Why I Don’t Require My Children to Tithe or Make Offerings

Based on what I’ve read in articles and books about children and allowance, encouraging and/or requiring one’s child to set aside a portion of their allowance for charity or tithing is a common practice. I make no judgement on this practice. I respect each parent’s right to choose how to teach their children how to [...]

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Wants vs Needs

I was planning another installment in my series about kids’ allowances [the first being Allowance -- Yes? No? and Why?] but I’ve decided I need to backtrack a bit and cover some background philosophical ideas first.
I believe that the foundation of a healthy relationship to money (and healthy interpersonal relationships, also) is a solid understanding [...]

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Black Sheep PF Blogger

Since starting this blog almost 2 months ago, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading other Personal Finance blogs. It’s been fun; it’s been informative; and it’s been an eye-opening experience.
After this morning’s visit to my Google Reader, I’m come to the conclusion that I’m definitely a black sheep among the more popular personal [...]

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Allowance — Yes? No? and Why?

[This is a big subject and I have much to say -- more than I can organize into a single blog post. Below is the first of what I intend to be at least a 2-part series on the subject of allowance. This first post is an outline and explanation of my theories and thoughts [...]

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YNAB Budgeting Software – Update & Categories

Update on my YNAB Purchase
A week ago last Thursday (Day 40) I purchased and downloaded the You Need A Budget budgeting software. I will admit that despite my initial excitement about the program and determination to get the most out of it, the process has not been without hitches. I’d call myself fairly technically inclined [...]

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Our Debt Load

I’ve read a lot of personal finance blogs that are dedicated primarily to tracking the blogger’s journey out from under overwhelming debts. I applaud both the impetus (shedding debt) and the effort of journaling their trek out of the abyss.
There but for the grace of God…
In our case, despite daily credit card use, The Husband [...]

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Brand Loyalty — Is It a Sin?

It would appear that any number of Personal Finance bloggers consider brand loyalty to be a mortal sin. At the risk of being blacklisted for saying so, I don’t agree.
First, let me make it perfectly clear — I’m talking about brand loyalty not a Name-Brand fixation. To me, buying a product just because it’s “the [...]

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Programmable Thermostats

Allison over at Queercents just posted about Programmable thermostats. As autumn is settling here and our ski season is now officially open, this is a wonderfully timely topic.I love our programmable thermostat. Installing ours was one of the first things I did when we bought our house. I don’t remember what I paid but I [...]

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