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It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe… Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance. Here’s what caught my attention over the past week… This week, the blogosphere was loaded with plenty of good advice for both the unemployed and the employed. If you’re currently looking for a new Continue reading Black Coffee: Indispensable Job Advice for the Employed & Unemployed Everyday, people lose their jobs, become seriously ill, and suffer other hardships that strain their household finances. Even so, a sobering study by State Farm found that 55 percent of those surveyed don’t have a back-up plan for weathering a long-term financial crisis that may occur due to unexpected circumstances. I have three back-up plans: a) adequate life, health, home and auto insurance; b) an emergency fund with six months Continue reading 100 Words On: The Importance of Having a Financial Back-Up Plan We tend to give “luck” far too much credit for people’s good fortune. Likewise, we often blame our own personal misfortunes on bad luck. While it’s true that luck is often due to pure chance, more often than not it’s the result of something we actually can control: our mindset. That’s why it’s no coincidence that the “luckiest” people tend to be optimists who are, by Continue reading 100 Words On: Why Luck Is So Overrated Nothing is easier in life than to blame the other guy when we encounter problems. That’s because it takes real courage and integrity to look inward and take responsibility for all of the troubles that are a direct result of our own making. When we take ownership for every decision we make in life, we become powerful in the eyes of others. It also earns us trust and breeds opportunities. The Continue reading 100 Words On: Why Personal Responsibility Is the Key to Success I didn’t eat out too often as a kid, but when I did, you can bet I almost always enjoyed it. I remember Dad always used to joke that he didn’t have enough money to pay the restaurant bill. “Well, it looks like they’re going to make us go into the kitchen and wash dishes,” he’d say with a wry smile. Hey, that always made sense to me. Fast forward to last Continue reading True Story: What Happens When You Can’t Pay the Restaurant Bill Readers: Nobody has written more guest articles for my blog than my good friend, the inimitable Mr. Credit Card. Today Mr. CC is going to entertain us with another of his always thought-provoking ideas. By the way, Mr. Credit Card has just updated his business charge card recommendations for 2011, so please be sure to check them out if you’re looking for one. by Mr. Credit Card Those of you who follow Continue reading Quit Sniveling: How to Make Lots of Money Doing What You Hate My 13 year-old son Matthew had a bit of a tantrum last week — okay, actually it was a full-scale meltdown — after he found out that I wouldn’t let him ride his BMX bicycle until he got the brakes repaired. It turns out his bike brakes broke (try saying that three times in a row) the previous week while he was doing some complex stunt called, if I remember correctly, Continue reading How Misplaced Financial Priorities Lead to Lame Excuses One of my favorite fables attributed to Aesop is The Ant and the Grasshopper. I mean, really; what’s not to love? You know the story; the grasshopper spends all summer long partying it up like a rock star while the ant prepares for the coming winter by building a shelter and storing food for the winter. Of course, winter eventually arrives and the industrious ant finds himself well-fed and toasty-warm while Continue reading A Layoff Story: The Ant, the Grasshopper, the Honeybee & COBRA
President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act of 1935 in the Cabinet Room of the White House. This weekend I was looking through the safe that holds all of my most important documents, like family birth certificates, insurance policies and the secret recipe for mom’s sauce, when I ran across my Social Security card. Now I’ll wager that, if you poll a room full of people at a triple-keg Continue reading 18 Fast Facts You Didn’t Know About Social Security Numbers |
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Are Two Household Incomes Really Better Than One?
Not too long after our first child was born, the Honeybee left her position as a paralegal for a bankruptcy attorney to become a stay-at-home mom. It was a decision that we had both happily agreed to before we were even married. That course of action effectively turned us into a single income family, and it’s a decision I’ve never regretted for one moment.
Yes, if the Honeybee had remained working,
Continue reading Are Two Household Incomes Really Better Than One?