Top Ten Web-Based Money Management Tools

Many of the best budgeting software tools are totally free. We list the top 10 options for paid and free apps. The #1 budgeting app is totally free. Each decade brings new and innovative ways to manage your money. In the 1990s, you could use simple PC-based software to track basic income and expenses. These […]


Should You Pay Your Children for Good Grades?

This is a guest post from Suba Iyer. I grew up in India. We didn’t have a concept of weekly/monthly allowances. If we needed anything we would ask our parents. If they felt it was reasonable and affordable for them, they would buy us the stuff. We never handled cash on our own other than […]


Factoring in the Value of Benefits in Your Compensation

This is a guest post from Suba Iyer. When I graduated and started looking for my first job a few years ago, I ended up with 2 jobs – one in a very prestigious University and another in private sector. The decision was quite easy, the University offered me $52, 000 after negotiation and the […]


Renting a Dress for a Night and a Car by the Hour

This is a guest post from Jennifer Gregory. The first thing that popped into my mind when I received the invitation for a New Year’s Eve party was that I needed a new dress. I spent several days scouring the stores for the perfect dress and blew my clothing budget on the perfect black dress, […]


Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University: Remixed

This is a guest post from Jessica Ward. Nationally-syndicated radio host Dave Ramsey‘s financial management program “Financial Peace University” (FPU) has undergone a makeover. The new course materials launched August 1 this year and, as a facilitator for a class beginning in September, I had the opportunity to compare the new program to the last […]


How Volunteering Pays Off

This is a guest post from Lucy Lazarony. Do you love the arts but can’t afford the cost of season tickets to your favorite museum, theatre, or performing arts center? Consider volunteering. I’ve started volunteering at a local cultural arts center. And it’s been a great experience for me after just one day. On my […]


Salvage: Your Home Improvement Secret Weapon

This is a guest post from Jessica Ward. Many of our readers have used Freecycle, Craigslist, and thrift shops for day-to-day needs, but have you ever employed these techniques on a DIY home-improvement project? This summer, I replaced two floors in my house with Brazilian cherry laminate flooring, as well as moldings in both rooms, […]


Teaching Your Kids Financial Literacy Without Going Broke Yourself

This is a guest post from Geoff Williams of CardRatings.com This month is National Financial Literacy Month, so say the people who make up the months. I think it’s a good argument that every month should be Financial Literacy Month, but, hey, April is probably as good a time as any for parents to think […]


How to Give Your Budget a Tune-Up

This is a guest post from Jessica Ward. It happens to many of us: we design a lean, mean budget, but over time, like a worn-out rubber band, it begins to lose its pull. Sure, it’s still there and still performing its duty, but it isn’t the well-tuned machine it used to be. You might […]


Credit Card Companies are Wooing the Wealthy

This is a guest post from Jim Sloan. If your mailbox is filling up these days with zero percent balance transfer offers and other goodies from credit card companies, consider yourself among the elite. Credit card companies, stung by new federal regulations that are preventing them from making money through punitive interest rate increases and […]