Search results for raising children
-
Posted
Mar 10 2008, 05:55 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"DebtKid," feeling buyer's remorse about his 1 a.m. purchase of a Nintendo DS Lite that has since been gathering dust, is holding a contest for the stupidest purchase ever. He's gotten quite a response from readers and other bloggers. The winner will get his DS Lite. We'll give you a few of the highlights. "Krninco" at Compulsive Debtor's Finance Blog has several doozies: a $400-plus bowling party for her daughter, "Mini Me," (and to prove that she wasn't too extreme, krninco provides a link to a St. Petersburg Times story about parents who threw a $3,000 birthday party for their 1-year-old, complete with a publicist). There's also the $5,000 piano "purchased in hopes that one day Mini Me would become Mini Mozart," and Beauty, a hugely expensive bichon frisé that bites and leaves little presents on the floor "to show you she can." Oops, we almost forgot to mention that krninco bought a $200 car seat for the little dog.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 06 2008, 06:00 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
How do we know there's such a thing as too much frugality in the kitchen? Because Marge Simpson once said to her daughter: "Lisa, I made you some homemade Pepsi for the dance; it's a little thick but the price is right." That's from the excellent post "Cutting calories and saving d'oh: 25 lessons 'The Simpsons' taught me about cheap, healthy eating" at Cheap Healthy Good. The author, Kris, is the most entertaining food-and-frugality blogger out there, but we think she's outdone herself with this one.
Read More...
-
Posted
May 28 2008, 08:37 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A good time doesn't have to cost a good piece of your paycheck. Some readers of the Smart Spending message board listed scores of ways to enjoy life on the cheap -- specifically, for $1 or less.
Although some of the pleasures on this thread are best enjoyed by families with young children, many will also translate to singles or couples. Unleash your inner kid by flying a kite. Invite your significant other to a picnic in the town park when there's a free evening concert. Walk your new girlfriend from gallery opening to gallery opening -- you get props for having an artistic soul, and the two of you can enjoy the free snacks that many galleries offer.
Read More...
-
Posted
Nov 02 2007, 10:12 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Americans not only need to be reminded to eat with their families, they have to be told how to do it. At least that’s the impression I got from radio spots touting “Family Dinner Night” as a way to, among other things, keep our kids off drugs . Then there's the print ad for a brand of frozen entrees: mom, dad and two kids enjoying lasagna from what looks like a glass dish, not a microwave tub. “Real dinner and great conversation any night of the week,” the ad copy exults. It goes on to say, “Get your family talking!” – and provides a Web site to help the conversation along. Let’s see: We don’t seem to know that families are supposed to eat together. Once at the table, we need cue cards to help us talk. Oh, and a frozen dinner is helpful, too. Yes, I know we’re all busy, busy people and that nuking a lasagna floe may seem like the only way to get food into our mouths. But let me throw out two reasons to find time to cook. • You’ll save a lot of money on food up-front. • Over time, you’ll
Read More...
-
Posted
Mar 14 2008, 08:40 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Yesterday would have been the 73rd birthday of the person who probably should be writing this column: my mother, Geneva Burgess Hanes.
She was the youngest of 10 kids born to an uneducated Tennessee couple who eventually pulled up stakes and moved north for opportunity -- that is, for the chance to work in South Jersey factories and vegetable fields.
Despite hunger, poverty and violence, my mother became the first in her family to finish high school. She owned two dresses ("one on, one off") and never had a square meal or a bath in a real tub until she married my dad right after graduation.
They had four kids in five years, which sounds impossibly grim by today's standards. But we didn't seem to notice that we were poor. Everyone we knew pinched pennies. Nobody did it like my mom, though.
Read More...
-
Posted
Dec 20 2007, 07:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread. Kids may think they know what they want to get for the holidays this year, but that doesn't mean they have a clue about what they need. Use this gift-giving opportunity as a chance to invest in them and help change their financial futures. Here is a rundown of some of the best money-management gifts I have used for kids under 12. The Money Savvy Kids @ Home program by Money Savvy Generation. One of the most comprehensive financial-education packages on the market, it's designed to be used as a complete curriculum on money. Home educators will find that it is very similar to a unit study, complete with parent handbook, student workbook, CD-ROM and cool piggy bank. I've tried this program and found it to be one of the most interesting. Covering the basic money principles -- save, spend, donate, invest -- reminded me of my financial goals, and I learned some quirky facts about the history of money in the process. This is a well- thought-out program with much to offer kids ages 6 to 11.
Read More...
-
Posted
May 21 2008, 06:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want proof that stay-at-home moms would be earning a pretty good income if they were getting paid for their work? A report by Salary.com says the time SAHMs spend on 10 "mom job functions" -- including housekeeper and psychologist -- would bring $116,805 in the work world. Full-time moms work an incredible amount of overtime at their jobs -- 54.4 hours a week above and beyond the normal 40, the Web site says.
Read More...
-
Posted
Feb 27 2008, 07:11 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
RacerX remembers the college experience: You get a credit card and "probably then only use the card for emergencies -- no pizza or beer left in the house! Taking our girlfriend out! Maybe even rent once or twice," he writes. Since you know nothing about finances, you get a second credit card to make payments on the first, and so the cycle goes. His kids won't be like that, he says. Why? Because he and Mrs. X have decided they're not paying for their kids' college education. Why not? you ask. Because every kid they know who went to college "on the parent express" left school unprepared for life -- and sometimes didn't even graduate. "They took basket weaving and Klingon 301," he writes at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money. "They never worked the menial jobs that give you an appreciation for honest work, honest wages."
Read More...
-
Posted
Feb 03 2009, 01:52 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Mr. ToughMoneyLove at Tough Money Love.
Baby boomers have been receiving a lot of criticism in recent months for their collective contributions to our country's economic problems.
First, we are blamed for an extreme amount of debt-driven consumption that inflated highly leveraged real estate and credit bubbles. Second, we are now being blamed for an excess of saving when many so-called economic experts are calling for increased consumer spending. In general, boomers are probably guilty on both counts.
I have a suggestion.
Instead of wasting energy hurling insults at financially irresponsible baby boomers, why don't we make a list of all the money mistakes that were made by the boomer generation? The younger folks can read the list and then pledge "never again." I hereby volunteer to start the list of boomer mistakes. Here we go:
Read More...
-
Posted
Jul 23 2008, 12:25 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
On Monday I bought two backpacks, five packages of notebook paper and five boxes of crayons at Office Depot for $3.25 including tax, thanks to the magic of recycled printer cartridges and loss leaders. Then I went to Walgreens and bought two-pocket folders and five-packs of mechanical pencils for a nickel apiece, plus two-packs of gel pens and eight-packs of washable markers that will be free after rebate.
I don't have kids at home. I'm buying these for other people's children. You can, too, and I sure hope you will.
Read More...
More Posts Next page »
|
