This year we started our daughter on an allowance. It’s probably a generous-ish allowance for a five-year-old: $2.50 per week. For “spending money” this actually amounts to $1.50 per week because we have her tithe 10% and save 30%. I’ve gotten into giving this to her each week for the past couple of months. When … Read more
I mentioned in passing a couple of weeks back that a house across the street from us burned to the ground. I also mentioned that our family was very lazy up until that point in that we didn’t have any escape plan whatsoever. Nothing like a near miss to bring about a sense of urgency! … Read more
(This guest post was provided by RP, a community writer for Debt Consolidation Care. She has written various articles on debt consolidation, debt reduction and debt settlement.) Debt settlement is a process in which you and your creditor agree to reduce the overall debt in exchange of a lump sum amount of money. This lump … Read more
The son of one of my high school classmates lost a tooth. He’s similar in age to my daughter. Here’s the brief exchange from my classmate and her son: My classmate: “[Son], what do you think the tooth fairy will bring?” Her son: “Maybe she can bring me a credit card!” Out of the mouths … Read more
I was able to hit the ends of a couple of yard sales today. As with the last time this happened, I got some good deals. I was able to work everything down because people were starting to pack up and didn’t want to load the stuff back into their cars. I found some extra … Read more
The staff at my dentist’s office gave me something to think about yesterday. They told me that they would be leaving the preferred provider network for the dental insurance company I’m currently using. Staying in the preferred provider network was costing them too much money, so they’re pulling out as of December 1st. This was … Read more
I received a whole bunch of books, compliments of Jim Randel and friends, from The Skinny On series. I’ve read a few of them, not because I’m a particularly fast reader but because they’re super-quick reads. Truth in advertising: it even says so on the spines. The ones I’ve read so far are The Skinny … Read more
This guest post is brought to you courtesy of Leon Harris. He writes for Financialized, an investing and finance blog that offers an unbiased perspective on personal finance topics. Everyone knows that a 401K is set up almost exclusively as a retirement plan, and as such, it comes with some pretty hefty penalties for early … Read more