When it comes time to feeding your baby solid foods, your initial vision might be dipping a spoon into a little jar of pureed peas, carrots or bananas. Did you know that your baby will eat about 600 of these cute little jars of baby food? And that the cost of all these jars can add up $400-$600?

If you are interested in making a HUGE dent in this baby budget line item, we recommend you make your own baby food. Now don’t laugh, roll your eyes or start trembling at the thought of cooking – most people find it surprisingly simple and quick to make baby food. Read the rest »

When economic times are good, you may be inclined to shop with little regard for price or value. But when conditions turn sour it’s another story. As your dollars must now be stretched longer and harder, you’d better spend each of them wisely.

What brand of watch do you wear? Whether a top-of-the-line Rolex or an economy Timex, recognize both keep excellent time. The current models all do a better job than the “precision” pocket watch your Great-grand-uncle Elmo used as a railroad engineer. The only justification for a high-priced model is self-image and the illusion of prosperity. These are both overrated. Read the rest »

2009 is almost here and it’s time to wipe your slate clean, start over and set goals and resolutions for the New Year. One resolution that should be at the top of everyone’s list is to save money and stick to a budget in 2009. Now that the economy is in a full-blown recession it is important to plan ahead and stay on track with your money.

CouponChief.com offers these easy tips to stay on budget in 2009:

- Write down your budget goals: It has been proven that people who write down their goals are much more likely to achieve them. Spend some time at the beginning of the year planning a monthly budget. If there is a month where you know you will spend more money, perhaps due to an important birthday or vacation, be sure to spend less in a different month. Read the rest »

Santa must have an unlimited supply of money. How else would he be able to afford gifts for all the children of the world when we struggle to purchase gifts for the dozen or so people on our list? At a time of the year when goodwill should be abounding, our debts are the only thing mounting. Below are some suggestions for how you can reduce the cost of buying Christmas years this year.

Step 1: Start shopping early in the year. Make your Christmas list during the summer and decide on your budget at that time. There may be some additional people to add as you get closer to the holidays, but chances are you already know who needs to be on your list. Now that you’ve created your list early, begin making gift purchases at least 6 months before the holiday season. If you commit yourself to purchasing at least 2 gifts a month until Christmas you won’t feel the money crunch that other shoppers feel come December. Read the rest »

It’s amazing how many people we give gifts to during the holidays. If only we had unlimited funds and we could give generously to everyone on our list.Â

But, unfortunately, that is not the case for most of us. In these harsh financial times, I know very few people who can comfortably give as much as they would like this year.

The fabulous news is that you can still give meaningful and appreciated gifts to all the people on your list and do it on a reasonable budget. Frugal giving is the way to go this year and so is staying out of debt. Read the rest »

Many parents do not know how, do not want to, or lack the communication skills necessary to talk to their children about money in general. So when a money crisis develops, the potential to pass fearful and negative attitudes towards money to the next generation increases.

How effective are you at talking about money? What words do you use when you talk about money in front of or directly to your children? Below you will find a list of the ten best things you can say to your children about money. Use it to gauge your money talk skill level. Read the rest »

Bailout Wall Street. Bailout the banks. Bailout the people and institutions that got us in this financial mess to begin with. Is that a good idea? Who knows? Certainly not us.

We do not know enough, nor do we claim to know enough, about the current economic crisis facing our nation to be telling people what to do about it. We do not have sufficient understanding of all the interlocking ramifications of doing or not doing a financial bailout. The situation is outside our area of expertise.

What is not beyond our level of expertise, however, is what to do about the issue of bailing out our children. Read the rest »