FInancial Lessons I Learned from Selling a Car

Want me to tell you what I recently learned from selling a car? Actually it was two vehicles, In the past two weeks. One was an SUV and the other a pick up truck. It was an interesting experience. Our normal modus operandi is to purchase a car and then maintain it until it basically turns into dust, so selling cars is pretty new to both my husband and myself. So why did we do it and what did I learn in the process? Be Prepared to Seize an Opportunity There is something called an opportunity cost that can work … Continue reading →

Are You Uncomfortable Being Frugal?

Whenever a lot of money is being spent, I tend to be uncomfortable, even if I am not the one doing the spending. Just hearing about lavish consumption kind of creeps me out. I keep wondering about the mortgage on the friend of a friend’s McMansion or how I could apply the cost of someone’s lavish vacation to building up our retirement fund. I don’t know how to react when friends give their toddlers spa days or I am invited to jewelry parties, or when the suggested contribution to the teacher’s or pastor’s gift is three figures (nothing against our … Continue reading →

Make Money Selling Baby Clothes

Many people do a thriving business and make money selling baby clothes. There is a high demand for quality baby clothes out there, and people are willing to pay good money for second hand items. By selling baby clothing, you may be able to make some extra money to contribute to your household, pay down debt or save toward something you really want. When I say make money selling baby clothes, I really mean baby and children’s clothing, although anything 12 months to 3T tends to be the most in demand. Most people are looking for brand name clothing that … Continue reading →

Financial Advice I Wish I Could Tell the Earlier Me

Once you get to a certain age, you are supposed to be wiser, right? While I’m not ready for the retirement home yet (I don’t think they would let me bring my three school-age kids), the fact is that I no longer have as many years ahead of me as I once did. I do have a little more wisdom than I did then, especially when it comes to financial strategy. It is too bad that we can’t go back in time, isn’t it and give my younger self some financial advice? If I could go back in time, I … Continue reading →

Making Money When You Are Already Too Busy

These days, many of us need to find ways to make some extra money. Figuring out how to fit that in when we already have families and jobs (in the home or outside of it) to fulfill can be tough. How do we find the time to make money when we are already so busy? Combining Jobs When I got a call last week asking if I would babysit for our church’s Women’s Bible Study that takes place one morning a week I readily agreed. While the money isn’t much, it allowed me to take my youngest child with me, … Continue reading →

Get the Maximum Benefit from Your Donations

Donating household items to a charity is doubly good. On the one hand, your donations benefits others, those that get help from the charities and those who are able to buy the things they need and want for a low price. On the other hand, you can get a tax benefit for anything that you donate, saving you money in the process of blessing others. In order to get the maximum benefit from your donations, there are a few things that you need to know. Get a Receipt Every Time In order to claim your deductions for charitable contributions, you … Continue reading →

Why Overdraft Protection is a Bad Idea

If you accidentally write a check when there is not enough money in your account to cover it, overdraft protection can kick in to cover the amount and basically save you from a bounced check. But overdraft protection can be a bad idea, especially when you are being charged a bundle for the service. Of course, you never want to bounce a check, but it makes more sense to skip the bank provided overdraft protection, and instead build in your own system of protection. Why? Well, the fees for overdraft protection are quite steep. Usually, your overdraft is covered by … Continue reading →

Less is More: How Not to Feel Deprived

Buying less not only means saving money, but it can also be freeing in other ways. For ten years of my life I gave up coffee. This was mostly because of two factors. My new (then) husband could not stand the smell of coffee brewing, and during those ten years, I was either pregnant or nursing or both, and choose to stay away from the caffeine. I didn’t actually miss coffee much after a little bit, and I could knock that expense out of our budget. I no longer felt I needed coffee, had desires for coffee or felt deprived … Continue reading →

Tax Write Offs and Charitable Donations

Right around this time of year, I start adding up all of our charitable deductions. Donations to Goodwill and other non-profit thrift stores are a big part of that. One year, when we did a major clean out, we totaled almost $5,000 in charitable donations of clothing and household goods! If you haven’t been taking write-offs for your charitable donations, make sure that you get started this year. You really can save quite a bit on your taxes, as long as you remember a few tips. What Are Your Charitable Donations Worth? When you donate goods to a charity, you … Continue reading →