Let me start by prefacing this article by saying that I do not advocate cheating on your spouse or significant other. I believe wholeheartedly in a monogomous relationship, however, unfortunately there are women (and men) that find themselves on the other side shocked that this happened to them. Here are a few signs that may send up a red flag. Each of these by themselves may not mean anything, but it’s good to be aware of the financial warning signs of cheating.

An unusual increase of ATM withdrawals and/or credit card cash advances.
Failure to mention overtime, bonuses, or an increase in …read more

With all of my close friends, I have noticed a similarity.  My personal finances and financial decisions affect them. 
They say opposites attract and I guess that can be true of friendships as well.  I have had three close friendships.  I’m talking tight, share all secrets with girlfriends.  All three of these ladies had issues with spending.  After being friends with them for a while, I noticed that all of them began to tone down their spending, their impulsive shopping, their wild credit card spending, and they began to look for bargains on the things they purchased. 

Of course when you are …read more

Recently I was talking to a friend.  In the conversation, I mentioned that I was going on a business trip to New York and regretted that I couldn’t stay a few more days and site see.  When he asked why, I told him that we had recently purchased a home and didn’t have any extra money at the moment.  He replied that he had always been a renter and always would be because he liked having the freedom and extra money in his pocket.

His comment really got me to thinking.  Would someone really be a renter forever?  Here are some reasons why I …read more

Sometimes more than we’d care to, we have to tell our kids “no”.  They want a new dress, a new toy, to go out to eat, and to buy whatever they decide that can’t live without.  Raising kids can be very expensive and it’s important to realize that you can’t give in to their every request.  Not only will you put yourself into a financial mess, but you’ll also be depriving your child of important life lessons.
Telling our kids “no” is inevitable.  Here are some tips to make it a little easier.

1)  Use emphathetic and understanding statements. “I understand that …read more

My husband is a spender and I am a saver.  I think I’ve worn off on him a bit over the years.  He looks for bargains,  searches for product reviews,  and shops online and in the stores for the best deal he can find before laying out the hard earned dough.  He’s even known to haggle in the stores.  Still, he is a spender and I try to clinch hang on to our money so that we can be financially secure for our future and emergencies.

According to a new study, savers are attracted to spenders.  How can this be?  With …read more

Protecting your own financial identity is very important when you partner up for the long haul with another person. At anytime, there could be glitches, curve balls, and other surprises that attack one of you, and the other partner may need credit of their own.

How to deal:
When you become two vs. one, either by means of marriage or just because you’ve been together so long, make sure that even if you’re combining incomes, bills, and credit that each of you keep one or two credit cards or credit accounts in your own name. You should always keep partially solo …read more

The Consumer’s Almanac from the Federal Citizen Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration is a useful and easy to use guide that can help you learn how to organize and track your expenses. The current online free version is from 2006, but the date is a moot point. These tips can be used by anyone now to get a budget in order.

Features of the Consumer Almanac:

How to create a basic budget including what to track, when to track it, and annual calender forms to track it on. Note, the calender templates are blank so you can fill …read more

With all of the layoffs, home foreclosures, and economy issues it may be hard to have anything good to say about the recession.  Believe it or not, the recession is helping to change some of our habits, for the good.

A few years ago, I send out an email ranting to my friends about Americans being frivilous and spending more money than they made.  If I remember correctly, at that time, Americans were spending $1.50 for each dollar they made.  That meant that we were in debt; in big time debt.  Being in debt like that really bothered me.  We are so …read more

Moving is expensive from the get go, but with the job shortage, some folks are moving when they find a job elsewhere. To help you decide if that move is really worth it, you can use the Money Magazine nifty moving calculator, which can tell you how far your salary would go in another city.

For example, for kicks, I entered my salary, and current city (Portland, OR) then entered that I was moving to San Francisco, which trust me I’m not. I’m the sort who likes to visit SF, but I can’t stay too long (too crowded). Now I’m even …read more

In case you missed Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope broadcast (or if you’d like to see it again), you can watch it for free on Hulu. 

Here’s a few things I tweeted or heard Dave say during the event:

When things are going well, we get a little sloppy.  We’ve become a bit sloppy. 
When things are going good any idiot could make it.  Even a turkey can fly in a tornado.  Stupidity has been officially stress tested.
When the tide goes out you can tell who was skinny dipping.
Fear is not a Fruit of the Spirit.
Bush decided to bailout stupidity and then the …read more