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Posted
Jun 12 2008, 05:11 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Flying ants swarmed at Jill's rehearsal dinner, the nearby military range tested its big guns during the wedding, and then cousin Taylor fainted and hit his head on the house, requiring a trip to the hospital. Then, during the reception, the town's power went out. What does this have to do with frugal wedding planning? Well, nothing, really (although Jill's post at Naturally Gluten Free does include some cost-cutting tips). But it's part of the fun reading in what we promise will be the last word on this subject. (OK, we're probably lying.) No fewer than 33 personal-finance bloggers and readers submitted entries to Pinyo's "Best wedding tips and stories giveaway" at Moolanomy.
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Posted
May 20 2008, 01:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Lying to your spouse about your spending -- and your debt -- can be very damaging to your relationship. But that doesn't stop people from doing it, observes "Gibble" at Gather Little by Little. A survey done for Redbook and lawyers.com found that 29% of people between the ages of 25 and 55 have lied to their significant other about their spending. Also of note: 24% said truthfulness about financial fidelity/infidelity is more important than honesty about the nonfinancial kind, according to a post by Gibble. So, he asks, what should you do if you find out your spouse has been hiding, say, $20,000 in credit card debt?
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Posted
May 14 2008, 08:19 PM
by
Karen Datko
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Wouldn't we all love to have this dilemma? Inspired by a letter to the editor at Money magazine, "Flexo" at Consumerism Commentary wonders when it's appropriate to tell your boyfriend/girlfriend that you're wealthy. The letter writer apparently had been burned by some guy looking for a sugar momma. Flexo says, "It's probably not appropriate if you're on the first few dates, but if you're starting to pick out rings or talk about living together, I don't see how these decisions can be made without full financial disclosure."
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Posted
May 07 2008, 05:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller. Have you ever found yourself at the store or gas station ready to pay, only to realize that the last $20 in your purse or wallet is gone? It's a sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize you can't pay for something. This happened to my mom all the time when I was a kid. My parents went from one financial crisis to another and were always short on cash. I recall vividly my mom yelling at my stepdad because he had taken money out of her purse and left her with nothing. She usually figured out that she had no cash just after putting $5 worth of gas in the car (gas was a lot cheaper back then). A resolution to this problem always seemed simple to me, even if it eluded my parents.
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Posted
Apr 15 2008, 11:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
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Just because you've received invitations to eight spring and summer weddings doesn't mean you have to go to all of them. And you aren't obligated to spend as much as those couples did for your wedding. Aryn of Sound Money Matters offers 10 tips for choosing how to honor the bride and groom without overextending your budget. Her advice is very practical and also holds true to the sentiment that these events shouldn't be just about the money. Wear the same outfit to every wedding. Honestly, no one will care. Shop the registry early before the lower-cost gifts disappear. Combine a few simple registry gifts into one gift rather than veering from the list. "Trust me, if they didn't register for the $50 10-glass set, they don't want it," Aryn writes.
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Posted
Mar 25 2008, 03:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
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A recent article at MSNBC about money and marriage prompted "FMF" at Free Money Finance to comment on his own marriage and society at large. The article reports on a survey of 74,000 people that indicates great progress on the equality front: The vast majority of men are OK with the idea of a wife earning more money than they do. (FMF comments: "Not sure what the 'big deal' is here. I'd love it if my wife made more than I do now. Besides, we view everything as belonging to both of us, so what's the difference who makes it?") Such willingness to share hasn't extended to household chores. The article said: "Although men appeared to happily cede the stress of being the primary breadwinner, they aren't yet always picking up as much slack on the home front. More than 40% of women say they do more than their share of housework -- and 29% of men agree." (On that topic, one thing that really chaps our shins is when men retire to the TV after a holiday dinner and leave the women to clean up the mess.)
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Posted
Feb 29 2008, 04:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
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A recent article at MSNBC about the high cost of dating contained this snippet: "Nearly 70% of women and 50% of men said they were interested in marrying for money, according to a Prince & Associates survey of 1,134 men and women earning $30,000 to $60,000 a year." They all said the object of their attention would have to have a net worth exceeding $1 million. Wow. Does that mean we're all a bunch of gold-digger wannabes or is something else at play here? We turned to blogger Free Money Finance for some perspective.
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Posted
Feb 09 2008, 04:00 PM
by
Karen Datko
Do women and men have different approaches to money? Maybe. Maybe not. But there are differences between the sexes, and two bloggers offer thoughtful observations about how to bridge that gap from a personal-finance point of view. Lynnae at Being Frugal presents seven things women wish men knew about money, and Ron at The Wisdom Journal gives readers seven from the opposite point of view. We particularly liked these observations by Lynnae: "Being there is more important than having money" and "Day-to-day actions speak louder than expensive gifts." At the end of her post, Lynnae says she realizes that many of her points fall under one theme: "Most of them have to do with letting a woman know that she is loved."
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Posted
Jan 16 2008, 06:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread. Hot dates are often stereotyped as being expensive. Fine wines, fancy dinners, high-priced hotels and posh resorts top the list of ways we traditionally think of reconnecting with our significant other. Even though frugality generally isn't considered sexy, it can bring about intimacy in unexpected ways.
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Posted
Dec 26 2007, 05:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
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This post comes from Abby Freedman, a freelance writer and daughter of Smart Spending blogger Donna Freedman. An MSN article about portion sizes got me thinking about the economics of eating. Food is, arguably, one of the most expensive aspects of modern life, whether you make your meals at home or eat out. We order our days around meal breaks. We deny ourselves some foods and force others down our throats -- when was the last time someone willingly ate a rice cake? Finally, we pay tons of money to gyms so that we can work off all that food. I don't have diet foods or delivered meals worked into my spending plan. But I do have to fit into a wedding gown in 5½ months. So I decided to try a little experiment with portion size, and see if I couldn't make food a bit more affordable at the same time.
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