With today’s economy, it may seem tempting to stop contributing to your 401k, especially if you need extra cash in each paycheck.  Don’t do it!!  Although it may be nice to have a few extra dollars in each check, you should continue to think about the future.  When you retire, beyond Social Security, you will [...]

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Everyone who is familiar with budgeting knows that there are always certain important categories to list.  For instance; income, mortgage, utilities, auto loan payments, credit card payment, and insurance payments.  Along with those well known categories there are also some very important, yet commonly forgotten, items that should also be added into the budget.
One of [...]

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With such a depressing economy it may seem as if there is no good news, but there is.  Especially if you are in need of a few large ticket items.  The economy over the past two years has been difficult, to say the least, for many retailers, but that means good news for the consumer.  [...]

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One of the biggest challenges when creating a budget is sometimes the income column.  This is especially true when the income amount varies from week to week.  Most of the time this happens when someone is not a salaried employee and works a different number of hours each week, so how do you figure this [...]

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Now that Christmas time is over, it is time to start thinking about the next big expense of the year.  For many people that would be Summer vacation.  Weather you plan on taking a week long adventure or just a weekend trip, it is a good idea to start planning and saving for it now.  [...]

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Christmas time is full of traditions for many families.  Sometimes those traditions can add up to a quite a bit of money that comes out of already stretched budgets, however it is possible to have a memorable Christmas on a budget.  The traditions that you start with your family do not have to be expensive [...]

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There is a great debate, “always carry cash” or “never carry cash”.  For some of us carrying cash requires extreme discipline because if it is in our pocket it is “burning a hole in our pocket” and we can’t help but spend it, but for others, carrying cash gives them more discipline with their money [...]

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One of the reasons so many of us get behind on our bills, get charged late fees and wonder where our money goes is because we let our money control us rather than the other way around.  We aren’t “smart” about our money practices and we let our life get in the way and ruin [...]

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If you are having trouble with your money and wondering every month where it is going, why not take a few weeks to “track your expenses”.  Purchase a small notebook and put it in your purse or carry it in your car and track your expenses.  This means you will need to write down every [...]

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Sometimes when you’re writing out a household budget for the first time it can be a bit overwhelming.  Sure, you know you pay bills every month, buy groceries and likely have a few miscellaneous expenses, but when you sit down to actually create a “working budget” you wonder, “Where does all the money go?” It [...]

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