Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love being outside in the crisp fall air. I love wearing sweaters and baking. I love the anticipation of the snowfall (if not the actual snowfall!) and the holiday season. I also love that with the kids going back to school, the fall always feels like a fresh start. It's a time to revisit our routines and make course corrections. It's a time to refocus on our goals. It's also a great time of year to make a few smart money moves. … [Read more...]
Summer has a way of messing up budgets. Kids are off from school. There are activities, parties, reunions, weddings, and of course, vacations. All those expenses add up. But let's turn all that around. Let's make September a month to get our budgets back under control! … [Read more...]
The concept of budgeting is pretty simple: Create a plan for your money and stick to it. The reality is much more complex. There are countless decisions to be made when it comes to your money. There are periods of unexpected expenses. There are sometimes periods of inconsistent income. But there's one thing people do when budgeting that can really cost you money. I know this because I've been guilty of it. … [Read more...]
I get a lot of e-mail. Most of it is trying to sell me things or trying to tell me how to sell things to someone else. I found myself hesitating when I saw the title of one of those e-mails. It said, "A Recession is Coming: Are you prepared?" The content of the email was a sales pitch for a book that had a chapter dedicated to how to prepare for a recession. Now, I'm no economist, so I don't really know if a recession is coming soon, but there probably be another one some day. What … [Read more...]
How long will you have to work to pay for that? It's a very simple question, but it's not one we often give much thought. That's the kind of thinking (or lack of thinking) that costs us a lot of money and time every year. … [Read more...]
No one cares about your money as much as you do. That's why it's important to make sure you keep an eye on your credit report. Your credit report is what tells lenders, landlords, insurance companies and employers what kind of credit risk you are. It shows whether you're paying your bills, whether you're paying them on time, and how much debt you have. If someone steals your identity, they can open fraudulent accounts in your name, wrack up debt (in your name), and ruin your credit … [Read more...]
The other day I got a “coupon” in the mail. The use of the word “coupon” made me chuckle, because it was actually a bill. It also means that our house payment is going to go up this year. Now, if you’re a new homeowner and you have a fixed rate mortgage, you might think that you’ll always pay the same for your house every month for the next 15 or 30 years. But if you’re putting your property taxes and insurance into an escrow account attached to your mortgage payment, that’s just not … [Read more...]