Eating Out The Wisdom Journal has a great article on tips for eating out as a family, but only paying for one. He turned me on to a great site: My Kids Eat Free. We like to eat out, so I found some new restaurants and which days to go. We also found that one […]

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Buying a New Car? Skip the Negotiations

Posted by Madison on March 7, 2008

In Save Money at the Pump a reader, Jim, mentioned that he could sponsor my purchase of a new car. That reminded me of some great discounts that exist when buying a new car. Many are hard to beat if negotiation makes you queasy. If you are a great negotiator you can compare the discounts […]

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Weekly Roundup: Going Home (Again)

Posted by Madison on January 12, 2008

We’re going to try to fly home again today. Hopefully the weather holds out; after three weeks of vacation we’re ready to get home! I have stuff that needs to get done… as soon as I get home, I need to switch my contributions from my traditional 401k to my long awaited new Roth 401k!





Financial Calculators

Posted by Madison on January 3, 2008

In various posts I have referenced financial calculators that I like. I’m going to put them all in one post so they are easy to find for reference. As I find more, I’ll add them to this list: Retirement Firecalc can help you determine if you are ready for retirement and if your money will […]

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More Personal Finance Sites

Posted by Madison on December 24, 2007

We’re packed and heading off today for a trip down south to visit family for two weeks. It’s the first time we are flying with both boys. However, we can’t sit together because of the limited airmasks. Because they are both under 2 and traveling as infants in our laps, we only had to pay for 2 tickets […]

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Q & A: Getting To Know Me

Posted by Madison on December 6, 2007

I wanted to take some time out so you can get to know me a little better. I have a short bio about me, but didn’t go into much detail. Here’s some more things you might find interesting. Your topics cover a very broad range of personal finance, why? I like to write about anything […]

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Closet, Reader Goal Update

Posted by Madison on November 24, 2007

Last week in Taxes, My Closet, and Reader Goal I created the goal of getting 150 readers per day. As incentive, if the average visitor count makes it over 150, I will donate that many items from my closet! How did we do? Results The average number of visitors for the week of November 15-21 […]

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My Personal Story: Background, Taxes, First IRA

Posted by Madison on November 19, 2007

To help you understand where I come from and my point of view, I thought it would be helpful if you learned more about me. My introduction to money, working, taxes, and retirement accounts has all influenced where we are today and how I handle money. Growing Up I grew up in a family of four […]

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My Dollar Plan goes into Witness Protection Program

Posted by Madison on November 15, 2007

No, I didn’t witness a horrific crime… but I did get some feedback from other bloggers about using pen names. My long time readers (those who have been with me all week – thank you!) will notice that my name changed.





Car Not For Sale

Posted by Madison on November 9, 2007

Right now I’m driving a 2005 Mercedes Benz C230. I got it as a birthday present from my husband 2.5 years ago. I love it! And I want to keep it forever…. but there’s two things that bug me about it.