There are two camps in personal finance: those who pay their mortgages early and those who don’t. We are in the first camp. Rather, we were. When we found out I was expecting, we took the interwebs’ advice and stopped making extra payments toward our mortgage, funneling the money into a Baby Fund instead. Now … [Read more…]
When we were preparing to be parents, there were lots of questions floating around our minds. Who would the baby look like? What’s the difference between a bouncer and a jumper? Why on God’s green earth did anyone think it was a good idea to tell a pregnant lady the approximate size of the “fruit” … [Read more…]
I felt like a fraud. Here I am writing about spending $7 a month on breakfast and paying down over $50,000 in debt in two years, and all of a sudden, I’m playing eeny meeny miny moe on my Instagram story with two pairs of $99 Michael Kors flats. (Confession: I ordered four. I’m only … [Read more…]
Now that I’ve been a mom for two months, I know precisely two things: when it comes to kids, there are lots of opportunities to spend money and there are lots of opportunities to embarrass yourself. Take, for instance, the weekend I stood up in a wedding. I met the other bridesmaids at the nail … [Read more…]
The age old debate: kids are expensive…or are they? To commemorate my unpaid leave, I thought I would offer an unedited look at my checkbook register. Just kidding, I stopped balancing my checkbook in 2009 two years ago. If this first week looks a little light on the spending, it’s because it was my first … [Read more…]
I talk a lot about money. In fact, I’ve written about it 262 times over the past two years. While I’ve learned a lot, I’m no money expert. I’m also not an expert blogger, so you won’t see anything in this anniversary post related to blogging income (spoiler: it’s in the negatives) or vanity metrics … [Read more…]
Something strange has happened. Somewhere along the way, Mr. P and I have turned into adults. Real adults. It’s not just because we’re up to our eyeballs in dirty diapers. Nor is it because we shackled ourselves to the bank are proud homeowners. It’s because we have what our family and friends have deemed “good … [Read more…]
Maybe you’re an extreme couponer. Maybe you’re an extremely stupid couponer (It takes one to know one. I know, I know.). Or maybe you take a more laid back approach, only occasionally using mobile apps or perusing weekly ads. In a lot of circles, it’s the first piece of financial advice you’re given. Shop the … [Read more…]
Would you like to be $100 richer? It’s a no brainer. If you stroll down the sidewalk and lock eyes with Ben Franklin, chances are, you’re feeling pretty good about the walk you took. But is $100 always $100?
Being pregnant can be pricey. But how expensive are we talking? It’s something I wondered often when we first found out we were expecting, so I decided to keep a running tally of what we were spending, both on ourselves (OK, mostly me, but I’m the one doing the heavy lifting whose pants don’t fit) and … [Read more…]