As a child, I did not have everything I wanted, but I had everything I needed.
I never paid much attention to money.
I absolutely took money for granted.
I was a kid and full of joy.
It's easy to take something for granted when you are not aware of its presence. I was never aware of money. There was no need. I never knew when Mum or Dad paid a bill or made a donation to a charity. I was never taught about money management and I never bothered to learn the rules.
Some folks had money and some folks had less and I assumed this was due to earning capabilities. If you had a good job you probably had a nice home and a lot of money in the bank. Having never l...
I wish my dad were a car mechanic.
Call me a skeptic, but there is a lot going on under that hood and I always wonder if I am being told the whole truth. Perhaps it's not a lie but a misrepresentation told by a talented salesman who needs to make a living. Maybe the alternator does need to be replaced, but don't sell me on a brand new top-of-the-line model when a refurbished one will work just fine. Don't push a rebuilt alternator when a new one is needed. Please just give me what I need. Nothing more, nothing less. Until I find a trustworthy mechanic I will always wonder:
Is there an incentive to put his needs ahead of mine?
Similarly, there are also money m...
You want to get your finances under control. Perhaps you are tired of worrying about your money. Maybe you are starting to think more about your goals and are wondering if you will ever get there.
Where do you start? What steps can you take to get your financial plan in place and make sure it stays on track?
There is a little legwork up front in this process, quite similar to organizing a room in your home. When re-organizing, it may take you several hours to clean out the space, throw away the junk, think about how you want it organized, buy some new bins, folders, labels etc. and set the space back up with this new and improved layout. It's a lot of ...
2012 Combined Traditional and Roth IRA Contribution Limits
Traditional IRA's and Roth IRA's are just two of the tax-advantaged retirement plans available. While these plans can make saving for retirement a little easier, there are some simple yet tricky rules to these plans you should be aware of. Not the sexiest stuff out there, but here it is...
Anyone with at least $5,000 of taxable income this year can make a contribution to a traditional IRA. You may or may not be able to deduct your contribution depending on your income level, marital status, and whether or not you or your spouse have available retirement savings plans at work.
If you are under ...
Bank of America announced this week they will NOT start charging $5 per month to debit card users as they were scheduled to do. This change of heart was due to outrage by some politicians, consumer groups, and customers (including me!)
To better understand why BOA would ever think the additional $5 fee would be a good idea, let's take a look at what's been going on in the banking industry...
The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Signed into law in July 2010 to promote financial stability in the U.S. by improving transparency in the financial system. The "Durbin Amendment" is a provision in the bill that regulates debit card interchange fee...
Sometimes we know our financial situation isn't great but we don't want to admit to ourselves how bad things really are. Perhaps we are burying our heads in the sand in avoidance or pushing it off for sometime in the future.
Bankrate.com recently published an article about how to tell how close you are to financial ruin. Read ahead if you dare, or cover your eyes and hum a tune for the next few minutes while I list the 8 signs you're close to the edge of financial disaster.
Paying bills late. If you find yourself paying bills late each month or not paying them in full you could be headed for trouble. By not paying a bill in full you are incurring more debt the foll...
Did you know you have something in common with both Donald Trump and President Obama? Well, if you are the CFO (Chief Family Officer) of your family's finances you certainly do. Whether it's a family's cash flow, a business's bottom line, or the surplus or deficit for our country, money makes the world go round (or at least gets your bills paid). Money in and money out, it's really that simple.
Having a grasp of how much money is coming in is pretty straightforward, but what about how much moola is going out each month? Believe it or not, it doesn't matter how much you are bringing in. What matters most to your bottom line or net worth is how much of your money y...
I specifically remember spelling memorized lists of words for spelling tests in elementary school. I can remember learning how to sew in junior high school. I also recall learning some basic computer skills as well as typing 34 words per minute in high school. What I do not remember anyone mentioning was balancing a checkbook, taxes, credit cards or credit scores. Why?
Despite some great financial literacy programs out there like EverFi and Jump$tart the statistics are grim:
"Only fifty-nine percent of the young adults in Generation Y (ages eighteen to thirty) pay their bills on time every month." (2008 Financial Literacy Survey National Foundation for Credit Counseling...
Yikes!
The recent rise in gas prices has me doing something I am not particularly proud of: shopping around for a credit card offering cash back on gasoline purchases.
The last time I felt this panicked over gas prices was back in the summer of 2008 when gas prices shot above $4 per gallon and a lot of people were using Gas Buddy to find the lowest prices to fill their tank. I ended up doing an analysis at that time of how much gas my husband was using driving his 2006 Toyota Tacoma 89.32 miles round trip to work 5 days a week and how much money we might be able to save long term if he switched to a more fuel efficient car. This is also when I started du...
