Donating a Car to Charity: What You Need to Know

by Emily Guy Birken · 8 comments

For several years in the early 2000s, I worked at a Boys & Girls Club in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Though it was an incredibly rewarding job, the staff at our club were handed an administrative headache when a local resident decided to donate his 15-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser with 600,000 miles on it. (And yes, you read that number correctly.)

While we were all very impressed the car had racked up that kind of mileage, we were stymied as to what we could do with the donation. It couldn’t be used as transportation, since no one would want to drive kids around in a car with that much wear-and-tear. And selling it would be difficult, considering its incredible mileage and age.

Basically, our altruistic donor had realized that getting rid of his ride would be a major pain in the neck, so he passed that pain along to us (while receiving a sweet tax break). Frankly, we never should have accepted the donation.

Since that time, the IRS has changed what kind of deduction you can take for donating a car to charity, making donations more complicated than they used to be. If you’re considering giving away your car, here’s what you need to know: [ continue reading… ]

Are You Wasting Your Money by Going Gluten-Free?

by Jessica Sommerfield · 11 comments

The gluten-free craze has overtaken the supermarket aisles. Gluten-free products, once only available in specialty food stores, are now featured prominently in nearly every category of grain-based products.

While striving to live a healthier lifestyle and make better food choices is an admirable goal, you should exercise caution before jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon.

What You Need to Know About Gluten

What Is Gluten?

First of all, many people don’t even know what gluten is, let alone why they should be eliminating it from their diet. Gluten is a naturally-occurring protein in wheat, spelt, and a few other grains. About one in 100 people have celiac disease — a condition in which the body treats gluten as an allergen. Some people are highly allergic and must eliminate all gluten from their diet, and can even react negatively if they come into contact with it. Others may not be strictly diagnosed with celiac, but have various degrees of allergic symptoms. This is called gluten sensitivity and is hard to diagnose. [ continue reading… ]

3 Ways to Stay On Budget at the County Fair

by Travis Pizel · 13 comments

We’re deep into the heart of summer, which means county fairs are popping up everywhere. Our local fair happened last week, and my kids were excited to go. I know exactly how they feel, as I too have great childhood memories of going to the fair. As a parent, however, it usually means dropping a lot of cash in one day — and wondering if it was really worth it.

Luckily, my experiences have taught me how to maximize our family fun while keeping the cost from making me feel like I just got off the Tilt-O-Whirl. [ continue reading… ]

Should You Stop Carrying Cash?

by Jessica Sommerfield · 40 comments

Welcome to the age of electronic fund transfers, debit and credit cards, and online banking.

Carrying actual cash in your wallet is now optional, while paying with plastic has become the convenient choice. A recent survey from Bankrate indicated that 9% of Americans carry no cash at all.

Of those who do carry it, the majority carry no more than $50, while nearly half carry less than $20. One of the main reasons for this shift are the many advantages of paying with plastic, including the ability to earn points and rewards.

Do you think carrying cash is outdated?

Though ATMs are seemingly ubiquitous, what happens if you aren’t near one? Carrying some cash in your wallet in case of emergencies seems like a good idea, but how much? [ continue reading… ]

Confession Time: I Just Financed a Car With a 6-Year Loan, And I’m OK With It

by Travis Pizel · 34 comments

I’m sure I’ll get some disagreement with this decision, but I’m a big boy and I can take it.

Here’s the story: I’m a personal finance blogger, I just financed our new (to us) van with a six-year loan, and I honestly think it was a good decision.

At the end of January, my wife and I completed a debt management plan in which we paid off $109,000 of credit card debt in 55 months. In order to make a large payment to our program each month, we had to live on a very tight budget. We weren’t able to save up the money necessary to pay cash for our vehicle (as we were hoping to do).

The van we were driving was 10 years old. While I realize that many vehicles last longer than that, it was becoming a money pit. We’d just put new tires and brakes into it, and the power steering sounded like it was next. One day after work, the blinkers stopped working as well. Expecting this was the beginning of a never-ending parade of maintenance costs, we decided it was time to replace our family’s primary vehicle.

We searched and found a 2013 van that fulfilled all of our requirements. Since it was a year old, it cost thousands of dollars less than a comparable brand new model. We negotiated with the salesperson and talked him down to below the Kelly Blue Book value. Not being the best negotiator, I counted this as a success.

Then it came time to talk to the finance guy. [ continue reading… ]

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