Sharing insights since 2007 on carefully saving money, investing, frugal living, coupons, promo codes because the little things matter in achieving financial freedom!
Extracurricular activities used to be the domain of the child prodigies. Little ones who were training for the Olympics or the children’s orchestra were the only kids you saw going to gymnastics or violin lessons after school. For the rest of the kid population, doing homework and riding bikes was more than enough activity.
Times have certainly changed. Younger and younger children are going from school to music lessons to sports practice to scouts. Not only do all the extra activities take up a lot of time in the car, but they can also be difficult for parents to afford. In addition to the clear registration, activity, and equipment fees, there can also be unexpected fees for things like team photos or group snacks.
Here are four ways to reduce the costs of your children’s extracurricular activities without giving up the fun: [ continue reading… ]
Do you have a large but short-term savings goal? Perhaps, like me, you want to save at least 20% of a future home as a down payment. Maybe you want to purchase another vehicle or recreational toy in cash versus going into debt, or you just want to finally finish a much-needed home improvement project. No matter the reason, one thing these diverse savings goals have in common is that they’re short-term – you’ll want to be able to use the money in say, one to four years.
If you don’t know how much you’ll need to set aside every month to reach your goal or what interest rate you might need to reach it in a certain time frame, use an online amortization table to help you calculate that number. Knowing what you need before looking at your options will allow you to quickly locate the one that best meets your needs. [ continue reading… ]
With the start of the academic year, thousands of high-school graduates are entering college and handling their own finances for the very first time. Some will learn quickly on their own, but many others will struggle and end up with more debt than they know what to do with.
Here are four important tips that every college freshman should know to help keep them from getting into financial trouble:
1. Understand Your Meal Plan
Many larger schools are now offering meal plans that will allow students to purchase food at fast food restaurants or use points based on a la carte purchases. Unfortunately, it can be very easy to use up all of your meal plan points during the first six weeks of school if you don’t keep an eye on how much you’re using and how much you have left.
Instead of using your meal plan to indulge your passion for burritos and pizza from local restaurants, figure out ahead of time how often you can afford to treat yourself each week – and stick to it. Otherwise, it’ll be a long, hungry, and/or expensive slog to get to the spring semester. [ continue reading… ]
Ask anyone what the important rules of money are and they’ll likely be able to give you several maxims that at least sound like good advice. Unfortunately, many people are walking around following rules that really don’t apply anymore. The subject of personal finance seems to attract old wives’ tales that masquerade as solid advice. If you follow any of these “rules”, you may be cheating yourself out of a fatter wallet: [ continue reading… ]
Last month I confessed to an addictive behavior: recreational shopping. I actually wasn’t sure if I could classify it as a full-fledged addiction. Then David commented, “I’m glad Vered got out of her ritual of checking the same website for new arrivals daily, but make no mistake, addiction was the perfect word to describe that behavior.” His comment got me thinking that it’s probably time to admit that I was indeed addicted to shopping – and to share how I was able to overcome my addiction.
My “harmless” daily virtual shopping trip had all the characteristics of an addiction. I knew I shouldn’t log on to that site, I struggled with it every single morning, but I did it anyway. And to add insult to injury, I then lied about it – I didn’t exactly share my purchases with my husband!
So how did I start on that path? First of all, I love shopping. Not everyone enjoys shopping, but those of us who do will know what I mean – browsing through merchandise, looking at beautiful items and picking a few that will become yours, bringing them home (or having them shipped), tearing up the wrappers and finding a new place for them. Shopping can be an extremely pleasant experience, especially since I believe humans are hardwired to love shiny new things and feel a sense of security when we surround ourselves with objects. [ continue reading… ]
My oldest daughter just started kindergarten and I’m quickly realizing school is going to be more expensive than I’d anticipated.
Though I was ready for some expenses, like clothes, lunches, and supplies, others – like the classroom cleaning supplies and tissues – caught me by surprise.
Here are the ways I’ve been trying to keep back-to-school costs down:
Buy A Year’s Worth of Supplies Now
School supplies aren’t going to be any cheaper than they are right now. Stocking up for the whole year (while crayons are a dollar a pack) makes more sense than paying three dollars in a month.
You don’t have to go overboard either. Just grab a couple extras of what your children regularly use. This way, you’ll have them on hand when it comes time to replenish. [ continue reading… ]
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