I make more money than my husband. Granted, he’s working on a Ph.D. right now so his earning potential is limited, but I’m still the primary breadwinner. But even after he is done, chances are that my earning potential will still be higher. I am in the minority in this area. But, apparently, not as much in the minority as I used to be. The Pew Research Center recently published a report about “the rise of wives” as breadwinners, and found that one in five marriages boasts the woman as the dominant earner. Looks like social change is coming.
In fact, …read more

The recent, devastating earthquake in Haiti has me thinking about charitable giving and how it fits into personal finances. Ask Mr. Credit Card wrote a post, encouraging us to give to the cause. I give regularly to my church congregation’s humanitarian fund, and I can specify that some of my donation go to help efforts in Haiti. Which is what I am doing.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but many personal finance gurus cite charitable giving as one of the most important aspects of financial planning. For giving money away! But the idea is that when you live your life acknowledging that …read more

They say that if you can stop doing something for 21 days, you will break a habit. So the idea behind The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom operates on the principle that if you can stop spending for 21 days, you might break some of your bad money habits. And it is an interesting way to get in the habit of conscious spending.
This book is written by Michelle Singletary, and encourages you to stop using credit cards for 21 days, and only buy things that are necessary for survival. That means you buy food, pay your bills …read more

Forget the cynicism of New Year’s resolutions for a minute. Even if you don’t keep all of them, you are still more likely to accomplish more of what you want than those who don’t bother to make any resolutions at all. So, with that in mind, consider what you’d like to accomplish in your financial life next year. 2010 is the start of a new year — and a new decade. You might as well put some serious thought into what you would like to accomplish, even if it’s as small as knocking $1,000 off your $5,000 worth of credit …read more

Christmas is over, and it is little surprise that the time directly following Christmas represents the busiest time for store return departments. Many people are taking back unwanted Christmas gifts. Cash Money Life has some great suggestions for how to deal with unwanted Christmas gifts:

Sell it: Just sell it. Even if you don’t get “full price” you are still getting cash you didn’t have before — for free.
Regift: As long as you don’t get caught, regifting can be a great option. Just be sure to remember who gave you the present, and try to avoid regifting to common acquaintances. This …read more

As the year draws to a close, many begin to look at the financial situation and make resolutions to improve it. This is especially true when one focuses on the build up of debt related to holiday spending. So, what can you do? Here are 5 helpful hits for paying down debt:
1. Brutal Honesty
The first thing you have to do is have an idea of where you are at. This means that you need to be brutally honest about how much debt you have, and how much income you have to help pay it off. You also have to take …read more

I recently received this question from a reader:
I have been hearing a lot about the comeback of the charge card. What is a charge card? Is it difference from a credit card?
There is no denying the convenience of plastic money. However, even though a debit card is preferred by many, the debit card lacks a number of advantages and protections available withe a credit card. Many people, though, are justly concerned about the potential for problems with using a credit card. Is there some sort of happy medium? Actually, there is. It’s called a charge card. The charge card was …read more

We often look at celebrities and other high earners and think that they must have so much money that they could never exceed their incomes. However, this is not the case. Free Money Finance has an interesting list of celebrities that made tons of money and then blew it because they failed to abide by the #1 rule of personal finance: Spend Less Than You Earn.
Here are some of the celebrities listed by Free Money Finance:

Michael Jackson
Mike Tyson
Nicolas Cage
Kim Basinger
Gary Coleman
Corey Haim

And, of course, I can think of a few more off the top of my head, including Elton John, …read more

Whenever you use plastic, you are creating a data trail for others to follow. (This can also include debit cards, but for the purpose of this post, we’ll mainly address credit cards.) Whenever you use your credit card, what you purchase goes on record. And it may start affecting your credit score. At the very least, some credit card issuers might use the information to decide whether to or not to cut your credit line. Here is something from CreditCards.com that addresses this issue:
As credit card companies continue to tighten their lending standards on card users, some are using purchasing …read more

One of the biggest news items in the world of personal finance is the fact that 2010 marks the year of the conversion to the Roth IRA. From the traditional IRA or a 401k, it is going to be relatively easy for most people to convert. This will allow higher wage earners, who have so far been excluded from the generous benefits of the Roth IRA, to get in on the action of tax-free growth. And one of the strategies that can help higher income wage earners get in on the Roth IRA action is the nondeductible IRA.
I read about …read more