Money Tips Network

Ditching the 9-to-5 routine can be incredibly rewarding, but be sure you’re financially prepared to take the leap. Photo: Julie Jordan Scott

For years, I sat behind a desk crunching numbers, analyzing spending trends, validating financial transactions and generating reports. (Sound exciting?) Although the day-to-day routine bored me out of my mind, I did what most logical people would do and sucked it up. After all, the money was good and I worked with a decent group of people, so it definitely wasn’t the appropriate time to rock the boat.

Naked With Cash is an ongoing series at Consumerism Commentary in which readers share their households’ finances with other readers. These participants benefit from the accountability that comes from tracking their finances publicly and the feedback of the four expert Certified Financial Planners (CFPs).

For more information, read this introduction.

Professional football players are among the highest-paid people in America, and yet the story of the bankrupt NFL retiree is so common it's become a stereotype.

Several months ago, I had a wonderful evening with my six year old daughter where we spent more than an hour (up until bedtime) in the backyard under the night sky, looking up at the stars. We talked about how big the universe is. We talked about how most of the dots in the sky are stars but a few are planets and some are whole galaxies. We identified a few constellations – the ones I could remember from my own astronomy “phase” as a kid and a few more I could identify quickly using my smartphone as an aid. We identified the Milky Way and talked about our own galaxy.

More than anything, though, we just enjoyed staring up at the majesty of the night sky together.

Accidents happens, even on sunny days. Here are the steps you should take when they do. Photo: Mark Turnauckas

It’s a beautiful day with clear skies and bright sunshine. The birds are singing and there’s a gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the trees. You take a deep breath and savor the sweet scent of honeysuckle. You think all is right with the world, and then… it happens.

It can be a car slamming into your rear end at a traffic light. The load in your washing machine getting out of balance and walking itself away from its resting place, ripping the drainage hose from the wall. Worst of all, it can be the phone call telling you that a loved one has died.

"Don't ever burn bridges," is a piece of advice most of us have heard — more than once. Whether it's talking about your career or your personal life, the advice is sound. Should you burn a bridge, the ramifications can be serious.

Have you ever watched the popular television show “Shark Tank”? In it, entrepreneurs pitch their young businesses to five rich tycoons (the “sharks”) in hopes of attracting an investment from one or more of them. Some entrepreneurs are youngsters with a great idea, some are savvy veterans, and others are ordinary families hoping to turn a great idea into a million-dollar business. Not all get an investment. When you do get an investment, it usually takes one of two forms:

• An equity stake in your business
• A royalty on gross sales

The sharks don’t invest in every business that gets pitched to them. They especially don’t invest in businesses where where the pitch revolves around a tear-jerking story. They don’t care that you had hardships, no opportunities, or that you’re the most upstanding citizen on Earth. They only care about two things:

If the Amazon Prime price hike made you cancel your membership or change your mind about signing up, here's a way for you to get one year without the fee.

More than 70% of graduates finish college with debt, at an average level of almost $30,000 per student. The national student debt level has reached $1.2 trillion and a staggering 7 million borrowers have already defaulted on their loans.