Money Tips Network

Former GRS staff writer Donna Freedman has been researching the importance of teaching children about money, and she asked if she could share some things she’s learned. This is the first of two articles on the subject. Donna writes for Money Talks News and blogs about money and midlife at DonnaFreedman.com.

While researching a magazine article on “raising money-smart kids,” I felt sorry for parents and terribly worried about their children. (Also greatly relieved that I am not raising kids today.)

The article, for Consumers Digest, ran to a few thousand words. Short form: Our children face serious money temptations and pressures, and generally receive very little useful info either from parents or schools.

Going through airport security is already an arduous enough process without having to remove your laptop from your bag to scan separately, especially if you make frequent business trips. But aside from simply being an additional annoyance in the process of getting to your plane, it can also be quite dangerous to leave your laptop "naked." According to a study done by Dell, an estimated 12,000 laptops are lost in U.S. airports every week. Luckily, the Transportation Security Administration has developed criteria for checkpoint-friendly laptop bags that do not require you to remove the laptop when passing through security.

Join our Tweetchat this Thursday at 12:00 pm Pacific for lively conversation and a chance to win one of two $10 Amazon GCs! Use #WBChat to participate.

This week's topic: Saving Money on Pets! Learn about saving on food, keeping vet expenses down, and frugal grooming! Let us know if you splurge on toys and treats for your pets and share pictures of your furry family members with us!

For an easy way to keep track of the conversation, try using our special Tweetchat Chatroom.

If the time for spring cleaning is long past, yet you still find yourself surrounded by clutter and feeling like you have way too much stuff, maybe you need a decluttering mantra — a statement or a question that you repeat to yourself as you look at each thing in your space. They way you answer the question or the way you respond from your gut after you say the statement will help you determine whether or not a particular item stays or goes. (See also: Do This One Thing a Day to Defeat Clutter Forever)

For the first several years of our marriage, Sarah and I dreamed of moving out of our little apartment and buying a home of our own. It’s the “American dream,” after all. When our first child arrived in our lives, the desire to move became more pressing, and when our second child was on the way, it was time to make our move.

The biggest challenge for us was the overwhelming number of things to know about when it comes to buying a home. Is buying a home even the right choice? Where does a person start?

If you’re thinking about homeownership, let’s walk through seven basic steps that will take you from apartment living to owning your own home.

1. Decide whether to rent or buy

Let’s start off with a few important facts.

Over the course of my career, my single biggest fear – and obstacle – has been “lock in.”

What’s “lock in”? It’s probably easiest to explain it with a story.

Early on in my career, I found myself working at a pretty nice job. I enjoyed the work and enjoyed going into the office almost every day. I was freshly out of college and facing down a pile of student loans, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed.

Roll forward a few years. I transitioned this first job into a second job, one that paid a little more and offered more long-term security but that I didn’t enjoy nearly as much. At the same time, I found myself enjoying the large income quite a bit more. I went out on the town a lot, bought a lot of expensive things, and made very little progress on my student loans – in fact, I actually built up a bit of credit card debt. I was also facing a car loan, as was Sarah.

This article is by staff writer Kristin Wong.

When I first started writing for Get Rich Slowly, I’d just become interested in my finances. While I’ve always been frugal, I started to realize there was much more to personal finance than finding ways to save money.

Here’s where I was, financially, at that time:

• I was rebuilding my recently depleted emergency fund.

• I had just started to earn more.

• I was working hard for my money, but I had no idea how to make my money work for me. I still didn’t feel in control.

Lifehacker shares a post from Budgets are Sexy (a site I love, BTW) that guarantees you'll become wealthy if you just take one of these simple steps:

1. Max out your ROTH IRA every year ($5,500)
2. Max out your 401(k) every year ($17,500)
3. Max out BOTH your IRA and your 401(k) every year! ($23,000)
4. Pay off your entire mortgage and save the future payments

And here's the thinking behind this:

You do any of those on rotation year in and year out, and I guarantee you'll reach financial freedom in 20-30-40 years from now. All depending on your expenses, and lifestyle, yada yada… (And if you're not in a position to invest large amount of money every month/year, at least start with SOMETHING. Even just $100 or $200 a month can do enough to snowball you towards your goals faster!)

A few years ago, I was living paycheck to paycheck and was seriously trying to get my finances under control. I read all the tips and tricks to curb spending, yet I was failing month after month. I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I never entered the grocery store without a list; I never bought expensive, brand name shoes or purses; I never obsessed with changing my wardrobe based on the season. On the surface, I never had any problems — but, at the end of the month, I always ended up broke. Finally, after a lot of agonizing over various revisions of my budget, it hit me: I didn’t have a budgeting problem; I had a shopping problem.

I shopped when I was feeling angry or stressed out. I shopped to get along with my roommates. I shopped to make me happy. I shopped to take advantage of sales. I shopped because I felt the need to own stuff. I shopped to relax.