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I feel that is a fair question in light of the fact that withdrawals from the savings account were often a monthly occurrence back before we paid off our debt. At times the withdrawls were intended to make the ends meet or avert the occasional emergency; but the reality was we were using our savings...

My dad turned 70 this year, and we wanted to do something special for him. My brother, my mom, and I started planning a surprise party several months ahead of time. The original plan was to: Book a banquet hall Invite friends and family Have a band Provide a meal of sandwiches and sides Have an open...

Let's take a deeper look at the nuances of budgeting. Contrary to popular belief, there is more art than science to budgeting. The first order of business is to gain an understanding of what items contribute to a sound budget and what items need to be excluded. The primary items that must be included...

The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and we're leaving the windows open more often at night. Spring is definitely here, which means summer break for the kids isn't too far off. For my family, summertime represents a major change in our finances. Vonnie is a preschool teacher and...

My wife has an idea in her head, and when that happens, it consumes every ounce of her energy until either she finds a way to make it happen, or circumstances and restrictions put her idea completely out of reach, and crush her dream. She has wanted to go as a family to Wisconsin Dells for many years...

When my wife and I really started tracking our expenses, we found that by far restaurant dining made up the largest sum of our weekly spending. Now that we have a better command of our spending, eating out is much less common; but, when we do eat out, we set a budget for each meal. We often look at menus...

As you may have read in my last post, I live in New York City, on the island of Manhattan. It's loud. It's expensive. It's frenetic. But it's also the greatest city in the world . While I would love to have an apartment as big as those shown on Friends, I'm happy in my cozy little place. How do I manage...

The smells of freshly-cut grass, ground dampened by a sprinkler, and smoke rolling off of a hot grill mean that summer is finally here. I LOVE this time of year! In my neighborhood, summertime means the gathering of neighbors a couple of times a week for cookouts. We rotate the location, and we do it...

I was supposed to run Grandma's marathon in Duluth, Minnesota with a friend of mine in June. I had visions of also running the Twin Cities marathon in early October. I had been in pretty good shape, but I wanted to really get into shape again. It all started out great in January. I lost 10 pounds...

Summertime! That means vacation and fun and friends and amusements parks and picnics and lots and lots of things you want to remember! If you're like me, you're faced with the dilemma of being an artistically-challenged memory packrat. Scrapbooking is not my hobby - so many tools and products...

Today is my wedding anniversary. Fourteen years of wedded bliss to the most wonderful woman in the world. What a journey it has been! She brings out the best in me, and makes life interesting with every turn. We balance one another. She's spontaneous and outgoing, while I'm more of the reserved...

After eating at restaurants quite frequently during my family's trip to Florida last month, I came to the realization that the food I got at restaurants was almost always inferior to what I can make myself, but it costs a lot more. Have you ever wondered who is cooking the food at your favorite restaurant...

Raise your hand if you've ever overspent on your child's birthday party. My hand is up - guilty as charged. With movie theatres, bowling alleys, and theme restaurants all offering convenient birthday packages it's easy to overspend. The only planning required is a phone call; the only actions...

We've been to Florida before; it was a jam packed, adventure filled week, with a different theme park every day. We went to whatever restaurants we wanted to in the evenings and allowed the kids to get whatever souvenirs they wanted. Of course that was when I had the unending resources of a wallet full...

My wife and I are planning a trip to Florida in April with the kids. For the last few months, we've been running numbers, having budget discussions, handling unforeseen car repair expenses, running more numbers, having budget discussions....well, you get the idea. We're trying to keep on task, ensuring...

If you're enrolled in CareOne's Debt Management Plan like me, you keep a watchful eye on the progress tracker to see how much your debt has decreased, and how much time you have left on the plan. Like me, you may also fantasize about the day when you become debt free, 4 years and 5 months from...