A Little Embarrassment Can Be A Great Financial Teacher

Written by on · 1 Comment

It felt great to be able to come to the rescue for my fifteen year old daughter. As young adults progress through their teen years they want more independence, and rely less and less on their parents. So when the opportunity arose for me to swoop in and save the day for my daughter I latched on to it and took full advantage of it. It also gave me the opportunity to give my daughter a great lesson in personal finance. I had gone to the mall for some shopping, and brought my daughter with me. Once at the mall […] Read more »

A Wine Sale, A Blown Budget, and Lessons Learned

Written by on · 10 Comments

Even the most diligent of the financial savvy have an occasional lapse in monetary reason.  I don’t claim to be in the first category, but I can certainly identify with the latter.   When these scenarios play out in life, it’s important to identify what went wrong, what led us down that path, and how we can do better next time. Over the weekend my wife and I stopped by a liquor store that was having a wine tasting event.  The plan was to stop in to taste some new wines and picked up a bottle or two.  We did taste […] Read more »

A Conversation Overheard: Teenagers Ordering Pizza For The First Time

Written by on · 4 Comments

Working at the kitchen table, I had my back to my twelve year old daughter and her friends who were watching TV in the living room. It was the first day of Spring Break, and they were excited for a week without school. I tried to tune out the sounds of whatever teenage girls usually talk about, when suddenly one of them said something that made my ears perk up. “We should order pizza!” The suggestion was meant to be a joke, but I listened to them begin to discuss some details such as what kind of pizza they would […] Read more »

How to Talk with Your Teens about Credit

Written by on · 3 Comments

It’s not at all uncommon for teenagers to receive credit card offers in the mail. Are your children prepared for this? Do they know what to do with these offers? Do they understand how credit works? According to Consumer Action, it’s up to you to teach them: “Parents are usually the best people to teach their kids about credit, and since even young children can use credit cards, it’s never too early to begin this education.” In many families, if the parents don’t take the time to teach their kids about credit, those kids may end up making naïve choices […] Read more »

What Paying Off Debt Taught Me About Myself

Written by on · 7 Comments

I recently became non-mortgage debt free. This is a huge accomplishment and something that I am immensely proud of. It took a long time, too. Five years (just ask Lady Gaga. She thinks five years is a long time, too). Five years of cutting back, skipping vacations, forgoing home improvements, making do with what I have, shopping eBay and sales for pretty much everything…whatever you’re supposed to do to get out of debt, I did. Mostly. I’m not going to say that I was perfect during those 5 years, but I did the best I could. And I never thought […] Read more »

Are You Teaching Your Children to Avoid a Financial Stomach Ache?

Written by on · 13 Comments

Photo credit: newyork808 During the last week of school, my twelve year old son went on a class trip to the Nickelodeon Universe theme park inside the Mall Of America. When I picked him up from school, he told me that he didn’t go on any rides the last hour because he didn’t feel well, and still didn’t. Trying to determine the cause of his stomach issue, I asked him what he had for lunch.  The conversation went something like this: Tristan:  “I wanted Subway, but there wasn’t one in the food court where we went to eat. So we […] Read more »