February 2011

We Need to Wake Up Every Morning Like My Son

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How my son’s regular morning schedule taught me an important lesson about consistency.

Why I Would Be Stupid Enough to Buy a Smart Car

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Every time we pass by a Smart Car on the road and I act the least bit interested, I get at least one “you’re dumb” look and the inevitable drawn-out “Why??” Here is why.

Weigh In: Have Expensive Gifts Become Bad Form?

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I’ve noticed a curious trend in the last few years when it comes to expensive gifts–people are offended or saddened when they get them. Weigh in on the reasons!

Top 10 Tips for Saving Money on a New Baby

Now that my son is nearly 14 months, I take a look back at everything we’ve learned in the first year and share my Top 10 frugality tips for raising a baby.

2011 Tax-Time Tips: 3rd Edition

Tax time is always a fun time in our house–mostly because I try to get them done as fast as possible. Here are a few of my tips for 2010.

Can We Boil Down Personal Finance to Simple Ratios?

That’s the premise of a new book by Charles Farrell, “Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security at Every Stage of Life.” The book lives up to its title—people at any stage of life can pick this up and figure out exactly how they relate to where they should be, according to Farrell. [...]

Keeping Your Credit Cards Still Makes Sense

Lending Tree recently asked me to write a short piece about why it’s not time to throw away your credit cards yet. Here are a few of the points I made.

Big Banks vs. Community Banks and Credit Unions

Community banks and credit unions are a unique “middle ground” between mega-banks (think Citibank, Chase, Wachovia) and online banks (like ING and Ally). They have some of the unique pros of both.

There’s Good, Awesome…Then There’s Love Drop

Love Drop, a project by J. Money (Budgets are Sexy) and Nate St. Pierre (ItStartsWithUs) recently completed their first drop. Please consider supporting them in any way you can!

Online vs. Brick-and-Mortar Banks

Online banks are the hot new thing, and with good reason–they offer killer service and awesome interest rates. Here are the pros and cons of switching to an online bank.

Toddler Expense Report: Month 13

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Updating you on the latest expenses with our baby, who just recently became a toddler. There’s not much new this month, but I have an important question for my readers!