same as cash – NOT!). This one is about my son Blake’s blooper. You know – this guy! Here he is showing off his new bleached blond ‘do for his first day of […] Read more…
This post was inspired by a mistake made a while back by my now 25 year old son. This son, in fact. Yes, I know he’s a handsome fellow, but he’s not quite perfect. Like a lot of kids (okay, young adults!), he makes mistakes sometimes, especially regarding money. His latest mistake concerned a guitar. […] Read more…
Sometimes I think the saving habit is one of the hardest habits to develop. But that savings account has saved my butt so many times, I just don’t understand how people function without one. That’s one of the reasons I came up with this stealth savings strategy. I think the trap people fall into is […] Read more…
Next to buying a house, buying a car is one of the most expensive purchases we make. It’s one time in your life when you will be pitted against professionals who are focused on separating you from as much of your money as they possibly can. If you want to learn about saving money on […] Read more…
Most financial experts agree that the best way to teach kids to be a smart shopper is to actually let them TRY it. They need to learn from their own successes and failures. Since one of your biggest recurring expenses is your grocery budget, this is a great place to start. Do you realize our teen is […] Read more…
I read an interesting statistic today – 18 to 25 year olds spend up to 49% more than other age groups on dining out. Doesn’t say if that’s fast food, fine dining, or drinks, but if I had my guess, I’d say 90% fast food with a smattering of fine dining. Image courtesy of [KEK064] […] Read more…
I think the source of a large portion of debt, is due to the effects of “retail therapy” or “recreational shopping”. This is the practice of non-need based shopping and it’s very big problem for a lot of people, especially for women. Photo credit When we were first married, this was a big […] Read more…
When it comes to your finances, it’s kind of like the nature vs. nurture debate. You can have all the financial knowledge in the world, but if you don’t have a handle on your behavior, you aren’t any better off than someone who doesn’t know a mutual fund from a credit union. In fact, I […] Read more…
I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey. I bought one of his books on his debt management strategies and it really impressed me. I’ve read lots of similar plans, but this one really got my attention and it seemed like something I could really do, especially the debt snowball plan because at that point, I […] Read more…
Next to your house, probably the biggest expense you will have in your life is paying for a college education for your kids. Therefore, it would only make sense to give it a LOT of thought. However, for most people, the only thought they give to college is HOW they are going to pay for […] Read more…