More Americans than you might expect are living from one payday to the next. Some are struggling on low wages, others earn six figures and still feel fragile.
The good news: while the problem is widespread and driven by real economic forces, there are clear, practical steps people can take to build stability. Below I share recent statistics that reveal the scale of the problem, explain the main causes, and offer access to a plan you can start using today if you need help breaking this cycle.
ATMs were once a symbol of banking convenience, but today they’ve become a hidden drain on many consumers’ wallets. According to Bankrate’s 2025 checking account survey, the average out-of-network ATM fee is now $4.86 per transaction, the highest on record. In some large cities, fees are nearly $6.
If you withdraw cash often, that’s not pocket change—it’s a recurring cost that adds up fast.
To learn more about the true cost of ATM fees and how you can avoid these costs, please read on.
Continue reading “How to avoid the rising cost of ATM fees”Our second child just graduated college, and will be starting a new job soon. This is a pivotal time in her life and ours. Like many parents with college students, we have been paying for most of her living costs for past 22 years.
For the last few years, we have been easing her into self-funding her life by transitioning specific discretionary expenses to her, like clothing and eating out. Now that she has graduated and working full-time, the transition will expand to all subsidized expenses.
If you are also in the process of helping guide your child toward financial independence, then you may benefit from a worksheet application we deployed with our children when they started working full-time.
Using this worksheet, called Financial Independence Transition (FIT), can help you and your child get on the ‘same page’ about their financial future. Specifically, what they will be expected to pay for and when. Following a transparent and structured approach, like FIT, will also improve your relationship by reducing the chances of misunderstandings and disagreements about money, now and in the future.
To learn more about FIT, please read on.
Continue reading “How to stop financially subsidizing your adult children”If you regularly track your Fun Money spending but are struggling to stay within your budget, then you will benefit from my Fun Money Spend Analysis Tool.
Continue reading “Help! How do I control my Fun Money spending?”60% of people don’t use budgets to manage spending, according to the 2017 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey from The National Foundation for Credit Counseling. 
While that number may be surprising, what is more shocking is that this number has not changed much since the 2007 survey. For all the advances in technology, including spreadsheets and online budgeting software, people’s habits related to managing money and tracking spending have not really changed that much over the last decade. Continue reading “You don’t need a budget to manage spending”
If you are in the market for a new or used vehicle, then it is important to do some homework before you settle on make and model. Here are a few things to consider before you pull the trigger on buying that new or used vehicle: Continue reading “Buying a vehicle? Check the TCO”
Individuals can use similar methods employed by businesses to monetize payments made to vendors. For individuals that diligently optimize payments the results can generate hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars in extra cash with the same level of budgeted spending. Continue reading “How to maximize the money you make from payments”
Caution: This article contains graphic images that may help some people make more informed decisions about donating money.
Ever wonder how much of the money you give to a charitable cause actually finds its way into the hands of the people that need it? Well, you can find that information and most anything else you want to know about a specific charity by using independent organizations that rate the quality of charitable organizations. Two of the more well-known organizations are Charity Navigator and CharityWatch. Both have very useful websites and information to help evaluate charities. Continue reading “How to donate your money more wisely”
If you’ve been reading my recent articles you may sense a theme (or an obsession) with figuring out the costs and benefits of going to college. There are clearly benefits of going to college, but it is a ‘big money decision’ and should only be made with the appropriate level of due diligence.
While the decision about which school is the “best fit” is somewhat subjective, the cost of obtaining a diploma and how to pay for it should be viewed more objectively. Continue reading “3 questions every parent and child should answer before choosing a college”
My son will be going to college next year and we are working with him to narrow down his choices. After a first cut, we arrived at a list of 6 schools that he would be interested in attending based on location, programs, admissions requirements, and taking a campus tour. He applied to all 6, and we expect that he will get into at least 4 of them, but he could get into all 6. We now need to figure out how to help him further prioritize that list.
To help us make informed decisions, we are going to weigh both qualitative and quantitative criteria to prioritize the list. Continue reading “How to prioritize your list of colleges”
