Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Have you seen the latest commercials for the California Lottery? I think they’re awful.
The campaign has two versions that I know of: One where a dad, who apparently won the lottery, is arranging for his daughters to have snow in San Diego via snow making machines. The kids are beaming of course. His wife asks him, “Will you do this every day?” And he replies, “Maybe.”
Another version: A lottery winner builds a large baseball stadium just so his family could play together at their reunion. His dad tells him, “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” to which he replies, “What trouble?” [ continue reading… ]
As a parent, it can be overwhelming to have to purchase presents for every party your child gets invited to during a school year. Multiply the burden by the number of kids you have, and it can get downright impossible to budget for! If each new party invitation leaves you scrambling for funds to cover a gift, consider these practical presents that most every child will love — and that your budget can easily accommodate.
Gift Cards for Edibles: Buying snacks as a gift can be seen as cheap, but a gift card for food brings a sense of legitimacy to the idea. If there is a popular place in town that kids like to buy their pizza or ice cream from, for example, grab a few of their gift cards at the beginning of a school year, and stash them in a drawer for unexpected parties. You can choose a denomination that meets your financial situation, but $5-10 should be the bare minimum. [ continue reading… ]
Money is considered such an important part of our society that we are often judged according to how much we are worth — in terms of dollars. We see this everywhere, and we talk about ourselves in terms of net worth. When we get life insurance, we have to try and put a dollar amount on how much our lives are worth. Money is such a big part of our society that many stay at home spouses eagerly read estimates of how much everything they own might be worth on the market. [ continue reading… ]
Health care is expensive. My six year old son just had a minor surgical procedure that will cost us somewhere north of $1,200 (deductible plus whatever the co-insurance ultimately winds up being). Needless to say, his health and well-being is worth the world to us, but at the same time, I don’t want to pay any more than we have to.
Based on my experiences dealing with medical bills and insurance over the years, here is some of my best advice. [ continue reading… ]
For young couples, having a baby is one of the most life-affirming experiences they will ever have. At least it is until the bills start piling up. Between disposable diapers, formula and clothing, a very small person starts to eat up a significant part of the monthly income. Parents often wonder how such a small individual costs so much, the baby years is actually just the beginning.
This could sound discouraging, but the first years of a person’s life are actually the cheap years. Before you know it, your child can point at a toy on the shelf and start making demands. And let’s not even talk about college. Nevertheless, any money you can save now will more than pay off in the future. [ continue reading… ]
Growing up, everyone around me thought our family was rich. We drove nice cars, dressed neatly and never hinted at our money woes. It was strange because we couldn’t be more middle class when it came to our household income but the truth didn’t matter, there was no point denying.
One day, I asked my mom about this, and she told me that though we didn’t have doodles of money, we stretched every dollar like it was noodles that wouldn’t snap. Here were a few of her tricks: [ continue reading… ]
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