Married money matters melee

My wife pulled out this article from this month’s Reader’s Digest (eBay) called “Married, With Money.” The article is in the Money Talks column and is authored by Maria Bartiromo. I’ve heard this a gazillion times, but the number one thing that married couples butt heads with is money. We used to fight more about … Read more

Freedom!! Freedom!!

Mary Rowland’s article on MSN.com called “10 Steps to Debt Freedom” has some solid advice and concrete actions for killing the debt dragons that may be smoking up your personal finances. The ones that are especially good: Figure out how much you owe. Where are you now? It’s hard to know where you’re going if … Read more

Max out your 401(k) or not?

401(k)s are employer retirement programs that allow money to be invested pre-tax, and allow interest to accrue tax-free until withdrawal. There are federal, and sometimes company, limits on how much can be contributed in one year. Companies also may match some of the contributed dollars, but usually not all. Which brings me to my question: … Read more

Frugal photo Christmas cards

We’ve gotten photo cards from several people for Christmas. We (actually, my wife!) made our own this year at a cost of under 50 60 cents apiece, including postage! She took a picture of our daughter (which wasn’t a chore for either of them — my daughter loves the camera). She draped a dark piece … Read more