Every July we spend some extended time DownEast.  It’s our special place and our special time. I wrote this blog a few years ago but love repeating it every summer.  Hope you don’t mind….

I’ve been on a two week vacation in Robbinston, Maine, a very tiny town with no town center and only 500 or so people in almost 34 square miles.  Robbinston is in Washington County, Maine – Downeast Maine’s “Sunrise County.”  Washington County is called the Sunrise County because it is the easternmost county in the United States.   It’s also the poorest county in Maine and among the poorest in our country.

Read more!

“Isn’t that interesting” is an attitude I try to remember whenever I have strong feelings about something.  When I look at life with curiosity instead of judgment I can stay open to consider other perspectives.  One of my followers sent me his perspective of my recent Everyday Decisions blog.  With his permission I’m sharing it because my perspective is just one of many to consider on the path to finding your own life with money.

“I liked this column a lot.  If you keep track of every dime, they add up and then you are better able to make decisions about the priorities in your life.  But this also takes me to my dissent or at least another angle on your anecdote.  It stems from, “you can’t take it with you.”

Read more!

Holidays are a great excuse to stop our “normal” world and do something different. Whether we join in the festivities or not, we can just unplug and do nothing (or at least nothing as compared to our everyday lives). If you were lucky and didn’t have to work on the 4^th of July, I hope you were able to do something different, something out of the ordinary—even if that was just watching mindless TV without feeling guilty!

Read more!

I just got back from a weekend Downeast—a remote part of Maine where not much happens.  Lots and lots of natural beauty but when it comes to the things in life that we usually take for granted, it’s a different world.  And, without all those distractions that we think are a natural part of life, it struck me how easy it is to not spend money.
Read more!

You make endless decisions every day. In fact, you make so many of them, most of the time you’re not even aware of them. If you were, you wouldn’t have enough time to live. Brushing your teeth, combing your hair and getting dressed to make your way to work would fill up your entire day! All those unconscious decisions keep you moving through your day.

But when it comes to money, that kind of thinking doesn’t always serve you well because face it, every decision you make—conscious or not–has a money consequence.  Case in point (a true confession about my own unconscious decision-making). Last week, I decided to have a spur of the moment, surprise birthday party for my husband at his favorite pizza joint.  No big deal, his go-to choice is always Antonia’s for a pepperoni pizza and Coors Light.  What could be easier?  And, what a great way to throw a family party for 15!
 
Read more!

Cash!  A recent article in the Washington Post states, “Roughly eight in 10 people carry less than $50 cash in their wallets on a regular basis, according to a new report from Bankrate.com.”  The article goes on to suggest that maybe we don’t carry cash because we just don’t have it, but I think  it’s because of our society’s affinity for using plastic—whether a debit or credit card. Face it, we’re all indoctrinated by Priceless MasterCard and Never Stop Visa ads. Why bother with cash when life is easier using plastic?

Read more!

You gotta love California Chrome–on his way to being a Triple Crown winner.  In case you missed it, California Chrome is owned by DAP—Dumb Ass Partners, two unknown working stiffs called this when they invested their last dollars into a colt they “knew” was going to be something special.  That hunch earned them over a million dollars even before it won the derby! DAP no more!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some hunches like that over the years. Some I acted on and some I didn’t. Some were winners, some were so-so and with some I missed the boat. So what differentiated them? How do you know when it’s something to move forward with or something to let go.
Read more!

Married, living together or just building a committed relationship: Money is the uninvited third.
 
A romantic dinner for two, a second honeymoon in a tropical paradise, or a mundane trip to the grocery. Three times a couple should feel completely at ease with each other. But look again. There’s a third party muscling in on your relationship. It’s not the in-laws or the kids; the BFF or the co-worker; and even through it sounds terrible, it’s not even the lover of a cheating spouse.

Read more!

Leave the past behind and find your own unique financial freedom.
Money Baggage: It’s not what you think. It’s not living paycheck to paycheck. It’s not your mounting credit card debt. And it’s not even your empty savings account. Those and all the other negative things about your money life have nothing to do with the real money baggage you’ve been carrying all your life. They’re only clues for unloading the baggage that keeps you from moving forward with your finances.

I’m actually talking about a book by Philip Stern—not the way you feel approaching the tax deadline. I may be the only person who remembers this book from the early 1970’s, but The Rape of the Taxpayer changed my life with taxes. With example after example, Stern showed that tax policy is really social policy. And as my accounting career blossomed and I grew older, I watched how this social policy changed with the beliefs of who’s leading the show.
Read more!