However, I am sure this doesn’t work for all shows.

Q5 I’m with the folks on paying the babysitter, you don’t know for certain that the wet diaper and crying didn’t start two minutes before you arrived or not. That said, I agree with others that depending on your relationship (now or future) with the babysitter (neighborhood kid you like, cousin’s daughter, etc.) instead of just cutting them off without reason you could, after taking care of your child, talk to them about how they missed the wet diaper and crying (even if it did just start before you arrived) and had there been a more serious issue they could have missed that as well by zoning out completely.

Pick your brokerage company and save up in a regular ol savings account until you have enough to work with them. When you’re talking about small sums of money it probably won’t matter much

I have a sponsor who donates money for art supplies. I send photos of completed work. I also have sponsors for special trips. The weight that is lifted off students shoulders is awe-inspiring. I always encourage them to “pay it forward someday”. Because I’ve been teaching a very long time, I have gotten to witness the later “paying forward”.

For that point it really varies. Some areas have pretty generous and ample charity and government aid for the homeless. Some cities have very little free assistance available compared to the number of homeless people. So it certainly is not as simple as just going to the local soup kitchen. The local soup kitchen may be underfunded, already closed for the day due to over capacity or may not even exist.

“If a homeless person is hungry, there are shelters that give out free food and offer a warm bed. Every penny you give them is being used for drugs and alcohol. Without exception.”

Really Kevin? Really?

Every single homeless person in the USA is a drug and alcohol user? “without exception” You can’t honestly believe such a thing can you?

So 100% of homeless children use drugs and alcohol? Or do you also imagine that no children are homeless?

Not that your ridiculous claim even warrants refutation, but heres just one scientific study on the topic that clearly refutes it :

American Psychologist, Vol 46(11), Nov 1991, 1139-1148. doi:

“Credible estimates of the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse suggest that alcohol abuse affects 30 to 40% and drug abuse 10 to 15% of homeless persons.”

Keep in mind that around 9% of the US adult population uses illegal drugs and 50% of the adult population are regular alcohol users.

Clearly there are drug and alcohol problems among the homeless but it is nowhere near 100%.

It is also a helpful thing to say when people call me during dinner to ask for money. If they send me some information in the mail I’ll consider them next year when I plan my donations.

Q4 Daniel : I’m not a fan of throwing extra money into an underwater house short term. Reason being if worse comes to worse and you lose your job, go bankrupt, get disabled, pass away, etc within the next 1-2 years then any money you put into that home is effectively lost.
I would instead pile up your cash for the next 1-2 years. You could also check into the HARP program to see if you can refinance to market 4% rates. HARP allows refinance for underwater homes. That could save you a few thousand of interest in the next couple years.

Q5 : You owe her wages. So you should pay her. I would however make it clear what she did wrong.

Q6 : Your key question is how to prioritize retirement savings and college savings. Your priorities should be :
#1) Fund 401k up to employer match
#2) Then fund IRA / Roth IRA so your total combined retirement savings is 15% of your income.
#3) Lastly you can fund college savings account such as a 529.

Retirement savings is higher priority than college savings. You need to retire and have money available and there are no student loans for retirement. Not everyone goes to college and there are other ways to fund college. So retirement is first and college is second.
Funding 401k up to employer match is the #1 priority since that is FREE money that you don’t want to leave on the table. You want to hit retirement savings goal of about 15% of your income so you can fund an adequate retirement. 15% is just a rule of thumb of course, but it works well for most people as a goal. We don’t know your entire picture (your income vs expenses) so its hard to give more specific advice.

If you are concerned about homeless people, then plan your donation amount and the best place to give your money. You can even plan on giving out money to beggars if you want to. Then when someone asks you for a donation, you won’t have any guilt and can make a free choice.

I just hope that people who cut their own hair enlist the services of an impartial observer who will tell them the truth about how it looks!