February 2012 Archives

On Tuesday, people all over America threw a massive party for Mardis Gras. Even at my office, people brought in king cake, jambalaya and colorful beads. It's the all-out celebration that happens before Lent begins the next day, which involves choosing something to sacrifice or abstain from for the next 40 days until Easter arrives. I have one friend who is giving up smoking. Another friend is quitting Diet Coke. In the past, I've had friends give up chocolate, television, alcohol and other habits that weren't bringing much to the table.

I've also heard of people using Lent as a time to give up accumulating debt with credit cards, unnecessary spending or expensive habits like eating out. If you're sacrificing spending for Lent or just want to have better money habits, read on for my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week.

With love, we are willing to try again and again to find that perfect relationship. We attempt to correct our past mistakes and try to find a relationship that works.

Yet with credit cards, it seems that we often don't want to learn from our mistakes. We don't want to find that perfect relationship balance that is right for us. Instead we take permanent sides in the battle of credit card love and hate. We either love using them or hate them and never want to touch them again.

What if instead of taking sides we take the time to learn, adjust our behavior and try again with credit cards? Using the same steps you take to improve your relationships, you can also improve your relationship with credit cards. Here's how:

I turned 27 on Saturday, and something about it felt really different from all of my other birthdays. I know, I know -- 27 isn't old at all in the grand scheme of things. And for the most part, I truly do have my act together. It just feels like a big leap from 26. I do feel very proud of where I am financially for my age. I have many other peers who are also on point with me, but I am shocked how many people I see my age or older who seem to lack personal finance know-how. They need to start reading my weekly blog posts!

If you are looking to whip your finances into gear, read on for my roundup of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week.

When your tax preparer drops the ball with your return, they're supposed to fix it and pay the extra amount, right? At least that's what H&R Block promises.

Well, I found out the hard way that even when the tax prep giant lives up to its "Peace of Mind" guarantee, you can still get stuck writing a big check to Uncle Sam yourself.

My poor husband. There was Christmas in late December, my birthday is tomorrow, Valentine's Day is next week and we have our first wedding anniversary in March. Even worse, he is in law school, so I'm trying to make things easy on him.

I'm proof that being romantic doesn't have to make you broke. If you need suggestions for an affordable Valentine's Day, read below for my list of favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week -- several of which have many great tips for this.

A lot of time, money and energy go into figuring out why people make the wrong choices when paying off debts.

For example, when faced with multiple debts with varying interest rates, people tackle the debt using one of two strategies: paying the smallest debt off first (known as the infamous "snowball strategy"), or paying off the debts with the higher interest rates first (the more logical approach, which, if followed, gets you out of debt faster).

I'm ashamed to say that, for quite a number of years, if not decades, I was a snowballer.

Full disclosure: I have never read a Jane Austen novel, my forebears were murderous mountain Scots, not British dandies in ascots, and my Old Vic was an uncle who drank.

Nevertheless, I'm hooked on the BBC period drama "Downton Abbey" and I think I know why: Downton mirrors the financial and cultural turmoil of our times. Just with better hats.

Matt Kepnes, the blogger behind the popular travel blog NomadicMatt.com, has been jetting around the world for five straight years. I received the latest issue of his email newsletter this week, and had a little smile when I saw that airline credit cards were one of the topics. Matt recommend a site I'd never heard of before called MileWise.com, which helps you track your reward programs. I know this concept isn't new, but the site does something I've never heard of before. MileWise.com's homepage says, "Search flights in cash, miles and points. We recommend the best way to pay, so you save money and earn more rewards." Yes, please!

Please keep reading for my list of my 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week!