When you’re trying to stick to a strict budget, a splurge can seem like a bad idea. But is it? Not always. In the middle of a big push to get out of debt, I recently bought a $500 Vitamix blender. I don’t normally drop that much cash on kitchen gadgets — in fact, I’m [...]

I’ve been trying to lose a few pounds, so I’ve recently started tracking calories for the first time ever. Yes, really. In the past, I was drawn to those diets that advertise no calorie counting — even if I had to eat grapefruit or cabbage soup all day long, at least I didn’t have to [...]

For those looking to save money, some personal finance experts recommend a strict cash-only spending strategy, sometimes referred to as an “envelope system.” Others extol the virtues of credit cards — used responsibly of course. So, which is better? I’ve used both. When my husband was in grad school, at the height of the recession, [...]

Two weeks ago, we were staring down a $57,000-plus student loan. We had a plan to put most of our extra money toward this whopper of a debt to wipe it out over the next few years. But it was going to be a long haul. Today, we are debt free. This unexpected turn in [...]

My husband and I recently made a big change in the way we handle our finances: We’re now using an airline rewards card for almost all our monthly expenses. We used to pay bills right from our bank account via online banking and paid cash for almost everything else. Making the switch to credit was [...]

I’ve been a personal finance junkie since I got my first job after college. At first, I scoured books and websites for money advice because I was bad at the basics, like paying my bills on time and saving. I got better at managing my money, but kept reading to find new tips and tricks. [...]

When my husband and I first started trying to get out of debt, I decided to try couponing. At the time, it seemed like an easy way to save a few bucks. I signed up to get deal alerts from several websites, such as Couponaholic and The Krazy Coupon Lady, and starting clipping and printing [...]

Paying down debt is kind of like losing weight or anything else that requires hard work and a change in habits. It’s easy to get really motivated at first, then lose steam once the initial excitement wears off. For example, I was really focused when my husband and I started our debt repayment push last [...]

My husband and I are credit union turncoats. When big banks began toying with debit card fees in 2011, “Switch to a credit union!” was grassroots activists’ battle cry. We once made the switch, too. But a little more than a year later, we found that our friendly credit union was, well, not so friendly [...]