The Sun's Financial Diary

Last week, I wrote a post about the $70 night out I had with my husband. In the cheap night out post I knocked myself for spending a week’s worth of grocery money on one dinner and a movie. Luckily, Len Penzo of Len Penzo dot Com stopped by and slapped a little bit of [...]

It’s common knowledge that everyone should save for and prepare for retirement. Most parents would like to be able to save towards their children’s future college costs as well. Problem is, in today’s economy, the vast majority of household budgets are stretched so incredibly thin, that there’s usually not even two cents left to rub [...]

Anyone who believes in the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” will also agree that the best way to save money is by managing what you already have well. Without some kind of organization in place, this can be easier said than done. That’s where a home directory comes [...]

If your household finances have become a juggling act – or worse – have you upside down entirely, have no fear. There are many ways you can find money where there is seemingly none and, thankfully, none of them require you to get another job or give up any sleep!
The best place to begin is [...]

An old adage might say that ignorance is bliss, but in actuality it rarely is. And when it comes to your money, it never is. The good news is that with a little effort it can be easy to educate yourself and truly become your own best advisor and your budget’s best advocate.
Start by seeking [...]

If you are like me then you have thought long and hard about your 2010 budget … but you haven’t actually committed it to paper yet. Maybe you are one of the lucky few whose financial situation is left unchanged by 2009 and you can continue using your 2009 budget into 2010. But chances are, [...]

Okay, I love the holiday season. Love it. And I am the biggest sucker for holiday related consumer goods. Holiday themed peppermint flavored drinks? Yes please. Jingle bell shaped earrings? I’ll take two. The Nutcracker on ice starring that guy who did the voice of Papa Smurf? Oh, I wouldn’t dream of not buying tickets.
This [...]

Money can be stressful. From earning to managing to spending, money consumes a large part of our lives and can even define how we feel about ourselves and how others view us, and that is during good economic times.
When times turn tough, any little cracks in our money handling run the risk of becoming giant, [...]

When talking about living on a budget, people sometimes mistakenly equal it to living cheap. The fact is living on a budget has nothing to do with living cheap. Instead, it means living organized. Particularly, for those who live from paycheck to paycheck, a budget is the tool that lets them prioritize their spending and, [...]

This isn’t a topic I talked a lot here. In fact, I probably have never written about it, but last week I did write a guest post for Quicken Blog on budgeting. The post, though a short one, covers what one needs to consider before setting up a buget and how to actually create one. [...]