money habits

I recently read an article in The New York Times (hat tip for bringing it to my attention: MAPping Company Success) about the increasing trend of using real money to pay for virtual goods. The article also addresses the rise of credit, via a company called Kwedit.com, to pay for virtual purchases online. This article [...]

Over Christmas, my husband’s parents came to stay with us for two weeks. We have an extra bedroom, but no bed for it. While the air mattress is fine for a couple of nights, we didn’t want my in-laws to have to sleep on it for two weeks. We’re not quite ready to buy another [...]

January!  Time to once again set lofty goals. While glancing through a fitness book (Fit and Well: Core Concepts and Labs in Physical Fitness and Wellness) I noticed a subtitle — Reaching Wellness through lifestyle management.  The section “introduces the general process of behavior change and highlights the decisions and challenges you’ll face at each [...]

During college, I stayed close to campus every summer in order to work. Plus, I liked living on my own. The second summer I stayed, I got a job as a waitress and rented a room in a house to get me by until the new school year, when I would have a free room [...]

Just like a runner must run, I believe those who are financially fit must budget. Your budget might look different than another person’s budget.  Someone might have a complex computer system and another might use a simple pen and paper system.  But, to thrive financially you must have a sense of what you want to [...]

The best way to save on shopping is to get it under control: start counting money and planning your purchases. This is hard and (as many will say) makes shopping less fun but with the tools I am sharing today your holiday shopping experience can still be enjoyable .
1. Plan your shopping with online productivity [...]

The holiday season is here and Christmas is rapidly approaching. For many people, the holidays mean a great deal of gift buying and giving, travel to and from family, and social occasions with co-workers and friends. All of those activities cost money and many people find themselves in serious debt every January. How can you [...]

There is a tug of war going on over your money right now.  When you sit down and think about it, you know that you should save your money, pay off your debt and provide for your future.  Unfortunately there are other forces coming after your money.  Not only do you have to deal with [...]

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 [...]

Many of us were not taught the importance of personal money management when we were young. We did not learn to save, invest, allocate, or how to make our money work for us. Many of us are in debt, have no idea how we got here and do not know how to start digging ourselves [...]