From the monthly archives:

September 2009

Three Ways to Curb Impulse Spending

September 30, 2009

One of the biggest hurdles to a family’s budget is impulse spending. You can make all the plans about your money that you want, but if you don’t have the willpower to avoid making unplanned (or unbudgeted) purchases, your budget is simply a work of fiction. You have to stick to the plan.
I [...]

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Five Tips to Simplify Your Finances

September 29, 2009

So many people that I talk to want to get a good handle on their family’s finances, but they are so intimidated by their finances that they don’t know where to start. How can they stay on top of all of their financial assets, their goals, and their debts at the same time? [...]

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Ways to Save Money When Cooking for a Crowd

September 28, 2009

If you have a big family or love to entertain, you already know what a struggle it can be to fit food for all of those people into your budget. Food is expensive, so you need every tip you can find to help you save a few dollars. Armed with ideas like these, [...]

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Coping With Financial Stressors

September 25, 2009

The day-to-day workings of personal finance can bring a lot of stress into your life. As you create your family’s budget, you have to mark hard choices about what you can afford and what you can’t. You also have to make decisions about life-changing topics like insurance, retirement savings, and mortgages. Personal [...]

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Tips for Retirement Planning

September 24, 2009

Some days I think that I get so bogged down in dealing with our day-to-day finances that retirement seems too far away to even think about. I know that my husband and I won’t be old enough to retire for almost thirty years. Who has time to think about retirement planning when it’s [...]

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Stocking Up Your Pantry – What Are the Essential Items?

September 23, 2009

When you’re trying to come up with a meal in a hurry, there’s nothing like having a fully-stocked pantry. There’s no limit to the things I can whip up when my pantry is full. If you’re new to the idea of stocking a pantry, though, you may be a little overwhelmed trying to [...]

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Emergency Fund Checkup Time – Do You Have Enough Saved Up?

September 22, 2009

Having an emergency fund is imperative to any family’s financial health. After all, an emergency fund is usually what stands between us and all of those unfortunate things that happen to us. When you’re slapped with an unexpected car repair bill, for instance, your emergency fund absorbs the blow.
You shouldn’t be [...]

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Money Management Tip – Always Check for Errors

September 21, 2009

Money management tips come in all shapes and sizes. Some relate to complicated matters like maintaining a diversified investment portfolio or maximizing your retirement plan contributions by taking advantage of employer matching contributions. Other money management tips, however, can be very simple. In fact, one of the simplest tips I’ve ever offered [...]

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Debt Snowball – How a Simple Plan Can Help You Get Out of Debt

September 18, 2009

Using a debt snowball to work your way out of debt is an idea that has become increasingly popular over the past few years. In fact, with the explosion of Dave Ramsey’s financial principles, as disclosed in his Total Money Makeover, the phrase “debt snowball” has become a regular part of many families’ financial [...]

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Selling on eBay – Protecting Yourself

September 17, 2009

Earning some pocket money while selling on eBay is great, but it does leave you open to a few problems. Unhappy customers, lost packages, and unfulfilled auctions are the scourge of the world of eBay. Although these experiences are definitely not the norm, they can really cause you problems. Don’t let them [...]

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