Are you weird yet?

Just thought I’d point out this article I saw….
And of course this inspires the question: Are you weird yet? Have you ditched credit cards yet?
We’re now on month 21 of not having a credit card, the world didn’t end, our finances are better than ever, the recession is a myth for us, and we pay [...]

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82% of GDP? Please no.

I just read an article on CNN.com talking about the idea of taxing the rich to handle the increasing cost of our dear federal government. A few problems with this:

Taxing the rich removes the incentive to become, well…, rich.
We have this innate concept that money is evil and therefore rich people are evil and must [...]

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Stimulus thoughts as of right now

I just read an interesting article on CNN.com that talked about how states are using stimulus money to support immediate gaps in their budgets rather than the intended reforms.
Is anyone really surprised that the money isn’t being used as expected?
But the thing that really struck me were the figures at the bottom of the article [...]

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Review: Maxed Out

Maxed Out is a documentary about the credit industry, particularly credit cards, that I’ve long wanted to watch. At the end, I looked at Courtney and said two words… “That’s scary.”
And it is.
The amount of debt in this nation is incredible, and while personal debt is certainly terrifying enough, the debt our government accrues is [...]

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Colbert takes on Credit Cards

Here’s a great clip from the wonderful Colbert on credit cards.
Enjoy.

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Problems with Credit Cards

Not wanting to take any attention off the latest series of posts, but I just read this excellent article in Time magazine on many of the problems with credit cards. It accurately places the blame squarely on consumers while also recognizing some of the shady sides of credit card companies.
Just as a special note, I [...]

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You’d think I would have won by now…

I am a professional writer. I have been writing in some form or another since I was six. I wrote my very first story as a six-year-old. It was a story about a robot who loved roses, and it was written on the computer in all caps because I got tired of switching between “the [...]

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National Teach Children to Save Day

Not only is it Secretary’s Day (I am soooo tired of political correctness) and Earth Day, it’s also National Teach Children to Save Day.
It’s never too early to start teaching your children to save and manage money. Most children take to it quite naturally and are excited to use money. More importantly, if you teach [...]

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Financial Essentials–Crisis Finances

In financial security, there are things that are absolutely essential and things that are not. If you are moving into crisis finances, meaning that you are consistently short at the end of each month, you need to re-prioritize your finances so that you are covering the absolute essentials first. Dave Ramsey refers to these essentials [...]

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Better choices today for a better life tomorrow

We finally did something today that we’ve been wanting to do for quite a long time. We sold the car.
One of Dave Ramsey’s most often quoted phrases is “Sell the car.”Dave Ramsey believes, and I agree, that your car is often one of the biggest financial disasters that seemingly everyone falls for. We have this [...]

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