“I need to get a library card,” a friend told me last night after I explained that she could read a book she had saved in her Amazon wish list by downloading it through the Libby app. I had just finished listening to it on my phone. When I shared with her how to set up a Libby account, I assumed that she had a library card. I assumed everyone did. But they don’t. There are so many amazing benefits to getting that free piece of plastic that go beyond just walking into a building that smells like history coming alive and walking out with a hardcover book or two. From saving hundreds of dollars ..read more

In the famous, life-changing book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, author Robert Kiyosaki shared in Chapter 2 that financial literacy is what sets the rich apart from the middle class and the poor. I agree completely, but there’s A LOT to learn. In my previous article, Day 18 of Financial Freedom in 2021, I defined a list of terms to get acquainted with when developing your personal finance vocabulary. Understanding different retirement investment vehicles, tax terms, and the basic steps of financial independence is important, but there are additional terms that many people in the FIRE community use quite ..read more

Do I need to find another part-time job? Job loss was one of the biggest realized fears that crept in after the COVID-19 shut-downs in March of 2020. Many people were forced to adjust their lives and their budgets due to being furloughed or laid off with short notice. Thankfully, along with the loss of those jobs came higher and extended unemployment benefits, economic stimulus packages, relief from eviction or foreclosure, and fewer opportunities to spend money. Who knew that after mass lay-offs around the country that now, a year later, there’d be a shortage of labor, not jobs! A large perce ..read more

Good morning! When I previously tried to write this article, my finger slipped and hit the publish button while in the beginning stages of my first draft. It’s definitely not a best-case-scenario for any writer. Lol. This time around, I’m hoping the final draft is what ends up in your Inbox. Thank you for reading… again! Spring Cleaning is a phrase we’re all familiar with. Some families take it to the extreme … scrubbing every wall, every bit of exposed tile grout, and even the front sidewalk. Others use Spring Cleaning to motivate themselves to get rid of excess by de-cluttering every room. A ..read more

There has been quite a bit of research done across multiple disciplines about the benefits of gratitude, from the religious sectors all the way to the personal finance industry. Gratitude simply makes life better. It has been shown to improve your mental, physical, and emotional health. It opens the door to better relationships, both personal and spiritual. It enhances empathy and leads to less aggression and more acceptance. Also, grateful people sleep better, eat healthier, and build stronger careers. Grateful people even spend less money! So, why do so many of us intentionally practice giv ..read more

The pandemic of 2020 has had many unexpected effects on everyone’s finances. One way or another, I’m guessing your financial life has changed since March of 2020. Unfortunately, many people lost their jobs, their businesses, and their ability to pay their rent or mortgages. It’s been devastating to hear these stories. Thankfully, there’s been relief over the last year in the form of higher and extended unemployment benefits, moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures, stimulus money from the government in the mail, and help from several charitable organizations. I know there are many people sti ..read more

Turn Savvy Shopping into Family Travel If your kids are like mine, they beg daily to go to Disney World or to stay at a hotel for the buffet breakfast and awesome pool. I’m pretty sure I know where they get it from; I research travel deals more often than I’d like to admit. With our family’s wanderlust, we set a high budget annually for travel, but we also try to find creative ways to free up some additional cash to pay for spontaneous trips we just can’t pass up. This is part of why I continually seek ways to save as much as possible on our food spending each month. In 7 EASY Ways to Save on ..read more

I’ve been asked several times, “How do I get started in investing?” Usually, my response includes several follow-up questions, such as, “What are your investing goals? What’s your risk tolerance? How much money do you have to invest? Have you started first with your employer’s 401K? Do you have debt? An emergency fund?” and so on. There can be dozens of factors to consider. Then, I recently came to realize that many of my friends were simply asking how to take the steps to open an investment account and contribute to it. Most had already decided that they wanted to invest a certain amount in t ..read more

Something popped up in my Instagram feed that led to a chain reaction this morning. I saw this post on @female.in.finance and took a screen-shot right away. It seemed like a great idea, but I needed to analyze whether there were potential negative consequences and if it was worthwhile to add my children at their current ages (13, 10, 5, and 3). I’m willing to “play the credit score game” to help my children build credit by the time they enter adulthood but not at the expense of my own credit. So, the research began. After posting this idea to two personal-finance Facebook groups, there were m ..read more

Financial Freedom in 2021! Take Action: Day 30 Wow! We made it to Day 30! I calculated that I’ve written (and you’ve read) over 25,000 words in the last month. That’s enough words to fill 1/3 of a novel, and all of them were about saving money and investing for the purposes of financial freedom. But why? In my post titled, What Does Financial Freedom Mean to You?, I summarized what motivated me to jump on board with the FIRE movement: “Financial freedom allows the ability to let go… of maintaining a specific image; of an addiction to other people’s lives; of the shackles of material goods; of ..read more