Money Tips Network

This article is by staff writer April Dykman.

Many years ago, when I was paying off a car loan and some credit card debt, I became really frugal. Almost obsessively frugal. I looked for every possible way to save money, and I dreaded ever having to spend money.

Then one morning my husband accidently broke our coffee carafe. I helped him clean up the glass and caught myself feeling anxious about having to buy a new carafe. How much was that gonna cost?

As it turned out, only $12. That’s when I knew I had swung too far in the tightwad direction. I’d gone from not really being in control of my money to being a control freak. And it was making me miserable.

From one money extreme to the other

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some of the best articles from around the web on all things shopping!

Top 5 Articles

10 Online-Shopping Traps That Catch Even Smart Shoppers — Don't shop from a public wi-fi network or click links in unsolicited emails when shopping online. [Kiplinger]

8 Things to Buy From Amazon — Books and magazines are great things to buy on Amazon. [PopSugar Smart Living]

Can you eat for just $20 a week? Well, I've been feeding my family of three on an average of $65 a week for several years now — so you can certainly get close. Beyond a basic shopping list, eating on a budget — any budget — takes some patience, planning, and creativity.

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.

This article is by staff writer Lisa Aberle.

The older I get, the more complicated my life gets — and the harder it is for me to make decisions. Do we have anything in common there?

By far, the most complicating factor has been having children. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s not bad, just … complicated. And since we just added another child about two weeks ago, we’re adjusting to less sleep and more laundry. So kids = sometimes hard decisions. For example, here are a few of the decisions that we’ve considered since having children:

The following is an update from reader CM. He shared his reader profile with us last year.

Since this post, quite a bit has changed.  Most notable difference has been that I have a daughter now that will turn 1 at the end of this month (crazy how quickly that happened).  Having a child has definitely been awesome, but it has certainly affected the finances and our priorities going forward.

Is there a new movement happening in your backyard that you are unaware of? A new reality television series has probably never been the impetus behind a major change in how we live, but could this one be different? The show in question is called “Tiny House Nation,” and it kicked off earlier this month on FYI, an A&E cable channel.

There is a growing interest in the movement, which goes by many names, like “small houses,” “micro-homes” and the ever more popular “tiny homes.” There are as many definitions of what a tiny home is as there are definers. Everyone agrees it’s smaller than about 700 square feet of living room, but most high-profile-tiny-home advocates celebrate postage stamp homes: less than 250 square feet.

Like almost everyone in America, I fill my spare time with a number of projects and a handful of hobbies. I have a number of things I’ve consistently enjoyed over the years – reading books comes to mind, as does computer programming – as well as hobbies that I’ve jumped into passionately for a while and then burnt out on – golf comes to mind, as does geocaching.

Income-Positive Versus Income-Negative

The problem is that the vast majority of hobbies and projects out there are “income-negative.” In other words, those hobbies consume money instead of creating it.

Many of my hobbies certainly fall into this category. While I do strive to keep the financial implications low – I try to spend roughly $1 per hour of hobby enjoyment – most of my hobbies are still income-negative.

Do you ever pull into the driveway after a long day of work and wonder where the day went? Ever find yourself living for the weekend only to marvel on Sunday night how quickly it passed? Sometimes life demands not only that we multitask, but "hypertask." And in the process we're skimming above the moments of our lives, exhausted. (See also: Balancing Living in the Now With Planning for the Future)

It's time to take a step back, be present, and be happier. Here are eight ways to get started: