Tag Archives: dining

Does my age shape my spending?

How do your money priorities change as you get older? As a teenager we want to buy a car, get out on our own, maybe pay for college. Later in life we want to buy a home, and pay off college debts. How should we change our budgets as our needs change? Obviously as a young person, you’ll spend more on home ownership, raising a family, and ‘toys’. As you get older, you will be more concerned with college expenses for your children, your aged parents, and your own retirement. We still want to buy toys, (bikes, skis, snowshoes and … Continue reading →

Are You Planning on Winning the Lottery?

Do you keep telling yourself that someday that your finances are just going to sometime magically fix themselves? Do you tell yourself when you get the next raise or promotion that you will finally be able to make ends meet? Are you looking forward to receiving that inheritance, because you can use it to pay off your debt and begin to save for your retirement? Do you dream of the day when you win the lottery and all your concerns will be taken care of? The reality of the situation is that until you change the way you manage money, … Continue reading →

Finding and Plugging the Leaks in Your Budget

Do you have a leak in your budget? You have sat down and assigned amounts to each category. You are doing great and should have a couple of hundred dollars left over every month. But when you come to the end of the month, the money that should have gone into savings is gone and you may owe money on your credit card. If this is happening, your budget has sprung a leak! So what can you do to find the leak and fix it? First you need to find the leak. It is important to track your spending through … Continue reading →

The New Year and a New Budget…. Coming …..

It’s a New Year and time to think about my budget for the year ahead. Maybe you have already planned expenses for the upcoming year, but I am just starting to get the numbers down on paper. As I have casually mentioned in just a few blog posts, Hubby and I, well, – we’ve got some debt. In a spending spree extraordinare last year, we remodeled our kitchen, installed a gourmet coffee machine, spent our savings on our fridge and still managed to travel a bit. Then Christmas came, we hosted for a family of seven and I knew our … Continue reading →

Budget Strategies: The Zero Dollar Budget

You may have heard of a zero dollar budget, but are not sure what that means. A zero dollar budget means that you spend every dollar on paper before the month begins. This way you have assigned an amount to each of your expenses. Once you have reached the limit you stop spending in that category. This budget works well with the envelope system. It is important to realize that you can adjust the amounts that you spend during the month. For example if your entire family ends up with strep throat you may overspend in the medical category. You … Continue reading →

Does More Money Mean a Better Education?

Since Congress is changing hands from the GOP to the Dems in January of 2007, the NEA has its sights on what it sees as potential for change. NCLB* and the ESEA** are up for tweaking and renewal. The NEA also has a whole slew of other proposals that they want to see pushed through, such as giving educators additional tax breaks for the money they spend on their classrooms, initiatives to decrease the drop out rate, increase the graduation rate, increase funding for Title 1 programs, and improvement for their teacher’s salary packages (benefits, pensions etc.) What I read, … Continue reading →

Spending Can be Frugal!

What? What did that title say? How can spending money be frugal? No, this is not a weak attempt at rationalization. My husband proudly tells everyone that I can pinch pennies out of rocks. And while I hate spending our hard earned money, even I know that there are certain times when exercising the cash or the credit card can save you big bucks in the long run. Here is how. Spending money on better quality goods. I’m guilty of trying to get the cheapest item for the money, but that isn’t always the smartest thing to do. Sure those … Continue reading →

Are You Living Paycheck to Paycheck?

Are you living paycheck to paycheck? If you lost your job tomorrow would you be okay? How long could you last without a paycheck? While many of us hope to never be put in this situation, it is important to realize that it could happen to anyone. When I was first married, my husband was laid off for about six months, because the building he worked in burned down. He had just started the job, and so he did not qualify for unemployment. He did find another temporary job with a major cut in pay, but it took him over … Continue reading →

The Little Things Do Affect Your Budget

The little things add up. If you are looking for extra money in your budget, or if you are wondering where all of your extra money goes after you pay your bills, it is time to take a look at the little items that you and your family purchase on a regular basis. This may be something that you do not even consider large enough to budget for, or take the time to factor in the long-term effects of these little expenses. You may justify that you can spend the extra dollar or two for candy bar or snack when … Continue reading →