3 Reasons You Should Review Your Checking Account Regularly

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  I know people that roll through life, never reconciling their checking account. Many younger people fall into this category, and for the most part it works because they don’t write checks, so the current balance is up to date. Others keep close tabs on their account, verifying every transaction. I fall into the second category because you just never know when you might notice something out of the ordinary. I was looking at my checking account online over the weekend when I noticed a $6.95 charge from an online gaming site. I recognized it something my son had been […] Read more »

Teens Are More Financially Savvy Than We Give Them Credit For

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It is the responsibility of parents to teach financial concepts and responsibility to their children. Sometimes one wonders if lessons are being absorbed and understood. But every now and then, they say or do something that lets you know they are smarter and pay attention more than they are sometimes given credit for. My daughter gave me one such moment over the weekend. We’ve been remodeling my daughter’s room with fresh paint, new furniture and a new closet organizer. The closet organizer has a center piece that is drawers and shelves, and then 4 rods (2 on the top, and […] Read more »

I Lost $500 for 3 Months OR 3 Reasons To Reconcile Your Checking Account Often

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One thing that a person absolutely has to do to successfully manage their finances is to simply pay attention. It’s common sense, but it’s surprising how many people just don’t. I know people that never reconcile their checking account, occasionally checking their balance claiming they know approximately how much should be in there. I like to reconcile my checking account almost on a daily basis, but every now and then life gets away from me. I got a very hard reminder of the consequences which could result from not keeping an eye on your finances. A few years ago I […] Read more »

5 Things That Could Affect Next Year’s Taxes

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Tomorrow is the day your 2016 tax returns are due. They have to be filed electronically or post marked or you will likely face a fine from the IRS. For many of us, the 2016 tax season may be behind us, but now is the perfect time to be thinking about 2017. If you owed money to the government with your tax return now is the time to take action to change the outcome of next year’s tax season. Here are 5 things you may do during 2017 that will have an effect on your taxes: Part-Time Jobs My wife’s […] Read more »

Will Boredom Bust Your Budget?

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Has the unthinkable happened to you? You created a budget, even talked about it with your significant other. You determined the amount of discretionary funds available and how much you wished to spend, and carefully matched those funds to wants and needs. Yet end of the weekend analysis reminded you that somewhere along the way a decision was made to use funds outside the spending plan. How could that possibly be? The answer is simple; you spent out of boredom caused by lack of planning. This exact thing happened to my wife and I this weekend. We wanted to have […] Read more »

Cosmetology School Students Can Save You Money On Hair And Spa Services

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A visit to the salon for my wife was on the list of discussed and approved expenditures for the weekend. A few hairs on her beautiful head had dared to turn the wrong color, and needed to be taught a lesson. She called around gathering current pricing information as well as potential time slots, finding she would be paying somewhere between $70 and $90 for a single all over color. She then remembered the name of another salon that had been used by our neighbor to have their daughters’ hair done for homecoming a few weeks prior. The salon had […] Read more »

Three Reasons To Decline a Credit Limit Increase

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The email was from a credit card provider and the subject line said “Congratulations!” I opened the email to find out that I was being offered a $3000 credit line increase. The line of credit in question was one we used for our hotel bill on our trip to Austin, Texas as the card gave a significant percentage cash back for travel expenses. We hadn’t used the card literally in years, and I’m guessing that the use of the card prompted the issuer to sweeten the pot for us to continue to use it. I was about to click on […] Read more »

The Inner Workings of Married People Dates: Coupons, Frugality, and Stealing My Wife’s Roast Beef

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks, and my wife and I haven’t had a lot of time to spend with just each other. We were able to have our first Friday lunch date of the school year last week, but we decided to take advantage of the fact that we had nothing going on this past weekend and have a date night on Friday as well. Our destination was a recently remodeled bowling alley nearby that advertised having bowling lanes, a game room, and laser tag. As I slid into my mini-van seat, I realized I had forgotten something. […] Read more »

What Does Your Refrigerator Tell You About Your Finances?

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I view life as being made up of many strands, all interconnected and affecting each other. Each strand represent some aspect of a person’s personality or a stream of experiences. They are separate, but intertwined, each affecting the other. I looked in my fridge over the weekend, and noticed how cluttered it was. I was reminded of how I had been feeling about our finances lately. Let me show you what I mean: Pizza : I found a container of leftovers from our favorite local pizza place. We got back to town late Saturday evening after being at a lake […] Read more »

My Favorite Part Of Having Control Of My Finances

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One of the most common questions asked of people going through the process of paying off a mountain of debt is what they will do with the extra money each month once the debt is paid off. Another similar, but slightly different question is to describe how life is different now that the debt has been paid off. I’ve been asked these questions countless times. It’s easy to give the standard answers of build a larger emergency fund, invest more, or save for the kids’ college. I’ve given all those answers. There’s certainly nothing wrong them, as they’re the answers […] Read more »

Want Success? Make The Choice!

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There is a redemptive power that making a choice has. Rather than feeling like you are an affect to all the things that are happening Make a choice. You just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, how you going to do it. Just decide. -Will Smith (actor) This quote was stuck in my head all week, and it inspired me to view the world through a different perspective. I walked to the vending machine with every intention of buying a soda to go with my lunch. When I arrived at the bank of vending machines, […] Read more »

Breeze Through Your Taxes Through Preparation And TaxACT

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This post is part of the TaxACT #BeatTheDeadline blog tour which shares tips on how to make tax time a smooth and easy process before the April 15 deadline. TaxACT provides the tools and guidance to help you confidently file taxes easy and fast. Do your own taxes today at TaxACT. You got this. When you think about doing your taxes, what picture immediately forms in your head? Is it one of sitting in front of the computer answering questions displayed on the screen by tax preparation software? Or maybe one of an appointment with an accountant? I’ve noticed something […] Read more »

Find Your Financial Forever Pace

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The fact that the weather app on my phone said the outside temperature was in the mid thirties was reinforced by the water dripping from the roof of my house. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and I was stretching out for my first long run outside in months. Nine miles to be exact. The first few miles are always the hardest. Even though I thoroughly stretch out before I start, it always seems to take a few miles before everything gets loosened up. During my run on Saturday it took about 4 miles, at which point something […] Read more »

Save Money Effortlessly through Digit. Really? Yes REALLY.

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It’s time for me to come clean, and be completely honest with you; I have trouble saving. Almost exactly a year ago, my wife and I made our final payment to our debt management program paying off $109,000 of credit card debt. With that final payment we freed up $2489 in our monthly budget. Having that extra breathing room we immediately did some things to better our overall financial picture such as consolidate some other debts and refinance our mortgage. But even after those changes were complete we still had a sizable amount of extra funds in our monthly budget. […] Read more »