Articles on Budgeting

Five More Tips For Eating In Restaurants And Sticking To A Budget

Even if you are working hard to keep your discretionary spending to a minimum, you can still enjoy a restaurant meal once in awhile.

Plan for your wants

Budgets tend to focus on needs--food, shelter, heat, light, transportation, and (of course) taxes. They also provide for wants, but generally the smaller, shorter-term wants--cabl

The Bank Christmas Tree

What are we teaching our children about wants and needs this Christmas? At my local bank branch the 'give to the needy' Christmas tree has reached new levels of tackiness.

6 Reasons I Still Don't Have a Cell Phone Plan (yet)

If you ask most people what they can't live without, many would say their computer. Just about as many would say their cell phone/PDA/Crackberry. I agree with the first one – I c

Double Coupons – They Could Cost You!

I recently tried (and failed) a recent Super Double Coupon promotion at my local Kmart. The bad news: I was unable to check out due to a glitch in their system, and I left all my

Getting by without a job, part 1--losing a job

Losing a job is always tough. During hard economic times--when it may not be possible to find another job as good as the one you've lost--it's even tougher. Here are a few steps

Will A Dental Discount Plan Save You Money?

Those of us without traditional dental insurance may have been tempted to buy a dental “discount” plan. On paper, it looks good. In practicality, it could save you some, or more

Why I (Heart) My High Deductible Health Insurance Plan

I was a born and raised HMO baby. Health insurance had always meant plopping down a $15 co-pay at each appointment and letting my insurer pay the rest. Since insurance was a bene

Calling all Artists: Be Your Own Cheerleader and Find that Room of Your Own (free)

Virginia Woolf famously said that women needed a ‘room of one’s own’ in order to create. But what if you didn’t graduate from the University of Iowa with the New Yorker wanting to

Financial Peace in Hard Times

Six months ago, I had plans. Lots of them. Career plans. Vacation plans. Financial plans. Then everything fell apart. My mother became ill. She had already been ill, having been di

In times like these, separate the want from the need.

I remember saying to my dad, a long, long time ago, that I really needed a whole bunch of He-Man action figures for Christmas. Oh, and Battlecat, too. My dad looked at me, a hopefu

6 Ways to Get your Toiletries for Cheap or Even Free!

With my budget straining at the increase in the cost of milk, I can’t always justify buying my favorite shampoo, the best razor, or that luxurious body wash I crave. I have found

To change the bulb, just remove the bumper. Wait, what? - UPDATED.

I was warned. I had been a loyal Honda owner for my entire driving life. But, after realizing that my Honda Civic Coupe was just too awkward for my growing family, I started lookin

Start The School Year Off Right: A Few Frugal Tips for Getting Through the Fall

School clothes, school supplies, sign-up fees and more: the cost of education, whether public or private, seems to go up every year. As long as it's for your son or daughter's educ

Regifting: A Simple How-To Guide

As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. It's OK to regift as long as you follow a few simple guidelines.

How Much Does it Cost Every Time you Get Into Your Car?

I was horrified when I discovered exactly how much it costs me to drive into town for groceries. Do you know exactly how much it costs you?

A Million Bucks By 30: A Book Review

This digestible escapade from Alan Corey details his journey from fed-up college grad to self-made millionaire. But is it practical advice for you?

5 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill

If you're like me, a trip to the store for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk can easily run $30 to $40 bucks. Has inflation just really gone up in my neck of the woods? No... I j

Making Change Count

I brought a bag filled with quarters to pay for my meal at an Italian restaurant recently. I’ve been taking an informal survey of merchants to see who welcomes my coins. Having rec

A Prairie Farmer’s Meal Plan: Eat for a Buck or Two a Day

The economy and rising gas costs have consumed at least 60% of my regular news and public television broadcast programming. While I’ve heard all there is to hear about how bad foo