Budget Busters: Forgotten Automatic Payments
Technology has made sticking to a budget easier through the use of auto-payments. With auto-payments, it’s possible to arrange to have the money you owe for bills and subscriptions deducted directly from your bank account on a specific date each month. This can help you avoid penalties and interest associated with late payments, and make [...]
How Should You Pay Your Children?
It’s important to teach your children how to budget wisely while they are still young, but how can you teach them to save money if they don’t have any? Allowance is one way that you can provide your children with money of their own to manage while you help them to learn by doing. Setting [...]
Tips for Giving Wedding Gifts on a Limited Budget
This post was written by guest blogger Eve Becker. While newlyweds take their first wedding dance, a delicate budgeting dance can be going on in the guests’ heads—especially if they had to pay for travel expenses along with numerous engagement, bridal shower and wedding gifts. As stressful as it can be, it’s possible to keep [...]
Preparing Your Children for Financial Independence
As parents, we want our children to be successful and happy in life, but teaching them financial independence often gets put on the back burner. Many parents wait until their children are graduating from high school or leaving for college to begin talking about money management. Here are three tips to help your children forge [...]
The ABCs of Budgeting for School Fundraisers
First, there’s the school wrapping paper sale. Then Girl Scout cookie sales. Then the big spring gala. They are all worthy causes, of course, but how do you budget for seemingly constant school fundraisers, especially if you have multiple kids in different schools? As shrinking state and federal budgets take their toll on schools, parents [...]
What To Do With Cash: Pay Off Debt Or Invest?
Sometimes we find ourselves with a little extra cash through a tax refund, a bonus at work, or some other unexpected windfall. What are you going to do with all of that money burning a hole in your pocket? Treating yourself is sometimes nice, but there are often smarter ideas for money management. Those who [...]