When your preteen daughter asks you if she may go to the mall with her friends, there are two possible answers. Possible answer #1: “Of course you may, honey! Have fun!” Possible answer #2: “No way! I don’t want you to develop the bad habit of recreational shopping.” Dilemma.
Raised by an extremely frugal parent, I now enjoy freedoms like turning fans on full power when I want to (seriously, how much electricity does that really waste?) and not saving things that are clearly junk but might be able to be fixed or re-purposed in some way. Still, some of that extreme frugality my […]
“Come on. We’re going out tonight. You and Rebecca meet us at Dave & Buster’s. We’ll be there at seven.” “We can’t.” “Why not?” You’re at a loss: You don’t want to admit you’ve blown your budget for the month and have no play money to go out with. “Uh, Becca’s not feeling well,” you […]
Around six months ago, I declared I was going to “unspoil” my kids. My kids are pretty well-behaved, but I wanted to start teaching them about responsibility and the value of a dollar. Even though my kids are young – three and five – I’ve still found some ways to start instilling financial responsibility in […]
If you’re a romantic at heart, if you believe that choosing a life partner isn’t something you think about and plan for but something that just happens, if you believe in “love at first sight” and in “happily ever after,” then I suspect you will strongly object to this article. I am going to argue […]
I fell in love with a foreclosure in my area last summer. The house seemed like the perfect investment property; it was in a good area, had good bones, and just needed some basic cosmetic work – like replacing the carpet, stripping the wallpaper, and painting. After stumbling upon the house, I drove past it […]
