My most recent spending temptation was an adorable Jack-o-Lantern bowl I saw at Wal-Mart on the Saturday before Halloween. I imagined putting candy in the $2 bowl for our trick-or-treaters, and it would really liven up our Halloween. Theoretically, I was in the store to get a prescription filled, but spending an extra two bucks […]
One of the sources of emergency funding that many of us turn to is the credit card. A credit card is easy to use as an emergency fund since a credit card is accepted almost everywhere (if issued by a major bank, and with a major company logo). It’s very liquid and you can usually […]
I noticed my son’s checking account was hovering dangerously close to zero. He has a teen account which means I have access to his information through our bank’s online portal, so I took a peek at what he had been spending his money on. After having a conversation with him to make sure something fraudulent […]
I remember the days when I was a struggling student without much income and without much savings. I also had a great deal of debt. If a $500 car repair came up, I had to ask my parents to lend me the money. Now, things are a little more different. I’m more fortunate in that […]
College has become something of a Catch-22 for students. It’s impossible to secure even a mediocre job without a college degree, but the constantly spiraling costs of education make it nearly impossible to pay for that necessary degree. For parents of students, it can be tempting to try to help out – by cosigning a […]
Even though my wife and I otherwise fall into fairly traditional roles when it comes to our finances – I’m the breadwinner while she mainly takes care of our family’s daily needs – we always had separate checking accounts. What we do is that I send her a fixed amount at the beginning of each […]
