Archive for January, 2008


Organize & Prepare: Do Your Taxes Quickly

Posted by Madison on January 17, 2008

I’ve come up with an easy strategy to take the pain out of doing our taxes. We have lots of accounts, but doing our taxes is actually relatively easy based on some simple organization techniques. Replacing all the forms and data with one list makes the process quick and easy. Here’s how I organize our tax work […]

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Financial Strategies for Infants and Young Children

Posted by Madison on January 15, 2008

This is the first post in a series about Money Matters for All Ages. Sixteen personal finance writers address financial issues from babies to retirement and everything in between. See the end of the article for the entire series. Photography: Six clones (clowns?) v3 by Spigoo Our oldest son just turned 2 and our youngest […]

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Ten Easy Energy Savings Tips

Posted by Madison on January 14, 2008

I recently got a mailer from Power Tomorrow, a program that encourages a “greater energy-efficient commitment in our lives.” It broke down energy use by category: The mailer also included some great energy savings tips. I’ve highlighted the easy ones here and added some additional ones:





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!





What’s Your Retirement Story?

Posted by Madison on January 11, 2008

Today rocketc writes a guest post for My Dollar Plan. He’s a dad of three who enjoys teaching his kids about money, a subject close to my heart! Find more of his articles at Rocket Finance and subscribe to the Rocket feed. Photography: Red Sunset by ponanwi I want to thank Madison for giving me the opportunity to guest post today. […]

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Deal or No Deal: Gambling With Math!

Posted by Madison on January 10, 2008

I’ve caught the game show Deal or No Deal twice over the last couple weeks and it’s driving me crazy! It’s a mathematical game but the contestants don’t play it mathematically. It’s getting to the point where I can’t watch it anymore! How the Game Works If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a pretty […]

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Roundup: The Airlines Extended Our Vacation!

Posted by Madison on January 8, 2008

We were supposed to fly home on Sunday. Luckily my mom noticed all the incoming flights were canceled and gave us a call. I’d much rather extend our vacation than be stranded in O’hare with two infants unable to get to our carseats. Unfortunately I had already spent about 2 hours trying to pack our suitcases […]

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Sometimes I Use Cash (Instead of Credit Cards)

Posted by Madison on January 7, 2008

I mentioned yesterday that I do not use a credit card for all of my purchases. We actually operate our “allowances” on a cash basis. We take out money on the 1st and 15th of each month to cover lunch, dinners out, haircuts, and any other miscellaneous purchases. I don’t use a credit card for these purchases […]

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Don’t Hate the Credit Card

Posted by Madison on January 6, 2008

We’re headed to the airport today to head back home after our 2 week vacation. I’m going to postpone my normal weekend roundup (look for it on Tuesday). I just couldn’t resist another credit card article before Debt Free Revolution and I call a truce in our debate about credit cards. A comment in an email from a reader, jejily, really […]

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The Great Credit Card Debate Continues….

Posted by Madison on January 5, 2008

Ana at Debt Free Revolution and I are debating about using credit cards in 25 Reasons to Love Credit Cards and Ways Credit Card Companies Separate You From Your Money. So far it seems as though the majority of the debate is what can a credit card do that a debit card can’t do? And it seems as though the fraud protection […]

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