How to Choose the Perfect Gift + MORE

So last week I was struggling with Bell to get my phone unlocked. Eventually, after three phone calls with their customer service department, escalating to a Supervisor, and $84 later, I was finally able to unlock my phone. As I was now planning on switching phone providers, I researched my options, settled on a company that had fair pricing plans, a deal going on, and most importantly – no contracts…

Hidey-ho! Came across this article by Dinks Finance that I liked (seems like I’m always pimping them lately?), and wanted to share the questions they posed with y’all. And also answer them out loud for myself too, just to see where I personally fall with these matters…
If you don’t have a spouse, substitute your girlfriend or boyfriend or even your dog – we won’t judge 😉
Money questions for you and your dog significant other:
1…

When Sarah and I were married in 2003, we had a fairly low-cost ceremony. We rented a local Knights of Columbus hall for the reception, utilized a lot of family help in the preparation, and the total bill was quite reasonable.
The honeymoon, however, was a different story. We went to the United Kingdom for our honeymoon, flying into Heathrow and traveling up and down the country from south London to Inverness…

I called our agent the other morning to express interest in a house that  was newly listed (click here to see the listing). After a few back and forth emails, we decided we would look at it that evening (the same day it came on the market). A couple of hours later, my agent called to inform me we wouldn’t be looking at the house…

One of the most enlightening and beneficial personal finance exercises one can complete is to calculate your average monthly budget.
I say “monthly budget”, but for the purposes of this post, monthly budget is synonymous with monthly spending.
If you can calculate that, you’ll instantly surpass the majority of Americans, whose idea of personal finance is to close their eyes, spend away, and pray their heads stay above water – even without doing a bit of budgeting work…

Here we go with the first round of Free Money Finance March Money Madness (to follow all the action click on my March Money Madness category link and scroll down to read all the posts involved in this subject.) Today’s games are brought to you by the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card, which offers two weekend night certificates, each good for one weekend night (standard room, double occupancy) at select hotels and resorts within the Hilton HHonors portfolio, after $2,500 in eligible purchases within the first four months of cardmembership…

Happy Wednesday everyone! Monday I had announced a $500 Cash Giveaway, and last week we launched a Canon Rebel T4i DSLR Camera Giveaway. These both end on March 31st, so be sure to get entered if you haven’t already.
Today I am announcing another giveaway!
We are giving away five copies of the debut Album Dreaming Free from the band Bora York…

People are always trying to get creative with their tax deductions, but the IRS does not always go along with them. Filers have tried to deduct everything from prostitutes and pornography to pets and lavish holidays. But the IRS has been quick to put the kibosh on some of the truly outlandish deductions…

There are many benefits of being unemployed. Getting the respect of mortgage bankers is not one of them. I’ve been fortunate over the past 10 years to refinance multiple properties, multiple times. Economic Armageddon and easy monetary policy by the Fed is literally saving me hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest expense…

This post is by staff writer Honey Smith. Although I live in Arizona (where it’s sunny and 65 right now), this has been a nasty winter for much of the country. The storm known as Nemo led to power outages, flight cancellations, and at least nine deaths. As I write this, Winter Storm Saturn is still pummeling the Northeast, to say nothing of what the weather has been like in Chicago and elsewhere in the country…

Almost all of us have debt. We all want to get rid of that debt. The task of doing so can seem overwhelming, can’t it? However, debt elimination really involves taking a lot of simple steps. Here are 25 basic steps to getting rid of your debt once and for all.
1. Consolidate. If you have credit card debts and loans in several places a good start would be to consolidate them and reduce the interest you are paying…

While our country’s ability to borrow money is a valuable asset, particularly in times of need such as wars or economic recessions, continuously maintaining high levels of the debt in comparison to our gross domestic product is detrimental, even devastating to citizens. Government debt is simply an IOU to be repaid by future taxes upon […

Join our Tweetchat this Thursday at 12:00 pm Pacific for lively conversation and a chance to win prizes! Use #WBChat to participate.
This week’s topic: Frugal Birthday Bashes for Kids! Learn about picking a theme, saving on invites, and not breaking the bank on party favors! Share your favorite tips to save on food, decorations, and more!
For an easy way to keep track of the conversation, try using our special Tweetchat Chatroom…

Debt consolidation has become a favorite way to deal with high levels of debt, and this is especially true for credit card debt. The basic concept is simple: roll several high interest credit card debts over into a single, low interest consolidation loan. Generally, the monthly payment on the consolidation loan is substantially lower than the combined payments on the credit card balances…

One of the worst feelings in the world is to casually walk out to the mailbox one day only to find that you got a thick letter from the IRS. Millions of taxpayers get letters from the IRS each year, but one never expects it to be them, right? I never received an envelope until I started freelancing, and now I have gotten three letters in the last four years…

When I first heard Jeff promoting The Debt Movement I got excited! Why?
Because I am in the process of saving to help my fiancee pay off her massive student loan debt after we get married!
How massive? When she graduated from her four year RN nursing program she had over $80,000 in student loan debt! Crazy!
We’re aggressively working to pay down my fiancee’s student loans…

Bloomberg says that credit reporting agencies have confirmed the theft of credit information belonging to a number of well-known people, apparently including…First Lady Michelle ObamaParis HiltonFBI Director Robert MuellerMel GibsonAshton KutcherBeyonceHulk HoganJay-ZU.S. Attorney General Eric HolderLos Angeles Police Chief Charlie BeckEx-Governor Arnold SchwarzneggerEx-VP Al GoreThe hackers were able to gain access not through sophisticated computer code, but just by collecting personal information about everyone they victimized…

If you are asking how to invest a lump sum, you are probably doing a lot better than an average American household and it is a good problem to have. This is a real issue, though, because the situation happens more often than you think. Every week, there seems to be a bunch of lotto winners who don’t know what to do with the lump sum other than taking it to Las Vegas! Well, let’s talk more about normal people like you and me…

Receiving the perfect gift is awesome, but giving it can be just as rewarding. When you’re planning on buying a gift, where do you turn? Picking out the perfect item at the perfect price can be difficult. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind.
Pay Attention
If you’re planning on buying a gift for someone soon, pay attention to the details…