Turn the Tables on Your Debt to Savings Ratio

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Recent years have been tough on everyone; unemployment, the mortgage debacle, and rising costs on everything from food to gas have caused many of us to re-evaluate our budgets and learn to cut back. One in four Americans has more debt than savings. A recent survey by Bankrate.com found that 25 percent of Americans have more credit card debt than they have in emergency savings. Yikes, that is definitely a scary statistic. But, you don’t have to let it happen to you! While credit card debt may take some time to get out of there are lots of things you […] Read more »

The Danger of Listening to the Crowd

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Thanks to Brad for finding this article in the Palm Beach Post, “Why are Americans avoiding stocks? Ask a Shrink”. Since the market drop in 1987, people have been focused on the market bottom instead of the top. In general, news focuses on the negative and the financial news of the past decade has lived down to expectations. But the reality of both short and long term market performance shows a different picture. Since the fall of 2007 and 2008, the major market indices are up and dramatically. The two year returns for domestic large, mid, and small cap stocks, […] Read more »

Battle of the Sexes, Over Debt?

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In today’s world women are no longer “just staying home” to raise their children. I say “just staying home” as anyone that is a stay at home parent knows that raising children is one of the most difficult jobs you will ever have. Many women are both working full-time and raising their children out of necessity for their family. Whether you are married with kids, divorced with kids or widowed with kids it’s a tough dual role to play, for either parent. As a divorced single mom I know the challenges of going it alone and the debt that goes […] Read more »

Your Car, Your Wealth

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I’ve always preferred to buy low mileage cars that are 2-5 years old because they often sell for less than 50-60% of their original sales price. I’ve financed a few of them and had car payments ranging from $151 to $275 per month. My Toyota Avalon passed 232,000 miles last month and began to have the minor problems that eventually lead to major repairs. Luckily, it sold quickly and I found a low mileage ten year old car at an affordable price. Before finding that car, I stopped at a few dealerships to see what they had to offer. Wow, […] Read more »

Hidden Expenses That Impact Retirement

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Anthem Healthcare sent me an advertisement for their health insurance and priced it on a daily basis. “Now just $1.58 per day!” Naturally, that rate didn’t apply to me but to a hypothetical 35 year old “healthy” male. Surely their comprehensive database could have sent the quote for me as a 50 year old. In any case, you don’t pay insurance daily. That $1.58 day rate is paid at $47.40 per month or almost $600 per year, which for health insurance is pretty inexpensive. I called and my daily rate would be $5.04 per day or $151 per month or […] Read more »

Kids and Money – Credit Cards for 2 Year Olds?

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Do you want your 2 year old “learning” to swipe a credit card? This Christmas Noah (our 2 year old) was given a Shop and Learn Cash Register. At first I was excited. The nerd in me eagerly opened it up and secretly drooled over the idea that Noah was going to start learning about money. It had buttons, sounds, lights, a working coin drawer, a scanner and groceries to ring up. Perfect fun right? Then I noticed it also came with a credit card. I’d rather it not have a card at all — debit or credit — but […] Read more »

Just Say No to Inflatable Santa’s

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“Mommy please can we get one of those inflatable Santa’s?” This is the plea I have heard from my eight year old son since we began to decorate (with our already purchased) holiday decorations the day after Thanksgiving. My answer remains constant, “Not right now buddy, we don’t need an inflatable Santa.”  Unfortunately millions of Americans apparently do feel they need inflatable Santa’s, two Christmas trees, and thousands of twinkle lights to adorn their homes so they can feel the magic of the holidays.  According to a Bloomberg report, “This year U.S. consumers will spend $6 billion on decorations, the […] Read more »

Santa Is a Waste Of Money

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In a scene common to many American households during the holiday season, my kids sat at the kitchen table thumbing through a stack of Christmas toy magazines creating their Christmas wish lists. I smiled as I watched them, remembering doing the exact same thing when I was a kid.  I actually folded mine up, put it in an envelope and gave it to my parents to mail to Santa. Feeling their excitement as I walked towards the table, I overheard, “Oooh, I’ve never seen that before, that is SO cool! That’s definitely going on my list!” Suddenly having them go […] Read more »

The Most Important Money Advice You Will Ever Receive

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You do not need to buy a bunch of books from Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman or David Bach to get this kind of advice. You don’t have to go to week long seminars to learn this powerful tool either. You don’t even have to leave your home. Look no further than this blog post and you will get the most valuable money advice you could ever need. The power of this strategy is amazing! It will teach your children a valuable lesson. It will save you thousands of dollars. It will help your marriage. It will even allow you to […] Read more »

Imagination is Free

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I’m going to ask you to do something you may not have ever been asked to do before. Close your eyes, and think of a recent experience in your life that was extremely stressful. Go to your “nervous, anxious, so angry I want to punch a wall” place. What do you feel like doing?  What would deflate the negative energy you’re feeling? Going out to eat so you don’t have to add the stress of cooking to the pile? Going shopping and buying anything you darn well please so you regain the feeling of control? Having your significant other notice […] Read more »

I Hear the Secrets that you Keep…

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I do, I hear them; the denial, self talk, and the inevitable, “What am I going to do?” They are secrets you keep from everyone; your family, your friends, and even your significant other. You’re in debt. It doesn’t matter how it happened, what matters now is that you do something about it.  That’s where I come in. I am a certified credit counselor for CareOne Debt Relief Services and everyday I talk to people about their debt. Sometimes I am the first person they have admitted this to and they are scared, apprehensive, and skeptical. I would be too; […] Read more »

Sorry, School Fundraiser – You’re Not In My Budget!

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The inevitable packet came home from school with my daughter last week.  That same night, the doorbell started ringing signalling the beginning of the school fundraising season. Whether you have school aged children, or you’ve experienced that knock at the door, you know what I mean. Kids trying to sell you products that you cannot possibly live without at an inflated price all in the name of helping their school. The motivation given to the students is a ladder of prizes – the more you sell, the better the prize. Of course every student begins the fundraiser with hopes of […] Read more »

Investing — The Whole Return

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Losing money can really make you angry, but, eventually, you can make up the losses. But when time is lost, you will never get it back. The factor of time in investment return calculations is limited to the time period of the investment, e.g. One Year, Year To Date, Trailing Three Years, Calendar Year, etc. Return calculations are objective and purely mathematical. The value of your time is left out of the calculation of investment return. What about the time you spend as an investor? What is it worth? Isnʼt that part of your whole return and shouldnʼt you include […] Read more »

Take a Step Back…Put your Financial Behavior in Check

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Debt is sometimes inevitable, unavoidable, and well a fact of life for many. No matter what your stage of life you may be faced with financial issues. Life can take its toll on your finances; unemployment, an unexpected illness, divorce or a death in the family can send you into a financial tailspin. But sometimes financial issues stem from a cause deeper than the unexpected; the way you think about money. To snap out of bad financial habits it may require some lifestyle and behavioral changes. 10 Financial Principles Dr. Bernard Poduska, author of For Love or Money writes about […] Read more »