How Debt Started My Quest Toward Financial Literacy + MORE

(This is a guest post from NBC Today Financial Editor Jean Chatzky)
We’re right on the verge of warmer weather and, as such, wedding season, at least in my neck of the woods. If you’re planning a walk down the aisle, don’t forget to budget in time for a discussion about how you plan to manage your finances after the cake is cut…

Photo: santheo
What do you think of when you hear the word refinance? If you’re like most people, you probably think of refinancing a mortgage.
In my weekly newsletter, however, we’ve been talking about how you can refinance any debt. I’ve encouraged my newsletter subscribers to write down every debt they have, including the interest rate…

I have been in debt for over 20 years.  I have been on a mission to get rid of debt once and for all for the past 2 years.  I am almost done with this mess, and I am proud of my method.

Here is how I got out of debt once and for all.
My method is stolen, of course;  I did not make this up.  There are a ton of experts who I have paid attention to over the years, and they shaped my method…

In part one, we discussed what options are and why you might want to use them.  In part two, we discussed how to read an options table as well as how to open and close option positions.  Now that we’ve made it to part 3, we’re going to look at two ways that you can use cash-secured puts to enhance your dividend growth portfolio…

One Year Lived: A Review…and Special Giveaway
Club Thrifty – Stop spending. Start living.What would you change if you were given a chance to do things all over again? Better yet, what would you do now if you had the time and the means? Perhaps these aren’t the questions we should be asking at all…

Many instances of hacking and stealing of money on people’s credit cards has become a reality for many card and bank account holders. Although banks are coming up with various strategies to curb this menace, credit card holders continue to suffer losses due to increased non-user access. Increased cases of theft require card and bank …

I am now a staff writer for Dimespring! Dimespring is a community of people with varied backgrounds and interests in personal finance, sharing their unique points of view and advice to help you make better decisions with your money when tackling life’s financial hurdles. Check out my guest post – Savvy Financial Latina: Forming a Friendship with your Finances…

We will not live in fear
As a nation we were just rocked by yet another senseless and heartbreaking tragedy. Monday’s bombing in Boston left most of us shaken and emotionally bereft. Acts of domestic terrorism are becoming increasingly common for this country. This latest terrible event has left many of us with a diminished sense of security and a lingering question about the state of humanity…

Let’s play a word association game. I will say something and you write down, type, or remember the first thing that comes to your mind. Are you ready? Here we go: Financial Freedom. So, what was the first thing that came to your mind? Did you think about having millions of dollars in the bank? Did you think about retiring from your job? Winning the lottery? Owning your own private island where you can relax any time you like? (see above) The truth is, there are a limitless amount of possibilities for this word association game…

Over the years I have lived in many different cities and states. I seem to have opened a similarly large number of banking and other accounts as I’ve moved. It isn’t something I’ve consciously done, but whenever I move on to a new bank or service I almost always leave the old service open (assuming it doesn’t have any fees) just in case I need it again in the future…

As you  may know, April is Financial Literacy Month. I was honored when Shannon at The Heavy Purse asked me to participate in her carnival celebrating this month. Today, I’ll tell you why I care about financial literacy and how it has changed my life for the better.
If you are a regular reader, you know that up until a couple of years ago, my husband and I were swimming in debt…

From the time you’re sucking your thumb in daycare until the time you receive your diploma from high school or college you’re provided with an education to make you a well-rounded and hirable person. A person who has the skillz to pay da billz skills to achieve success in the workforce. When you’re in school and you think to yourself, “Why do I need to know this crap?” It’s because the people that have come before you believe that this is the knowledge that will help you land a career…

So if fair is fair, I can’t write a post about the financial lessons learned from my 80-year-old grandmother on her birthday, and not include a post about financial lessons learned from my grandfather on his 80th birthday. Happy Birthday Papa! I love you!
My grandfather is an adorable man who has worked incredibly hard his entire life…

After you read today’s post, please go over to Free Money Finance and vote for me in Round 4 of March Money Madness. Vote for “Steps” in Game 3. Thanks !
As some of you may know by now, April is Financial Literacy Awareness month and I have discussed some things over the past few weeks that point towards that end…

If you didn’t know, April is National Financial Literacy Awareness Month.  That is correct, it is legit!  As a way to get this on the calendar of everyone’s home, Shannon from The Heavy Purse is creating a Financial Literacy Awareness Carnival.  There are quite a few personal finance bloggers that are taking part and I am one of them…

Becoming a dad for the first time has been a great life experience, well so far anyway… It has also been a gigantic learning curve, not just Nick (our little boy), but also for my wife and I as new parents. I have comprised a list of the top 20 things I have learned since becoming a dad, hopefully you enjoy reading it, and if you have any of your own tips please share them in the comments section below…

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Who likes low prices? I know I do. Unfortunately, low prices have a hidden dark side to them. If there are two similar products, and one has a much lower price, it is most likely of inferior quality or the employees producing it were paid a lower wage, if at all.
Last week, I was listening to NPR and they were doing an exposé on the home construction industry in Texas…

 
Well another tax deadline has come and gone.  It doesn’t seem like many people enjoy filing taxes, but the majority of people get some sort of return; why is that?  I guess it’s just a tedious task that no one likes, but they like the outcome (not to mention it’s illegal to not file).
 
My wife and I are the couple that try to get our taxes done as soon as we can…

Hi everyone. Lauren from L Bee and the Money Tree taking over for Michelle. Since I know everyone can have mixed feelings about “the substitute teacher” coming in for the day I thought we’d discuss everyone’s favorite topic: developing a side hustle.
I’m not a “professional” blogger. In fact, Moneytree was the first self-hosted blog and website I’d ever done/built and it’s taken a lot of trial and error to tweak and get it to where it is now…

It’s April 17th, and that means that Tax Day has come and gone.  I hope you had an opportunity to take advantage of some of the many offers put out by companies eager to get your business, post tax filing (and be aware, there are still some ongoing opportunities, just in case you’re still weary from tax season)…