The average family will spend about $3,000 on food and lodging for a two-week vacation. Transportation makes the total even higher. Is there a way to cut those costs a little without spoiling the trip? Sure! In fact, some money-saving ideas will actually help you have a more enjoyable trip. Some of your best opportunities to save happen before you...

"My husband and I currently have $11,500 in a savings account in a credit union earning 1% interest with no minimum balance restrictions. Our income was unsteady so we liked the flexibility of this account. We have stable income now and are looking at the money market account program. The bank thinks we should switch as it would earn us 1.25% with...

Adapting business tools to your home finances often helps take the emotion of out of a decision so that you can make a logical choice. The idea of ROI (Return On Investment) is fairly simple. A business investment should save or make money. The ROI calculation is an attempt to determine how much each dollar invested will return. If a business has...

My husband and I have accumulated some credit card debt, a personal loan from my mom, and a home equity line of credit.Recently getting married, purchasing our first home, and some medical bills have really put a hurting on our budget. Some advice that I have read says that one should pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first. Other...

Can you help me? My husband and I would like to buy our own home to live in. How do we know if we can afford one or not? ~ Donna With mortgage rates at historically low levels and home prices increasing, many people are trying to decide whether this is the time to buy their first home. Donna's smart! It's always better to find out if you can...

We have 4 grand children that we have been purchasing stock for at Christmas for the last 10 years.  The stocks are valued from $500 to $3,000. The brokerage house fees were running too high even though we had them under our account. We have just liquidated the accounts and our goal is to look for the best place to invest this money and continuing...

It can happen to even the most organized shopper. You make your list and check it twice. You shop carefully and diligently. Then it happens. Just when you think your Christmas shopping is done and you can relax, you suddenly remember that one person whose name wasn’t on your list but should have been. That person could be your babysitter, your...