Every year I write about creating a holiday spending plan. And it IS a good subject. The bottom line is that if you create a plan- list out who you are going to gift, your ideas, and the cost, and then add it up, it becomes a great roadmap for the holidays—you have less stress … Continue reading Want to change your gifting ritual? Propose changes at Thanksgiving →

Often, when clients come to see me, they are afraid I will tell them they can’t afford to have something they really want. They fear that they won’t be able to take that vacation to Europe or perhaps they shouldn’t be buying so many clothes. Now, as a money coach, I’m used to people projecting … Continue reading You can have anything you want… →

Ultimately, one of the most profound issues in healing our relationship to money is being willing to enter into a conversation about needs vs. wants. This subject can be deceptively simple. However, many people are not clear about what they need vs. what they want. So the end result is that they spend a lot … Continue reading How to create your own needs and wants list →

In the heavy heat of summer, sometimes even I get bogged down with thinking about money. I just want to play. So what do I do? I simply keep tracking. Yep. That’s it. When all else fails, I just track where I’m spending my money. I can always analyze it later, or adjust my plan … Continue reading Tracking your way to consciousness and peace- 3 steps →

Recently I was deeply struck by a post called The Statute of Limitations on Regret–  posted on the Get Rich Slowly blog. It was on the author’s reaction to a couple who was beating themselves up for the money mistakes they made.  And now they are focused on just getting through the day, marking time … Continue reading 5 steps to healing your financial regrets →

When we spend money to alter our mood, we are using money as a drug. And because this drug is socially sanctioned— rarely do people do an intervention on someone for overspending– this particular drug habit can become very destructive. And to make matters worse, as our society evolves to ever more electronic transactions, we … Continue reading Money as the drug of choice in the internet age →

In my post on understanding your brain, I shared six tips to avoid overspending when you are out shopping. But what about on-line shopping? On-line shopping can be VERY hazardous to our wallets, and yet we often only think about its virtues. We think we won’t be tempted to buy other things that catch our … Continue reading How on-line retailers get you to spend, and 5 ways to avoid this →

In my last post, I talked about a gloriously boring savings concept called periodic savings. It was on how to handle all those stressful unexpected expenses and avoid credit card debt. Click here if you missed it. Now I want to talk about your “freedom fund”. Some call this a “safety net”. Here is the … Continue reading How to create your very own Freedom Fund. Yummy. →

We’ve all been told to save money. But for what? For that proverbial rainy day? (It always rains where I live, by the way. Seattle.) Can we ever touch our savings? When? I find that many people have a hard time saving because they are not sure what they are saving for, and then they … Continue reading Creating Gloriously Boring Savings (and a Money Ninja trick to pull it off) →

As a money coach, I am sometimes asked about credit scores, and people are often surprised by my attitude. I feel that people worry about them too much. Credit scores (Your FICO score) tell potential creditors how good you are at borrowing money and paying it back. That’s it. So it is a bit of … Continue reading You are not your credit score (But here’s how to get your number and maybe raise it) →