Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Family and finance: Finding sensible solutions

I've wrapped up my nine-part series on family and finance over at Yahoo!'s Shine, and the final installment -- on ways to make extra cash without getting an extra job -- is currently up on Yahoo!'s home page. Missed any part of the series? Here's the scoop:

Next up: Taxes 2010 (and how to cope with an audit). Organization is key, both for filing your return and for dealing with fallout if the IRS comes knocking.

Married but separate: The case against merging your money. I wrote about this from a more personal point of view here and at The 36-Hour Day, but basically experts agree that there are certain situations (remarriage, outrageous debt, diametrically opposed spending habits) where it makes more sense to keep separate accounts.

Tricks for keeping track of your household expenses. You probably already have a system; here's how to make it even better.

How decide how to trim your budget. What stays and what goes? I interview money experts and share their 2 cents with you. (Hint: Pay Uncle Sam first, then anything that can be foreclosed or reposessed, and juggle or eliminate the rest.)

Do you talk to your kids about money? An interview with financial expert and father-of-two Prakash Dheeriya, author of the 20-book Finance for Kidz series.

10 ways to save money on your vacation. With airlines charging $50 or more per checked bag roundtrip, it may cost less to send them via FedEx or US Mail, cram all of your stuff into your carryon (it can be done -- I proved it a few years back in a piece for The Boston Globe) -- or buy small essentials once you're at your destination. Read the other nine tips at Yahoo.com.

Credit card safety for business travelers. These tips apply to leisure travelers as well. It's too easy these days for scam artists and identity theives to take advantage of you while you're away from home.

You save, he spends: How to find common ground. Are you a saver married to a spender? Then this article is a must read.

5 ways to make money without getting a second (or third) job. Last year, I wrote a post with five great tips for finding quick cash around the holidays; here are five more. It must be a sign of the times that this piece has gone viral... it was picked up by Moms Like Me, AP Sense, and ended up on Yahoo!'s front page as well.

How do you manage finances in your family?

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