Since we got married, we’ve realized that we have a huge list of financial tasks to complete. Now that we’re a family we need to take steps to plan for and protect our future. There is a lot to do and it’s pretty overwhelming, so we’re going to take baby steps and approach one thing ... Read more →
Last night I closed six store credit accounts and one Visa account that I rarely use. It’s part of the credit clean-up we’re doing to start our marriage off. I was all geared up to argue with the credit card companies and decline their repeated offers to entice me to stay. I thought it would ... Read more →
On Sunday we had our first married fight It was over money, the very thing we are supposed to be working so hard to be a team about. It made me sad. Here’s the background: when we first started our jobs four years ago, we were going through a rough patch. So when filling out ... Read more →
Dear Uncle Ray, I received your R.s.v.p. for our wedding today and I’m sorry you will not be able to attend. I also received the $20 bill you stuck in the envelope. Without a note of explanation, I can only assume that this is a wedding gift and hope you didn’t accidentally put your phone ... Read more →
Dear Mike & Christine, I received your R.s.v.p. for our wedding today and am thrilled that you plan to attend. However, I can’t help but notice that you selected three entrees for the two of you. I don’t think you’re planning to bring an uninvited guest (or at least, you did not indicate so on ... Read more →
Our wedding is coming up and today we had a long talk about the future of our financial priorities after marriage. While we have many financial goals, we feel it’s best to focus on just one in order to make rapid progress. With the recent payment a relative made on Her’s private student loan debt, ... Read more →
Recently Him’s mother and my bridesmaids hosted a bridal shower for me. It was really lovely and was attended primarily by family friends of Him’s mother. These women are very close and I’ve gotten to know several of them well over the years. All the same, I was completely floored by the lavish gifts they ... Read more →
Michael Phelps became the world’s greatest Olympian, Lin Miaoke was deemed “cute enough” for television, and a generous relative paid off $50,000 of Her’s student loans. But which one is having the Best Week Ever?? If you said “Fairy Godmother sticks it to Sallie Mae,” then you are correct, and you guess things really specifically! ... Read more →
This weekend was my maternal grandmother’s 85th birthday, and my family threw a big party for her. Our family is scattered across the country, but most of the family made the trip to celebrate with her. Her home is the heart of our family. Everyone calls it “the Big House” as in, “Will you be ... Read more →
This weekend we received our first cash wedding gift ($50). As we sat down to write a thank you note, we considered what to do with the cash. If we deposited it into our regular account, it would be gone almost immediately; probably spent on something frivolous and forgettable. So our first thought was to ... Read more →
One of the most controversial wedding traditions is the Dollar Dance (also called the Money Dance). Expected in some cultures and regions, abhorred in others, the Dollar Dance is a dance where guests line up and give a dollar to the bride or groom in exchange for a dance. Though each couple only dances for ... Read more →
A few days ago I received a scary looking letter from the IRS. It said that I had not reported some income, and I owe back taxes plus interest totaling over $600. I am every bit the law-abiding citizen, and I’m a goody-two-shoes to boot, so I was completely horrified! My head spun as I ... Read more →
In the past we have enjoyed taking weekend trips to visit friends, attend weddings, go hiking, etc. But with the increases in gas and food expenses lately, coupled with wedding expenses, these weekend trips are going to be among our first budget casualties. This weekend we had planned to spend 3 days in St. Louis, ... Read more →
It’s spring, and time to do some spring cleaning of your finances. We do almost all our personal finance tasks in our home office, so for us this means spring cleaning the office. Ours is currently a wintery mess of piles of documents, empty paper sorters, packing from electronics, and craft supplies. If your office ... Read more →
I’ve written before about how much i love our auto insurance company, Country Companies. Now I can add another reason to my list: an engaged couple’s discount! A while ago, I notified our agent that we were engaged. She said that if I called her back six months before the wedding, she could give us ... Read more →
When planning a wedding, caterers will often encourage the couple to rent many of the necessary items such as plates, glassware, linens, etc (when the venue does not already provide them). They typically rent those items from a third-party rental company, pad the fee with a markup, and may even receive a kick-back from the ... Read more →
I haven’t posted in a while. It’s not because I was too busy or anything. I’ve just been rather uninspired about personal finance, and I didn’t want to write a half-hearted post. But why was I uninspired? When we first started blogging, our metaphorical financial house was on fire. I was on the scene, blogging ... Read more →
Several wedding vendors have sent us cost estimates that include the tip, then tax the entire amount (including the tip). Is it normal/legal for them to tax the tip? Someone who knows the answer, please let me know!
I just discovered we made a stupid mistake. We missed the deadline to apply for travel insurance. WE are planning to spend a few days of our honeymoon in Turkey, a country that has seen a recent surge in terrorist threats and activity. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we won’t be affected, but we ... Read more →
photo: How I Met Your Mother website Last week on How I Met Your Mother, Lily and Marshall considered getting a divorce “on paper” for financial reasons. Lily had bad credit, so she proposed that Marshall divorce her so he could apply for a mortgage without her. The odd thing about this scenario is that ... Read more →