Budgets

In my moms group recently, I asked the question, “What are you all doing to save money?” What I meant was, “How are you saving cash around town?” The answers I got clued me in to a core shift in our experience: the economy is changing not just the way we spend, but the way we live—that…

There’s a voice coming out at the forefront of personal finance that is newly communal. Economic news and forecasts have us talking: strangers or friends, when we get together we start asking, “How are you keeping it together? Where are you shopping and saving these days? What are your tips…

#1 Take a Money Snapshot To understand your financial picture today, take a money snapshot of what you witnessed as a child. Do you remember watching how your parents spent money? Did you receive an allowance? If so, how much was it? What did you spend it on? Did your family…

My friend tipped me off to a great practice last week. She and her husband schedule weekly business meetings to discuss the business of the family. They divide their lives into three sections—family, marriage, and fun—and they approach each topic separately. For family stuff, they arrange the…

There is power in planning—you make a budget, you’ve got a map to anywhere you want to go. But, for all the plan making and budget creating that I encourage, the real power is in the honesty you bring to the table. The truth is sneaky sometimes. We think we’re speaking it. Playing our…

Dear Money Mom, You have good advice for people who have time to organize and money to budget, but things are hard right now. What do I do if I can’t pay my bills? Sincerely, Hoping for More Dear Hoping, Life is about relationships, and bills are no different. Unpaid bills are just… Read More »

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations. You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.”—Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel space If you are hoping to grow in the area of personal finance and organization,…