Money Management

20 Fantastic Summer Staycation Ideas

Summer is here. The sun is out. The kids are out of school, and you’ve got plenty of vacation time saved up at work. One thing you don’t have? Money. Or, more specifically, the kind of extra money you need to take a traditional family summer vacation – and you have no interest in using your credit cards to finance a trip you can’t afford. The good news? You...

When Savings Cost More- Seven Money Saving Tips That Can Backfire

Seems like everyone has an opinion about money – how you should spend it, how you should invest it, and how you should save it. But as someone who has made a career out of helping folks pay off debt and get their finances back on track, I can tell you that not all financial advice is created equally. In fact, a lot of commonly repeated money advice may...

Learn 5 Ways To Live Frugal from The Great Depression

Perhaps you have an older family member – a grandparent or a great-grandparent, maybe – who can remember life during the Great Depression. If so, you’ve no doubt heard stories about how tough things were back then: People struggled to find work. Finances were tight. Budgets were tighter. You didn’t spend money unless you absolutely had to – and when you did, you paid cash. If you’re looking for...

Six Financial Missteps You’ll Regret

If you’re like most people, you probably have a regret or two. It’s only natural to look back and think, “If only I’d done XX instead of YY,” or “I wish I’d known about YY before I decided ZZ.” Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. And everyone makes mistakes. But some mistakes are costlier than others – literally. For example, the financial decisions you make today can affect your...

Debt Reduction Mistakes to Avoid

Do a quick Google search of something like “pay down debt” or “debt advice” or “credit card payoff” and one thing becomes very clear: Just about everyone has an opinion about the best way to pay down debt. Some folks are huge proponents of the snowball method; others are staunch believers in tackling the debt with the highest interest rate first – no matter what. Most debt repayment methods...

The Best Apps and Websites for Budgeting and Saving

It’s easy to spend money online – too easy, really. It’s near-impossible to surf the web without being bombarded by advertisements and sales emails targeted to your exact preferences and interests. With a few clicks, you can find yourself spending money you don’t have on things you don’t really need. But that’s only part of the story. When it comes to your finances, there’s more to the Internet than...

A Quick Guide to Dealing With Debt Collectors

Debt is stressful, but falling behind on loan or credit card payments can open the doors to an entirely new level of stress – and a near-endless stream of calls from debt collectors. You’ve probably heard a story or two about debt collectors using scare tactics and less-than-legal tactics to contact people and collect past due debts. And, unfortunately, these tactics often work because folks are scared and unsure...

Friending and Spending Social Media and Money

There’s more to social sharing sites than witty status updates, silly memes, and cat photos. Social media can influence our behavior in all kinds of ways, including our spending habits. This makes sense, if you think about it: There’s the friend whose Instagram feed is an endless stream of perfectly filtered shots of gourmet meals. And the cousin whose Facebook feed seems to be completely composed of pricy home...

Purchases you should NEVER Make with Your Credit Card

I’ve written several blogs about how to use credit cards the right way – paying off your balance in full; not applying for too many accounts; not treating credit cards like an emergency fund or a source of supplementary income. But credit card use isn’t just about behavior and spending habits. It’s also about knowing what you should and (perhaps more importantly) shouldn’t buy with a credit card. Part...

Curb Impulse Buying to Stop Overspending

If you want to save more money, pay down debt, and become all-around more financially responsible, all you have to do is stop spending money on stuff you don’t need. Sure, that sounds easy. Just stop spending. End of story. But if changing your spending behavior were as simple as flipping a switch, there wouldn’t be people out there struggling with budget problems and credit card debt. Nobody would...