My Secret Home Office

There is a room in our new house that nobody – and I mean nobody – is allowed to go in. It’s so important that nobody – not my husband, not my daughter, not my son – go in this room that I actually keep it locked when I’m not using...

Saving Money for a Down Payment

My husband and I are in the midst of attempting to save $40,000 over the next ten months, as we prepare to move back to my hometown and buy a house there. We are committed to putting down at least 20% on our next mortgage; we are also committed to buying a...

How to Stop Digging that Financial Hole

Everybody in the personal finance world seems to know that step #1 to almost anything personal finance is to have an emergency fund.  But what do you do if you don’t have one yet, are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and need to get out of the hole before you dig it...

My Income Goals: Making Money Online

A few months ago, as my husband and I were busy gathering all our paperwork for our 2011 tax returns, I nearly had a panic attack. The numbers just weren’t adding up. While our monthly income had exceeded our expenditures for every month but one in 2011, we were...