It’s not always easy to be married to me. I may have once said something like this to my husband: OK—here’s the new credit card you will now use for everything. Except for Target. For Target, use that gift card Continue Reading
Just a few more days until the 2018 finish line and no one’s leaning into the wind more than … my kids’ teachers. Let me take one minute at this very hectic time of year and tell them all how Continue Reading
Next up on the end-of-year LBYM to-do list … the 2019 budget. I know, I know. I harp on budgets a lot, huh? I’ll tell you what. Instead of a budget, we’ll call it a … budgie: Better? By now, Continue Reading
Let the countdown to New Year’s Day begin! While everyone else is distracted by eggnog and gingerbread, I’ll be sharpening my pencils, reviewing my financial figures, and setting goals and resolutions for next year. Huzzah! The end-of-year LBYM to-do list Continue Reading
I try not to buy gift cards. OK—not totally true. Once a year, for one day only, Target sells their gift cards at a 10% discount. I buy one card for the maximum total value you can purchase—$300—and email it Continue Reading
A month’s worth of expenses … done! Congratulations, budding budgeteer. Now what? The first thing you should do is figure out which of the past 30 days’ expenses, if any, might fall within your shadow budget—once-a-year payments, a burst pipe, Continue Reading
Remember when my mother-in-law was musing about the cost of her indulgent café breakfasts in Santa Fe? If you stayed with us until the end of our conversation, she would’ve gifted you this last gem: well, I don’t think I Continue Reading
Budget newbies! I see you’ve got almost a month’s worth of expenses in your little notebook there. Actual entry for me today—four deviled eggs and a packet of peanut butter sandwich crackers bought from a local butcher ($2.00). Why? ’Cause Continue Reading
My company is called Live Beneath Your Means but it might as well be called Live Without Dependents … ’cause that’s the easiest way to do it. I don’t even mean just the two-legged kind. I saw a friend over Continue Reading
An age-old question, by way of reader mail … Dear LBYM: I’m in a career where my salary is probably going to at least keep up with inflation. After staying at home with our three girls, my wife is probably Continue Reading
