What a rough couple of months this has been for the U.S. financial sector. All these big companies going down the shooter (well, you know what I really mean), and these were companies we thought could never tank. A few weeks ago it was Bear Stearns, then it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Just… Read More »
When I was a child, growing up in mid-sized city across the Hudson River from Manhattan, as the oldest among my siblings, I had a lot of errands to run for my parents, grandmother and even my elderly, less mobile, neighbors. Back then, it was perfectly safe to send an 8-year old to the supermarket… Read More »
Some people who are on the brink of filing for bankruptcy often think about “squeezing” out just one more debt before they do the actual filing — maybe buying a big screen plasma television set for the living room or a last-minute trip with the Mrs. (or Mr.) or something nice for the kids. If… Read More »
Money is tight. For many families, money is always tight. Things just seem to keep coming up, even when your best intentions are to pay off that credit card or start a savings account. Some financial advisers tell you that you should pay off high-interest credit cards before you put money into savings, which is… Read More »
I come from a long line of do-it-yourselfers; my father could fix, install, invent, build or repair anything that needed doing in our house, my mother could paint, wallpaper or tile any ceiling, wall or floor with near-professional results. It must have been passed down in the genes; I’ve got one brother who’s a professional… Read More »