They took care of you. Now it’s your turn. But what if your parents, whom you feel obligated to care for, are bad money managers? What if their spending habits are likely to bring you down financially? Do you still spend to save them? This is the dilemma for two readers who asked for my […]
Know your rules of thumb for credit card use
I’m a believer in creating your own financial rules of thumb. It’s a practice I learned from my grandmother Big Mama. As a general rule of thumb, she didn’t use a credit card for anything other than major purchases. My grandmother used her Montgomery Ward credit card to buy an oven when it needed […]
When your shared vacation comes with extra baggage
You’re back from your summer getaway, but you’re steaming that your fun in the sun was more like a blistering lesson in the financial vexations of vacation sharing. Or maybe your vacation home has become more like a hotel, with people inviting themselves for an extended stay – only they don’t expect to pay. You […]
For some, getting ahead financially simply means not falling behind
April is National Financial Literacy Month, and that leads to lots of events aimed at helping people become better money managers. But during a recent live discussion, I received a question that we should all be asking as we strive to reach higher financial ground. “Throughout my 18 years of marriage, I have told my […]