How to Reduce Ancillary Expenses

cut monthly expenses

Cutting ancillary expenses is one of the most effective ways to improve your bottom line. The bills we pay month after month, year after year, can really add up. Companies love to commit us to long contracts and automatic monthly payments, so we need to be vigilant about evaluating our ongoing expenses. Keeping our monthly … Read more

Check In and Win

A scale with the text Check In and Win

Dear friends, We’re fifty percent in on the January Money Diet as of this weekend. Congratulations! For the next 16 days, we’ll stick together and encourage each other to finish the challenge STRONG. We can accomplish such good things with our money this month, if we all hang in there and persevere. Win a Starbucks … Read more

How to Earn Extra Money From Home

Earn Extra Money

These tips for how to earn extra money from home can really jump-start your finances this year. When I was a magazine publishing executive managing a multi-million dollar budget, I learned a simple truth: If you want more money on the bottom line, it’s usually easier to get there by earning more revenue than cutting … Read more

How Do You Calculate Your Net Worth?

If you’ve ever wondered “How do you calculate your net worth?” we’re here to help. Completing this simple exercise is one of the most important things you can do to really improve your financial bottom line. Our family’s finances didn’t really start moving in the right direction until I began calculating our Net Worth each … Read more

Let’s Finish a Project

Close up of a woman's hands knitting with yellow yarn.

If you’ve ever thought, “I can’t stop procrastinating,” you’re not alone. We all seem to have those stalled projects we never quite get around to completing. Sometimes we just need a little encouragement. What unfinished task could you wrap up this month? Perhaps it’s the second coat of paint on the baseboard trim, or the … Read more

13 Ways to Save Energy at Home

A dozen different lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling on wires.

Figuring out how to save energy at home is a wonderful way to save money and take care of the planet. Today we’re going to explore ways to save by lowering our home energy bills. We’ll enjoy the financial rewards of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g our money, and we’ll have the added environmental benefit of reducing our own … Read more

How to Crush Debt

Crush Debt this year

If one of your financial goals is to crush debt this year, you’re not alone. The average American currently has about $23,325 in personal debt, not including home mortgages, according to a recent study by Northwestern Mutual. How will we ever accomplish the important things we want to do with our money, when we’re stuck paying for stuff … Read more