Beyond Today: Small mindless spending adds up
Today on Wells Fargo’s Beyond Today blog, I discuss how dollars, cents and credit card swipes add up just like calories. Tracking your spending – and your calories, if you’re inclined to lose weight or tend to eat mindlessly – can help you get a grip on negative behaviors and rein in your purchases.
RetailMeNot: Your Holiday Shopping Guide
The best way to tackle holiday shopping is to have a solid plan in place. Check out my tips for making one in the video clip below!
Today’s Money: Frugal Weddings
I’m sure you’ve heard that the cost of getting married is higher than ever these days. Brides and grooms are spending an average of $27,000 on their weddings. Yikes! The good news is that there are ways to save. I went on the TODAY show to provide our viewers with some tips on how to have a frugal wedding. Hint: get a preowned wedding dress and consider getting your cake from the grocery store. Catch all my tips in the video clip below:
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Daily Finance: Can a spending splurge help you save?
Studies have shown that people who try to lose weight by dieting are more successful if they allow themselves the occasional indulgence — a cookie here, a piece of candy there — than people who swear off their favorite sweets altogether. This got me thinking: is the same true for saving money? In my latest Daily Finance piece, I explore whether or not the occasional spending splurge can actually help you save for a goal.
Daily Finance: Spring cleaning for your wallet
It may not have been a long winter (spring came about four weeks ago in my neck of the woods), but it was certainly enough time for bills to pile up in every nook and cranny of my house! So, I decided it was time for a financial spring cleaning. In my latest Daily Finance piece, I tell you how you can declutter, purge and polish your finances.
Product Spotlight: Shop-A-Long Organizer and Plan, Budget and Save Notepad
Hi everyone! To get you more acquainted with my new Mead products for Office Depot, I’ve decided to highlight one or two items each week. This week, I want to give you a closer look at the Shop-A-Long Organizer and the Plan, Budget and Save Notepad.
The Shop-A-Long Organizer is one of my personal favorites from the line, because it combines two of the things that normally end up scattered around in my purse: coupons and my shopping lists. This compact, spiral-bound notebook has the space for you to write your lists and pockets for you to store your coupons. Plus, there are number bubbles on each page that allow you to track your spending and stay on-budget. It only costs $6.99, and I have a feeling it will pay for itself pretty quickly. After all, I lost a $5 coupon for the drug store in the depths of my bag the other day… and that’s just what I lost this week!
The Plan, Budget and Save Notepad was designed to help maximize your grocery list — and minimize impulse purchases that add up and cost you decent amounts of money. On the left of the page is space for you to plan your meals for each day of the week: chicken and potatoes on Monday, a ham steak and macaroni and cheese on Tuesday, etc, etc. On the right is space for you to write out your shopping list based on these planned meals. I like to make the process a bit of a game, and see how many things I can buy that might last for two meals. (For instance, I use any leftover ham in omelets the next day.) At the bottom of the page are number bubbles to help you track your spending. The pages are perforated at the top, so once you do your planning, you can tear off the page, stick it in your wallet and go! You can get these for just $8.99 each.
I’ll be highlighting other products in the weeks to come, so stay tuned here!
Money 911: Maximizing promotions and bonuses
This morning on Money 911, we heard from a viewer who just received a raise and wanted to know how to maximize these new funds. We told him that, if handled the right way, this money could help him become a millionaire by the time he retires. How is this possible? The answer is in the video clip below.
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Money 911: Paying for college with grants
This morning on Today‘s Money 911, we spoke to a woman whose daughter is working a part-time job, but it’s not enough to cover the cost of college. To see what we told her — as well as how to set a budget, pay off multiple credit cards and improve your credit score — check out the video clip below.
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USA Weekend: Save money on (almost) everything
Do you know how to cut your cell phone bill, or the insider’s trick that can get you up to $1,000 off the price of a car? I spoke to the experts to bring you the best money savings tips — for all aspects of life. To see how to save on pets, the electricity bill and even the latest fashion, check out my latest piece in USA Weekend.
New York Daily News: New financial planning tools
Last week was the annual Finovate conference, an event that serves as a launch pad for the latest and greatest online financial planning tools. After checking it out, I can report that there are certain developments that you’ll find useful — better online planning advice, rewards for everyday spending and online financial literacy programs. To hear more about what I saw — and to find out which tools will benefit you — check out my latest New York Daily News column.