For the past couple of years one of my favorite bloggers, Rachel at Small Notebook, has challenged herself to a month of very limited spending and written about her results. Last year, I was inspired to try a challenge of my own — a summer of cash budgeting. It may seem like a month or [...]
by Karen on June 8, 2010
Paycheck-to-paycheck living has become all too common, especially in this economic climate. Unfortunately, it’s a vicious cycle, and when you’re in the middle of it, it can feel impossible to break out of it. It seems that every time you start to get ahead, there’s a car problem or a medical emergency or some other [...]
by Karen on April 19, 2010
Last week’s post about holding off on paying down debt sparked a little controversy in the comments. I wanted to clarify some of my views, because there seems to be some confusion about my financial philosophy. First of all, I am not debt free. I have never claimed to be. Like most 25-year-olds, my husband [...]
by Karen on April 12, 2010
Update: I just wanted to clarify something. We are currently repaying our student loan debt slowly but surely. Our loans are not in forbearance. We just aren’t focusing our efforts solely on debt repayment. We’re splitting our extra income between debt repayment and savings. In January 2009, we paid off our credit card debt. Compared [...]
by Karen on February 9, 2010
When I first switched to my ING checking account, I absolutely loved it. I still love my checking account with them. But we are finally experiencing some of the confusion I feared when we made the switch. Because ING Direct is an electronic bank, our account must be linked to a brick and mortar bank. [...]
by Karen on February 2, 2010
Let’s say you have $5,000 available to purchase a car, and you need it right now. You can technically afford to add a monthly payment to your finances, but of course that will take away from the amount you’re able to save each month. You need to decide whether you want to use that $5,000 [...]