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Posted
Aug 17 2008, 03:02 PM
by
Ryan MacClanathan
The list of back-to-school "essentials" has grown
in recent years, making the end of summer a time dreaded by cash-strapped
parents.
I
priced my local elementary's list of required supplies for a first-grade
student at Staples yesterday. The total: $55 for a backpack and a small pile of
crayons, markers and glue. Ouch. Fortunately
for the frugal minded, plenty of helpful advice is available online on how to
ease the sting of back-to-school shopping.
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Posted
Aug 07 2008, 02:39 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Someone asked Jennifer Derrick the other day why she doesn't make more money so she can have the "finer things in life" -- jewelry, fancy cars, big house, expensive vacations. She's talented enough. Doesn't she want these things? Nope. But that person said: "Everyone wants those things and if you think you don't, you're living in denial. You only say that to make yourself feel better because you can't afford them."
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Posted
Jul 21 2008, 05:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This guest post comes from Ron Haynes at The Wisdom Journal. I think few people would disagree that children learn many of their life skills from their  parents. From parenting to work ethic, to spousal relationships, to personal finance, the most important things in life that children learn are those taught by the example of their parents. That isn't just a broad opening statement, it's truth borne out of years of investigation by researchers -- and from parents and grandparents who witness it every day. I've been thinking lately about what my children are learning from me because, as a parent, I am a model for my kids. But it's my choice whether to model good behavior or bad, and my example, much more than my words, will leave a lasting inheritance with my children.
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Posted
Jun 11 2008, 05:20 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. Recently, I took my son, Gavin, to the Coinstar machine to turn the random coins he's been getting into paper money. Added to the last two years of birthday money, his total was right around $150. As he stared at that money (and lamented the fact that now all he had was paper instead of a huge jar of coins), I realized that it was time to start teaching Gavin about money.
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 09:29 PM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. Prior to our financial meltdown, my wife and I never sat down and talked about our finances. Right after the meltdown, we talked about things almost every day. Through our recovery, the number of meetings slowly declined to a monthly family financial meeting. The meetings have become a big part of the financial glue of our marriage.
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Posted
May 03 2008, 11:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
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We're not sure we're willing to totally give up TV, as our partner blogger Donna Freedman has. We have gone without before, but we want our CNN, our "Real Time with Bill Maher" and "The Sopranos" reruns, and our Steelers football in the fall. (We have DirecTV.) But if we needed to cut back to a basic package or do without, "Frugal Dad" assures us that there is life with minimal TV service. He's been without expanded cable service for four months, and he and the family are very happy with the decision. Here's why.
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Posted
Apr 29 2008, 05:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Spring marks the return of that favorite American pastime -- the yard sale. If you're thinking about de-cluttering, the always practical and thorough Lynnae at Being Frugal offers 10 tips for having a "wildly successful" sale. You want to make money, folks, so you have to advertise, she says. Word of mouth goes only so far. Craigslist is an option. Also, we know that many newspapers offer handy kits if you buy a garage sale ad.
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Posted
Mar 27 2008, 12:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Guest poster Emily Starbuck Gerson at Sense to Save had a revelation not uncommon  among new pet owners: "I love my pets, but I had no idea they would be so costly."
The cost of pet ownership has been discussed by many personal-finance bloggers lately, and we'll share a lot of their ideas here, starting with one of the most expensive and emotionally difficult issues. My Money Blog asks how much you would pay to treat a pet with a serious illness or injury.
He writes: "For us, we would give up just about all of our luxuries before withholding health care for our dog." But, he adds, if treatment will merely extend your pet's misery, "there is a time that palliative care is the most humane choice."
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Posted
Mar 04 2008, 01:45 PM
by
Karen Datko
Why not incorporate lessons of finance and capitalism into allowance to give kids a taste of the real world. Jeff at Wise Money Decisions explains two ways to do that -- one his dad used when he was "Little Jeff," and the other an idea borrowed from another family. Not only are these methods creative, but Jeff's post is wise and funny stuff.
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Posted
Feb 29 2008, 07:07 PM
by
Karen Datko
Randall's parents didn't talk much about money when he was growing up, and forbade him from discussing the family's situation with anyone outside the household. Now that he's an adult, he's trying not to be the same way. "I'm not ashamed of what I do or make, I do pretty well all in all, so why should it be such a taboo to talk about it?" he asks in a thought-provoking post at Credit Withdrawal. The sad truth, he says, is that our preoccupation with acquiring more wealth than others -- "Keeping up with the Joneses has become a cultural Olympic event," he writes -- permeates family relationships, including those between kids and their parents.
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