Family Finance

What Does Study Abroad Cost? One Family’s Expenses and Some Money Saving Resources

June 3, 2013
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She’s off! Our daughter, Lindsey, left last Sunday to spend 8 weeks studying and interning in London. I am so thrilled that she is having this experience. We’ve spent the last six months or so learning all about studying abroad. There’s so much to consider: Where? How long? And how much? As in money. Because [...]

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What Does College Cost? One Family’s First Three Years of Expenses and How We’re Paying Cash for College.

May 22, 2013
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We’ve set a goal to pay cash for our daughter’s college education, and because I’m such a big numbers nerd, I’ve been keeping track of our costs down to the very last dollar. Since her junior year is now in the books, it’s time for a update. The Exact Breakdown Tuition/Room & Board/Books: $10,143 Tuition = [...]

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Credit Cards for College Students and Young Adults

May 16, 2013

In a little less than two weeks we’ll be putting our daughter on a plan to London, where she will be studying and working a journalism internship for eight weeks. It’s such an amazing opportunity for her, but one full of lots of details and new things to learn about. One of the many things [...]

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Blog Rewind: Spring, Finally!

May 7, 2013

I think it’s finally safe to say that Spring has arrived in Kansas City. I hope I’m not jinxing things, since we did have snow in May this year, but I think we’re now in the clear. We even had a mother bird build a nest in the wreath in our front door. She laid [...]

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Budget Hacks for the Home Office and Small Businesses

May 2, 2013
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The following is a guest post from Andrea Woroch. You can read more about Andrea in her bio at the end of the post. As someone who works from a home office, I am happy to have her suggestions. Another note: this post contains referral links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. According [...]

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How Much Does Prom Cost? One Family’s Expenses

April 30, 2013
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This week CNN Money ran an article with the headline Teens (and their parents) spending hundreds on prom. In it were these figures: The average family expects to spend $1139 on prom this year (up 40% from 2011) The Northeast average is the highest at $1528 The Midwest average is the lowest at $722 Teens pay [...]

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3 Big Problems with Your Retirement Savings and What You Can Do About Them

April 25, 2013
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Did you watch “The Retirement Gamble” on Frontline Tuesday night? (If not, and if you’re interested, it’s available to watch online.) This wasn’t one of my favorite Frontline programs, but it did raise some interesting and important points. After watching it, I dug further back into the Frontline episodes and found one from 2006 – [...]

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The Retirement Gamble

April 23, 2013

One of the nerdiest things about my nerdy self is that I love documentaries. Love them. And one of the best sources for well-done documentaries is PBS’ Frontline. Tonight’s program is a new one about America’s retirement industry and how the 401(k) and IRA fees we’re being charged may be costing us years of retirement [...]

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Take a Student Loan Quiz and Enter to Win a $50 Prepaid Mastercard

April 12, 2013

I’ve written before about our goal to pay for our kids’ college without using debt. See: What Does College Cost? One Family’s First Year Expenses and One Family’s Second Year Expenses Our daughter is about to finish her junior year so we’re nearly halfway there. But since our son is still in the process of deciding where [...]

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Upromise As a Source of Found Money

April 9, 2013

Part of my next found money update will include a check from Upromise. If you’re a parent, chances are you’ve heard of Upromise, because it’s marketed as a way to earn money for college.  Although the money can really be used for any purpose you like, as you’ll see below. There are several ways to [...]

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