Click the image to enlarge

Let’s face it, school starts in a few days, the summer is coming to a close and you need to get back into a routine for the fall and winter months. Why not make it easier by getting started on your menu planning now? Here are some tips to get you started with some recipes from a previous post on saving money by utilizing your kitchen pantry staples.

1. Start with the current year spreadsheet, just make sure that it has tabs for each month for easy navigation.
2. Decide how often you want to cook dinner during the week. Personally, I don’t cook everyday, even though I like cooking, I just don’t have the time as I’d like to at this point. So I cook every other day, leave leftovers so that we can have something for the in between days. IF you choose to cook everyday, great, if not that’s fine too.
3. Enter your meals in each day/cell of the spreadsheet based on your time schedule and level of difficulty. During the week I like to add meals that will take no more than 1 hour to completion because I truly hate slaving over a pot.
4. Research meals that take no more than 30 minutes from start to completion, these will be a life saver when you have those unexpected derailments and just need to whip something up quick and easy.
5. In the notes section, add your WEEKLY shopping list of the things you need to purchase. You can start by adding Week 1…Week 2…and what have you…this way you know exactly what you need to buy at the start of each week. You can also find print shopping list templates here.
6. Extra: Add recipes to your spreadsheet like this: Right click on your day/cell, click on insert comment, a text box should pop up, then copy and paste your recipe or make adjustments as needed. Hit enter and your done. Hover your mouse over the cell and VOILA you now have your recipes within the cell for easy reference
7. Email your spreadsheet to yourself or print it out to put in a folder for safe keeping. I like to email mine since that works best for me.

Now for the good stuff:

Click the easy button, pass go and collect ready made recipes!

I found a neat site where users can find recipes by entering an ingredient or keyword. This can be the main ingredient in your recipe or if you have a few items in your pantry and not sure what to do with them. The results give you the recipe and the fat calories, carbs and protein count for each serving. You may need one or two extra ingredients but overall the recipes are pretty basic.

Here are two of the recipes I came across:

Baked Garlic Lemon Chicken

Homemade Beef Stew

Check out a search I performed here for of all things “basil” and “tuna”, I got some pretty tasty results:

(Click to enlarge)

Why menu planning?

• Saves time and money
• You put more thought into creating healthy meals and not last minute fast food options
• You can buy in bulk knowing what you’ll be having for dinner two weeks from now
• Discover new recipes that are healthier and faster to prepare

Here’s the previous post where we shared the basic kitchen staples. Now it’s your turn, share your favorite recipe that you can whip up within 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

photo credit: Harshadewa

Choosing the right long term partner takes time, patience and a sincere interest in making sure you’ve chosen the right person.  After all you’ll be sharing your lives together quite possibly for the rest of your life.  So it makes sense that your choice in life partners can impact your finances.  But fear not, chances are, if you’re reading this blog, at least one of you has a sincere interest in improving your finances.

Saving and Investing

Consider your potential partner’s approach to saving money and investing for the long haul.  Do they pay themselves first or do they spend money and then consider whatever is left over for savings?  If they save at all?  Do they have a firm understanding of the stock market and not simply following the herd when it comes to making wise investments?

Do they read the Barrons publication and/or subscribe to Motley Fool updates and articles?

Your partner’s habits in this area could possibly make or break your relationship and eventual nuptials.  Be sure to consider their spending habits, how much they save and if they plan to invest their money wisely.

Children

How many do you want?  Will you utilize a daycare, nanny or stay at home?  Discuss these options as they are sure to come up once children become part of the equation.  Many couples go through tough times because one partner wants to stay home and the other becomes resentful due to bearing the sole financial burden of the household.

Household Finances

What’s their approach?  Will they want to pay each bill as it arrives or will they schedule all household bills via your bank’s bill pay system?  Believe it or not these nuances in personal finance approaches can cause unexpected rifts and it is important that you discuss these issues early on with your potential mate.

When merging your lives together for the first time, it can be difficult due to working in a routine that’s worked for such a long time.  But take a step back, try to understand what will work for your relationship and not focus on who’s in control of the money.  In this manner you learn to compromise, and if nothing else, one of the more important lessons you’ll learn in marriage.

Opposing Financial Goals

Does your partner want to use savings for a business they haven’t quite researched or do you want to pay down debt?  I don’t need to tell you that this can be disastrous when not approached in a sensible manner.  It is best to sit your mate down and be upfront: ask the questions that are on your mind.  If they are uncomfortable, work with them on it until you get the answers you need. I asked my then boyfriend about his credit early on in our relationship, I wanted no part of a man that was irresponsiblele with money with no plans to improve or change his financial situation.

Teaching someone how to budget is one thing, but marrying someone who has no intentions of remaining debt free building wealth is a financial disaster waiting to happen.

Personal Finances Interest and Involvement

Are you marrying someone who has no clue or interest in how their money is possibly working for or against them?  When did they last check their bank statement?  Credit card statement?  Are you marrying someone who knows what bills come out on each day of the month or are you marrying someone who consistently overdrafts their checking account and sees no problem with living hand to mouth?

Make wise decisions in this area.  Money is the number one reason that couples divorce, please avoid being a statistic.

Does your partner take an active role in your personal finances?  What’s one area you believe he or she could improve upon with regards to your personal finances?

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

Where else can you find an open bar, free goodies, good food and company?  At the Brazen Careerist DC Blogger meetup!  I was invited along with the other DC BC Bloggers for our first meetup where we shared good company and some good ole blogger networking.  This wasn’t my first time to a blogger event but this was probably the best one to date.

Some of you are probably wondering what is Brazen Careerist?  It’s the career HQ for all things related to generation X/Y.  I first came across the site after this post by Ryan Healy and it validated my feelings around the baby boomer vs generation x/y battle you see going on in the workplace today.  I was delighted to find that so many others my age felt the same way about their careers and actually wanted to see some change in how things are done within the realm of recruiting, retention, career development and adaptation to the generational differences.

After all, when baby boomer managers speak of our generation within a work setting, rarely have I found it positive.  So this is a community that celebrates the changes our generation steadily brings to the workplace and of course, advice on how we can adapt while blazing our own paths.

This meetup was right on time because rarely do we ever get to meet each other face to face outside of reading each other’s posts, emailing for blog advice and spending hours on Twitter talking about everything but our blogs.  Seriously, we had a good time.  And, I think what was beneficial to me was to be able to connect with other bloggers outside of my niche and still feel that we had so much in common.

Many thanks to Ryan Paugh, Ryan Healy and Penelope for putting together this awesome event for all of us.

We also received copies of Penelope’s new book, Brazen Careerist, The New Rules For Success.  Check it out!  Look out for my review in a few weeks!

Popular Posts

• Girls Gone Broke: Cyndi Lauper

This month’s group writing project is about Rich People Gone Broke! Being that Girls Just Wanna Have Funds is themed by the obvious, Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have FUN hit of the 80s, I thought her profile appropriate for this project.

This 80s icon had it all: money, fame and a hit song which topped the charts, but Cyndi Lauper was actually forced into bankruptcy early in her career.  Her early years included a stint with a band called Blue Angels with bandmate John Turi.  The band released an album which soon flopped but to make matters worse, their manager sued the group for $80,000.  This subsequently led to the disbanding of Blue Angels but would be the turning point of Lauper’s music career.

Post bankruptcy, Lauper would sing in local NY clubs while her manager worked on getting her a record deal.  And that he did!  Lauper signed with Portrait and then went on to record She’s So Unuusal which released the first single Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.  The album True Colors would then follow which hit the number one spot on the charts back in the 80s.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun embodied female self expression which became immensely popular amongst young girls at the time.  The album was a hit in the States and abroad in the UK.

Lessons From This Girl Gone Broke?

Bankruptcy doesn’t have to mean the end of the world.  Once Cyndi Lauper’s band broke up she went back to her passion, singing and making records.  This is what you do even when the odds are against  you, keep on trying until your goal.  Her perseverance landed her a record deal which resulted in a number one hit which no doubt rocketed her into 80’s icon status.

If you’re unfamiliar with Cyndu Lauper (shame on you!), check out the video here:

Do you know any Girls Gone Broke?  How did they turn things around?

Feel free to check out other posts by the PF Bloggers:

Popular Posts

• DC Bloggers Brazen Careerist Meetup Recap

If  you’re a woman with textured hair then you know that Dominican Salons are the best thing when it comes to healthy, straight and shiny hair while on a budget.  This picture says it all:

Need I say more?

While in NYC this weekend I realized how much I miss this aspect of the city.  Being able to walk up the street and get a wash and set for $20 and walk out with shiny, bouncy hair.

DC?  Different Story.  I’ve seen the same service for $75+, yes a relaxer with a deep conditioner at a Dominican Salon in DC can cost that much.

What’s the difference you ask?  Nothing.  NYC is home to all things related to Dominican hair care.  They perfected the art of the roller set and blow out.  They use their own products straight from the Dominican Republic in many cases and lines start to form outside on a Saturday morning starting around 7am.

It’s that serious.

I’m not sure what’s up with the salons here in DC but I’m over them starting yesterday.

On the upside I did find an Ethiopian Salon which is an Aveda Concept Salon which boasts the same, if not better results than a Dominican salon so I’m game.  I’ll stopping by there this week to take a looksee and see how their technique fairs against the new Aveda Concept salon.

Maybe I’ll share pictures.

Toodles.

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

The Whole Foods gods must have been listening this week as we adjusted our food budget to only include organic foods.  This means only shopping at Whole Foods and after reading this article, it cinched the decision as the following statement blew us away because my husband and I really try to live a healthy lifestyle:

The FDA estimates that 20 pounds of pesticides are used per person per year in the U.S., and at least 50 of these are classified as carcinogenic.

This was a decision that took some thought given the rising grocery costs but we want to be more responsible in the area of what we put into our bodies.

So what’s a girl on a budget to do?  Well the Whole Food gods made it easier by creating Value Tours!

From the NY Daily News:

Faced with rising food prices and a national recession, Whole Foods has launched free value tours, leading groups of bargain hunters through the aisles of natural, sustainable and organically made goods.

Other Whole Foods’ deals include their house line of 365 shampoos and conditioners (16 ounces for $1.99; 32 ounces for $3.79). There’s their Whole Catch line of frozen prepared foods ($3.99 for a 10 ounce box of fish sticks) or their fresh, 6-ounce individually portioned filets of fish for roughly the same size per pound as bigger cuts, nice for one or two people.

For all proteins — like chicken, beef, pork or fish — there’s a case of family-sized “value packs” that are at least a $1 per pound less. And for literally any dry good item in the store — meaning everything from diapers to spaghetti sauce to bottled water to energy bars — you can get a 5% discount if you buy it by the case.

Beyond these specific deals, however, the tours are also designed to highlight overall strategies for cutting costs on your bill.

They got the message! What this means for the budding Bargain Mama is that Whole Foods is finally recognizing that even those who live on a budget want to eat healthy.

Value Tours are conducted by Whole Foods employees who guide budget conscious consumers through the aisles showin them how to shop at Whole Foods.  Honestly?  I didn’t think that Whole Foods had sales because they are a bit on the expensive side.  I’ve never seen a sale circular so when we shop there, we know to take the hit and keep on moving.

But now, we know that there are sales cards as I like to call them stationed throughout the store in for consumers to pick up as they go along.  Now, they aren’t as in depth as what you’re used to at your neighborhood grocery store, but it suffices in addition to the yellow signs that indicate sale items throughout the store.

Why Whole Foods?  Because Shoppers, Giant and Safeway have all increased in prices significantly in my neck of the woods.  What used to be a $100 grocery run is now $165.  If we’re going to spend that much then we might as well go to Whole Foods and get our main items there.  Non food items we can still get at the grocery or Dollar store.

Before our trip to NYC this weekend I stopped by to pick up some sushi, salmon and my favorite, fruit parfait straight from their bakery.  I did have a talk with the Store Manager on duty and she agreed that it’s important for shoppers to be on the lookout for their favorite and routine items on sale.

Here are some more tips from the article on how to shop frugally at Whole Foods:

USE WEEKLY SALES FLYERS: Like most other markets, says Whole Foods’ value tour guide Allison Smith, the store puts out its new yellow weekly sales sheet on Wednesdays, marking each sales item in the store with a large yellow sale sign. So once you learn what tags are used for sales at markets, you can easily scan the store for deals.

SHOP SEASONALLY: “In produce,” says Smith, “the really big thing to look for is seasonally and locally.” When you buy local food some of the transportation costs have been cut out, she says, and when you buy what’s in season, there’s more of it, meaning the price goes down.

BUY STORE BRANDS: Many house brand items are just as good as brand names, and some stores even contract with the same people who make brand name products to create their versions. They’re often much cheaper than sales items or even post-coupon prices.

BUY IN BULK: If you can buy just the amount you need from bulk bins, says Smith, food won’t go to waste and you’ll save on packaging costs. Or if you can buy in larger quantities, you’ll save on cost per pound or unit, too.

CONSIDER COUPONS: Many times store brands are cheaper than items bought with a coupon, but you should still check out weekly newspaper circulars and mailings for brands you buy regularly.

Great news right?  Do you shop at Whole Foods?  If yes, is it for health reasons?  Do you have any bargain mama tips to share?

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

Our parents had children in their teens and early twenties, now women are having children in their early thirties to late forties.  Some might ask what are the pros and cons of such a decision.  Why are women choosing to have children later on in life?  Isn’t this considered selfish?  Is it better off for the child to have an older parent vs. someone younger and perhaps closer in age?

My reponse?  Do whatever works for you.  If you like it, I love it.  I’d love to hear your perspectives on this issue so read on.

As women we often get the “so when are you getting married?…..when are you guys buying a home?……baby on the way?……you do know we want grandchildren right?”…I don’t know about the rest of you, but we certainly get the last set of questions relating to children each and every time we go home to visit.

This weekend was no different.  We went to my husband’s fraternity annual BBQ and his uncle took us aside to ask if everything was ok because he doesn’t see anything baking in the oven.  Now, while I know he did this in jest, it still annoys me a bit.  Why?  Because I really do resent the notion that as soon as we are married we need to start having children.  There’s so much left for me to do with regards to my career and personal goals so I am not quite there yet.  I admit to being in full career woman mode right now.

When we do tell our family members that we are in the process of paying down debt (and our goal is to be consumer debt free by December 2008) they laugh and tell us how they had children within their first year, they struggled, but they are ok now.

That is exactly my point.  I don’t want to struggle.

I waited to go to college and get an education.

I waited to find the right partner to settle down with.

I waited to buy a home where they can play outside

I can certainly wait to have children when the time is right.

While I am a control freak,  I fully realize you can’t plan for parenting but I can do my best to make sure we are prepared financially.  Truly, I am not used to struggling financially, so I don’t want our children born into a situation where we are struggling to feed and take care of them.

We are fresh out of graduate school, still enjoying carefree evenings and spontaneous weekends.  And, we’re totally cool with that, not in a rush to give that up just yet.  Sure, if it happened we’d be delighted, but right now?  We have a plan, and we’re OK with that.

I find that women often wait to have children for the following reasons:

• Finances
• Waiting for the right partner
• Career concerns, wanting to achieve a certain level within their careers before settling down to have children
• Fertility issues

The list could go on Im sure, but after talking to a few of my friends, this seems to be the general consensus.  Here are some of the pros and cons from member on Askville @ Amazon.com:

Pros of having children young

• * You (may) be more energetic with keeping up with your children (I don’t know, I don’t think mid-30’s is really over the hill).

• * You are younger, and therefore have better odds of being alive and in good health well into your children’s (and grandchildren’s) lives.

• * Your children should be long out of college, and established in their lives before you start thinking of retirement (i.e., you don’t have to worry about the competing $$$ needs of college and retirement at the same time).

• * If you’re looking to have a big family, you’ll likely have the time to do it.

Cons of having children young

• * You wouldn’t have the support of existing close friends raising children at the same time.

• * You probably aren’t as financially stable/secure in your career as someone who is older.

Pros of having children later

• * More financial security, more time pre-kids to have saved the money to do things like buy a house. Once you have kids, your disposable income takes a big hit!

• * More years of experience in your career/job. A proven, established track record might give you more flexibility in your job after a child is born. For example, you might have a strong enough client base to become a contractor, or your employer might be willing to let you work part-time from home, etc. Basically, concessions that might not be as readily available to someone new to the work-force.

• * More life experience and maturity to bring to your parenting

• * Less of a risk that you’ll have regrets of things you didn’t do. Hopefully by your thirties you’ll have had the chance to do your “big thing”, like travel to Europe or go skydiving. Less of a chance you’ll feel “tied down” by children.

• * Probably at least some of your friends/family members have already had children of their own…a great source of advice and hand-me-downs.

Cons of having children later

• * Increased risk of encountering fertility problems

• * Increased risk of having become accustomed to a lifestyle that is incompatible with children. For example, if you’ve spent the last five years popping out for $200 meals at 9pm on a minute’s notice, that’s not going to fly once you have kids!

• * Increased risk of facing health problems/death while your children are young (or relatively young, like still in their 20’s or 30’s).

• * The later you have children, the closer together their college and your retirement (and related costs of both) become.

I totally agree with the posters sentiments in that I don’t think that either choice is good, better, less or more selfish, it is more about that person’s ideals and their willingness to commit to this new stage of their lives.

What are your thoughts?  How do you feel about women waiting longer to have children?  Do you think if could help or hurt them financially?

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

I’ve blogged about Mint.com before and while I really do like their interface, I’ve found a new love, Yodlee.

Yes, I said it and I am prepared to shout it into the blogosphere!  Not only do they log in seamlessly to each and every financial account I have, but they also have a great iPhone interface which lets me refresh from my iPhone on the go.  This has been a pet peeve of mine because I have been searching hi and low for a feature rich webware that will allow me to perform certain actions like bill pay, checking the actual balance on the go, linking all financial accounts on my mobile device and not just the checking account, listing my net worth and the list goes on and on.

The best thing you ask?  Being able to track it ALL in one place.  Call me a geek but this alone thrills my little personal finance soul.  My credit union also makes it just a little more than difficult to log in with all the passwords and this makes it easier.  If I am in the belly of the debil, Target and I need to check my balance I just long on to Yodlee, check my balance and I am good to go.  It will even tell me right there how much money I have available for my Target habit.

(click for larger image)

My next task is to create our monthly budget and create a bill calendar within the application.  I am rather visual so I need to be able to see on a calendar when to expect certain bills  to come out of our checking account.

I won’t go into the standard Yodlee vs. Mint vs Wesabe as there are a plethora of reviews out there but I wanted to let you all know that Yodlee is officially Ginger approved!

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

Short but sweet.  Here are 4 reasons why women should be paying attention in the area of personal finance when it comes to their financial health.

Retirement

Are you hoping that social security will be there for you when you finally retire?  I hoe so too but with the current uncertainties, it is best to put your finances in order to make sure you won’t be living off cat food when you’re 65.

Life won’t end at 65 (hopefully) and you don’t want to be limited by your lack of planning now.  Talk with a financial advisor, get a plan, pay down debt and begin saving for your future.

Marriage/Divorce

I know we all believe that we should get in touch with our mushy sides when we get married but the reality is that at least 50% get divorced each year.  We may see it coming or we may think such a thing could never happen to us, but either way we need to make sure for ourselves, our sanity and our children that we are abreast of all things financial in the event of a divorce.

Children

If you’re planning on having children then you may want to send them to college,  help them pay for a wedding, the down payment on a house or most importantly, make sure your affairs are in order should you demise unexpectedly.  In this case I am focusing on making sure they are fine of in the event you pass away.

There is nothing worse than waiting for the government to handle your parent’s affairs after their passing.  It is a slow and painful process, trust me, I know.

Career/Salaries

Are you demanding what you are worth or are you leaving it up to someone else to determine that for you?  How many times do we leave money on the table because we arent skilled in the art of negotiating and/or advocating for ourselves.

Sometimes this is because we want to maintain the relationship with the other party but at the same time shirking the duty to ourselves to make sure we get what we want and need in a salary appropriate for the time, hard work and education you bring to the table.

Don’t let Susan who is fresh out of college command a higher salary than you simply because she asked for it.  Women don’t ask for what they need and sometimes wait for it to be given.

Here’s a tip-ASK!

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices

This was an unusually busy weekend, but I don’t think we could have asked for a better one.

Friday night, the Girls Just Wanna Have Funds Meetup had their first happy hour in DC at Zengos.  Unfortunately, it will our last trip there as the customer service was horrible and many members have vowed never to go back.  Still, we had a great time, I almost want to say we didn’t want to leave.  I like being able to connect with new people in DC who share the same goals and ideals.  We laughed through the nonsense going on with the staff there at Zengos, but I’ve written a letter to their Corporate offices in hopes that they will be able to get a handle on how the staff there treats paying customers.  Here are some pictures:

We then traveled to NYC early Saturday morning to hang out with family and my husband’s fraternity annual BBQ.  For those familiar with BGLO’s, Omega Psi Phi.  As usual they put on a great show for us GDI’s and we took pictures for them and uploaded video.  They get together like this once a year so when they ALL converge, you might as well sit back and watch the show.

We then drove back to DC for the annual Jamaican concert down on Constitution Avenue today.  We ate, hung out and listened to the band play and carry on with the usual antics.  I’m surprised we weren’t too tired after driving six hours but hey, fun times!

Einstein and I hung out for a bit, great minds think alike, what can I say

Now we’re home relaxing on the sofa, vegging out in front of the TV.  Don’t worry, it’s lights out for me pretty soon.  Scotch missed his daddywaddy

In the mean time, please check out some of the posts from my fellow PF Bloggers:

$4 ice cream cone - frugal or not? @ Living Almost Large

*snicker*  I will confess that I have a serious love affair going on with Maggie Moos and their Mooberry flavor.  At least once a week I head over th Pentagon Row and treat myself to sushi and ice-cream with my girlfriend.  Not sure Im ready to let that go either because, well, I like it.  It’s one of the few things that gets me through the week.  So sushi and ice-cream it is.  I realize it’s not frugal though because as LAL puts it, you can really buy a tu of ice cream from t he supermarket for the same money.  But there’s something about hanging out with the girls, chatting it up over sushi knowing that a large double scoop of Maggie Moos Mooberry is coming up.  I know I know :-)  The first step is admitting you have a problem and I know I do

What does your bank statement say about you? @ Wide Open Wallet

Interesting take as I’ve never quite thought of it from this angle.  Ours would probably say that we need to trim the summer fat!  Maggie Moos, $650 grocery bill (thanks to Yodlee for showing that on the monthly report!), Nine West…ZipCar…well you get the point…  But we’re back on track as of August.

We’re On a Rollercoaster Ride!

When I read this I kept nodding my head because I can totally relate.  Our property taxes went up which increased our overall mortgage payment, the bank screwed up on the escrow so they took the extra payment due to them unexpectedly, car repairs, Zipcar rental, random trips to the grocery store totaling $600+, travelling to NYC to meet with Meetup HQ and the list goes on and on.  Thankfully, we weathered that storm and now have a budgt back in place.

Can you really help someone?

Sometimes I think it’s best to show someone how to “fish” and then leave them to sink or swim.  Most recently I learned that it’s best to let people work out their own financial situations because in the end, they are the only ones who can fix it.  You can lend money, you can give advice and you can even try to help them out directly by retooling their budget, but if they are more concerned with keeping up appearances then there’s nothing you can do.

7 Ways Students Ruin Their Credit @ Master Your Card

Good information for those just getting started in the real of credit.  Boy do I wish this information was around when I started college.

How was your weekend?

Most Commented Posts

• Cooking at Home with Basic Kitchen Staples Saves You Money
• 8 Frugal and Cost Cutting Tips for the Newly Independent
• Gas Prices On The Rise To $5/Gallon: How Will You Cope?
• Things That Piss Me Off: Food stamp recipients pinched by high food prices