Ron and Sharon started a little side hustle…that unexpectedly morphed into a booming business. Initially, all those happy customers—and that sizable bump in income—were thrilling.But in time, their growing enterprise became a 24/7 obsession. Says Sharon, “At first, it was fun telling people, ‘We’re business owners!’ Now it’s more like ‘Ugh! This business owns US!’ […]

There’s an old maxim that “Two can live as cheaply as one.” Is that true? Or is it what people used to call “an old wives’ tale”? Consider… In 2006, in a State of Our Unions report from the Institute on Marriage at Rutgers University, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead declared, “Marriage is a wealth generating institution.”  […]

It’s the time of year that people approach me for help in shoring up their finances. One of the questions they inevitably ask is, “What kind of rewards card do you recommend?” I always tell them the best rewards card I’ve ever seen is the one with the name of a wise financial planner on […]

Something about the week between December 25 and January 1 makes us reflective.  It may have to do with the fact that we’re exhausted from too many Christmas festivities. We just want to pause and regroup. Or it could be a function of the fact that many of us have the luxury of time off […]

Let me guess…you haven’t even gotten your credit card statement, but you already know it’s going to be ENORMOUS. And you’d like some ideas for finding some extra cash to pay the proverbial piper. I have some ideas. Try looking in your banking app, your desk drawer, at your pay stub, and even in your […]

You found a house!  It’s newer, nicer, bigger. It sits on a hill…at the end of a quiet street…in a great neighborhood. You haven’t gone so far as to measure for drapes. But you have imagined yourself relaxing on the back porch, enjoying a chilled beverage while watching a summer sunset. Given today’s interest rates, […]