work from home
The ability to work from home is a dream come true for many people. Even though there are some challenges associated with self-employment, I really do like working from home. For the most part, I set my own schedule, and I have time to do the things I like to do — when I want to do them.

However, not everyone thrives in a work from home environment. In order to make it work (especially if you are starting your own business), there are 5 traits that are useful to have:

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holiday budget
It’s that time of the year again! The year seems to be quickly going by and the holiday season is right around the corner. The holidays are a time filled with family, fun and food. While the last few months of the year are usually all about laughter and celebration, it is also one of the most expensive times of the year as well. With traveling expenses and presents, your budget can quickly get out of hand.

Before you get stressed out about holiday budgeting, start a plan. The earlier you begin thinking about holiday spending, the more time you’ll have actually enjoying the season. Here are five tips to help you stick to your holiday budget:

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grandparents and money
My background is somewhat “mixed” financially: my maternal grandmother Ruthie was an only child from a wealthy family when she married my grandfather, a prominent Baltimore lawyer, while my paternal grandmother Betta was raised by poor Kentucky farmers, and she and my grandfather made do throughout their lives on mostly blue collar jobs.

Even though my widowed grandmothers had little in common when my parents married, they became friends and were both very involved in their granddaughters’ lives. And from each of them, I learned several important lessons about money, from both ends of the wealth spectrum:

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healthy lunches

If you have a growing waistline and shrinking bank account, one simple way to fix these two problems is by simply prepping your own workday lunch meals for the week.

When you work a traditional job, there isn’t always time to eat healthy or to even pack your lunch in the morning. You’re busy balancing life and a career. But these tips will help you stay healthy at the office for under $20 a week.

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spending choices
One of the most difficult things in life, for a spender like me, is to stop making poor money decisions. I’ve made a great deal of progress in recent years, reducing my spending, and looking for ways to put my money to better use though.

In order to stop making poor spending decisions, it is vital that you evaluate your habits, and then make the effort to change.

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