There are plenty of reasons to swear by your debit card or mobile payments application over hard currency. I don’t know about you, but my favorite restaurants rarely let me pay on pick-up when I order food. And the local grocery delivery and pickup programs don’t accept cash.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
A pair of jeans for fifteen dollars. A shirt for four. These kinds of prices can be found everywhere, from big box stores to online retailers. Often dubbed “fast fashion,” modern clothing is manufactured with an eye on producing low-cost products at high speed. But making products more quickly means cutting corners in quality that end up costing the consumer.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
Chances are you’ve purchased something in the past day or so. Even those who claim to dislike shopping are likely to make regular purchases for a variety of reasons. But how often are we buying things we need?
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
It’s the day after Christmas, and we’re in the middle of Chanukah. New Year isn’t until next week. You haven’t even considered what arbitrary, lofty goal you will spout off to family and friends when they ask about your New Year’s Resolution.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education, holiday stress
It is a well-known truth that a majority of Millennials (born 1977-1995) struggle with debt. Not including mortgages, the average debt they hold is around $28,000. That money is typically wrapped up in student loans, car loans, and revolving credit card debt.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education, generation z
Thanksgiving is often viewed as the beginning of the holiday season. For many Americans, it is both a celebration and the last moment to take a breath before the year-end run of parties, events, and family.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
If you are rolling your eyes or huffing in disbelief right now, I'm talking to you. Whether it's five cents or five hundred dollars doesn't matter. Every single time you are put away money is a step toward a better financial future.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
If you feel like your financial woes are wearing you down, you aren’t alone. Economic insecurity consumes a great deal of mental energy and generates large amounts of stress. Both can be physically and cognitively taxing. In short, your money woes are affecting more than your pocketbook. They have a direct impact on your ability to make decisions.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
Are you the spender in your family? If it isn’t you, I bet someone came to mind. For families and large households, staying on a budget takes more than one committed individual. Either the entire group understands and pitches in, or the endeavor as the whole hangs by a thread.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education
Halloween is within reach. Thanksgiving has not yet wholly entered consumer consciousness. Yet the local department stores are already loading their parking lots with storage containers and building displays featuring Santa and snowmen. It is only a matter of time before we are overcome by the jaunty tunes of “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and other tunes.
But no matter how much one might enjoy what we so affectionately refer to as “The Holidays,” this time of year also brings added financial stress for most Americans.
Topics: consumer budgets, money management, household budgets, financial education, holiday stress