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• He's paying off their debt, she's adding to it

  Posted Jul 27 2008, 12:43 PM by Karen Datko
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  Filed under: debt, family, marriage, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  The headline on JW's post at We Need To Be Debt Free says it all: "What's the use?" He's been working hard to aggressively pay off about $41,000 in non-mortgage debt, and then his wife revealed at a marriage-counseling session that she's been hiding -- and using -- two credit cards.

  "When she mentioned it, I felt completely broadsided. It was like being run over by a truck," he wrote. The damage to his debt-reduction plans? Just over $4,300.   Read More...

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• Don't call her 'Mom,' call her 'Visa'

  Posted Jul 01 2008, 05:00 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, credit, family, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Blogger Rosalind Mays gave her kids credit cards. What? Is she nuts? They're only in sixth grade or thereabouts.

  Explaining one of the more interesting methods we've encountered for teaching kids about money, she writes in a post at Real Life Debt: "But the catch was (cause there is always a catch), I became Visa. I've always wanted to be a banking giant."   Read More...

  Discuss ( 11 comments) 3,326 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Making choices before the baby arrives

  Posted Apr 24 2008, 06:46 PM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, family, saving, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  "Frugal Babe" is thinking about quitting her part-time job at the library when her baby is born. That would decrease the family income by $20,000.

  But through hard work and good planning, she and her husband will continue to run their insurance business, put money in retirement and emergency accounts, pay for health and life insurance, make extra payments on their home, and will set up a college education fund for their child -- all after the baby arrives.

  "Life is all about choices," she says in this excellent post.  "Lucky people tend to make their own luck by the choices they make."   Read More...

  Discuss ( 9 comments) 1,728 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Confronting loved ones about their spending or their weight

  Posted Apr 01 2008, 06:34 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: debt, family, Karen Datko, health care
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Kris at Cheap Healthy Good is equally interested in personal finance and nutrition. Recently she combined her insights about people with severe problems in each area into one post: "Touchy subjects: Confronting loved ones about weight and money problems."

  "What do you say to your 65-year-old father who puts on 100 pounds in five years? How do you tell your mom you can't support her if she has no savings when she retires?" Kris asks. "The short answer: Be honest."   Read More...

  Discuss ( 109 comments) 29,164 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Note to future self: We can always be a little better

  Posted Jan 10 2008, 06:05 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: debt, family, saving, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  On Jan. 1 of last year, Single Ma of Single Ma's Fabulous Financials wrote a note to her future self: On Dec. 31, 2007, she would update her progress in six major areas of her life. (So, she's a little late. No biggie.) Here goes: Her extended family members are still crazy, and BabyGirl, who's a teenager, just about drove her to drink. Healthwise, Singla Ma says, "I'm not fat, my clothes shrunk! That's my story and I'm sticking to it." Her career and her finances are doing, well, fabulously. She joined the "six-figure club," exceeded her net worth goals and paid off her debt.   Read More...

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