Articles by Kelly Whalen (Staff Writer)

iPhones are often criticized as expensive and ostentatious. Why buy a smart phone when you can make calls from a $10 pay as you go phone? It may seem like a waste of money, but used properly an iPhone can be a powerful tool in your personal finance arsenal. Here is just a small sampling of [...]

PocketSmith is an online personal finance management tool with some unique features. It features a calendar that allows you to add events, multiple calendars, and forecasts how much cash you will have over the next year. Like other personal finance or budgeting sites, you upload transactions to the site from various accounts and are able [...]

Thanksgiving is only a few days away, and for some of us, financial concerns are more prominent this year than any other years in the past. However, that’s not what Thanksgiving is all about. Regardless of your financial means, you could have a wonderful and inexpensive Thanksgiving. In this article, I am going to cover [...]

It’s Open Enrollment time at most employers, the time when you get to choose your benefits coverage for next year. You will review your chosen options, and make changes to them as needed. It’s important to be familiar with last year’s benefits. You may get a summary, but can use your paystub to see what [...]

Saving more money is a goal most of us share, but many Americans find that they have very little saved at the end of the month. The recent recession saw Americans saving more than we have in years, up to nearly 7% at one point. In recent months though, that number has been falling back [...]

If you’re already a homeowner, or plan to be you may at some point consider improving your home. Most homeowners have a mile long list of small improvements like painting rooms, fixing squeaky doors, or replacing worn-out flooring. The big projects, like remodeling the kitchen, and adding another room are the ones we dream about. [...]