What Budget?

When most people think about resources to help develop a budget (or refine one that has been neglected), many don’t realize all the important information they have available right in their online banking account. Although I previously worked in a retail bank setting,...

Unexpected Christmas Savings

Back in the days when I was still a classroom teacher, my fellow educators used to give me a lot of good-natured ribbing over my choice to eat school lunch a couple days a week. My laughing rebuke reminded all present I was a college coach’s daughter and sometimes hot...

5 Tips for Meal Planning (and Saving)!

I’ve always been a planner, and although there are many times this has worked to my detriment, one area it has helped me considerably is in planning our family’s weekly meals. After years of providing foster care and having as many as six kids in our home, I’ve...

Summer Reading

Summer is fast approaching. Soon there will be long lazy days at the lake with nothing to do but apply sunscreen and read a good book. It is time to put a summer reading list together! As a financial planner, of course I would recommend a book about managing your...

Cut Your Grocery Bill Just By Planning Ahead

Every year I rework out budget. Last year I realized that after our tithe and mortgage, our grocery budget was the biggest expense. With a family of four, I saw this as a challenge to cut our grocery budget by 25%. Now I know all about those “crazy coupon people” who...