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Category Archives: Budgeting

Tuesday Top 5: Budgeting for Dummies

Welcome to this week’s edition of our Tuesday Top 5, our weekly tips post to help you manage your money in five easy steps.
In honor of the newest addition to Econ4U’s Money Matters section, today’s tips center on how to make — and stick to — a realistic budget. If you don’t have a budget or [...]

Shoppers Accidentally Charged Double on Black Friday

A growing number of Toys “R” Us shoppers on the East Coast have come forward to say that in the scrum of Black Friday sales, the toy retailer charged them twice by accident. Sales errors have been reported in New York, Florida, and Georgia, with more complaints coming in as consumers check their statements, but Toys [...]

Frugality Now, Prosperity Later

Are you ever accused of being a cheapskate? If so, you have something in common with Linda Beech, a columnist for The Garden City Telegram, who wrote her latest opinion piece on why she bought a used car (instead of a new one) for her teenage daughter:
Years ago, when I had two small children and my [...]

The Demise of Microsoft Money

I may be late to the party but I only just learned that Microsoft has discontinued its game-changing Money software. I’ve been using Money for years to track my spending, retirement allotments, taxable investments, and savings accounts all in one tidy package. But unfortunately for me and Microsoft, the advent of free budgeting websites has [...]

A New Website to Help Control Your Expenses

Blogger G.E. Miller from 20SomethingFinance.com has launched a new website to help young people control their spending.

MicroFrugality.com promises useful tips geared toward a younger audience of budgeters. Miller writes:
This blog will be all about the most controllable part of the personal finance equation – your expenses – and how you can dominate them!
The vision is [...]

Where To Find Free Online Finance Courses

We have written a lot in the past about high schools incorporating financial education into their curriculum and local communities offering personal finance courses for kids. But personal finance lessons aren’t just for children and teenagers—they’re valuable even for those of us long-since out of school.
Jeremy Vohwinkle at Generation X Finance has compiled a list [...]

The Best Financial-Education Products for Teens

There is a host of new financial products to teach youths about managing their money before they’re even old enough to open their own credit lines. More banks are offering text alerts for your credit or debit card if your child is an authorized user. And now there are more options for giving kids autonomy [...]

Poll Shows More Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck

A CareerBuilder survey of American workers in May and June found that 61 percent of respondents say they are “just getting by.” The increase in the number of Americans who find themselves living paycheck to paycheck is up more than 10 percent from last year, and almost 20 percent from 2007. Surprisingly, 30 percent of [...]

Retailer Tricks That Only Pretend to Save You Money

No doubt about it, retailers have been hit hard by the reduction in consumer spending. But a few new trends in retail marketing could lead even the savviest shoppers into a financial trap.
MSN Money columnist M.P. Dunleavey wrote last week about the way outlet malls use psychology to seduce consumers into paying more for lower-quality [...]

Consumer Borrowing Plummets

New numbers released by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday show that consumer borrowing decreased for the sixth consecutive month in July. A Wall Street Journal article notes that consumers are distancing themselves from debt both “by choice and by force, reflecting a combination of the thrifty attitude and tighter lending conditions that have defined the [...]