Quite often, I feel a strong tug between family needs and professional needs. I work very hard on The Simple Dollar, but sometimes I would rather spend time with my family. Thankfully, by focusing carefully on what opportunities I have available, I can do both. Here are seven ways that you can simultaneously advance your

A while back, I made an offhand reference to a neighborhood summer camp: All of the children three and over are attending a rotating day camp at the different houses of their parents. Each week, one set of parents uses a week of vacation, hosts the camp at their house, and watches all of the

Last night, I was at a party for several homes in our neighborhood and I had a long conversation with a couple who were completely intrigued by The Simple Dollar. They asked me a lot of questions about it, and also asked a few personal finance questions. The one that really piqued my interest was

When I was young, my family did not have a whole lot of money for trips. Most of our “vacations” were trips to Grandma’s house – she lived a few hours away and had a big house that even had a hidden tunnel in it that let you sneak from one bedroom to another through

I spent $3 on a raspberry chocolate bar the other day. The three of us sat in the parking lot in the rain, breaking off little pieces, giggling, singing along to Gnarls Barkley on the radio, and watching the rain drops bounce on the hood. Was that $3 an effective use of money? Of course

About three weeks ago, I had a long conversation with an old family friend who finds herself in a situation something like my own. In both of our cases, we are earning more than any of our siblings, and in both cases, we are the youngest sibling in a set of them. Since she’s substantially

Over Mother’s Day weekend, my wife and son and I drove several hours to pay a surprise visit on my mother. We spent most of the ride talking about our newfound financial success and wondering what sorts of activities we could involve our child in in order to give him the spirit of entrepreneurship and

When I was younger, Mother’s Day would sneak up on me and I would often find myself scavening around Hallmark at the last minute, buying some lame Mother’s Day card that expressed a half-baked sentiment. I’d drop it in the mail, give her a five minute phone call on Mother’s Day, and then feel guilty

This was a very interesting note that I received yesterday that I felt deserved some discussion: My husband’s brother moved into our apartment complex recently. At first I was happy to have him here, but now he spends all of his waking time when he’s not at work at our place. He raids our fridge

Yes, the rumors are true: there is another addition to The Simple Dollar family coming in September. On that note, my wife and I were digging through the closets to evaluate what baby stuff we had that was actually worthwhile. Here’s the stuff that’s headed to the yard sale, even with the knowledge of another

My wife and I are buying a home this summer and we’re pretty confident on what we’re going to buy based on the local marketplace: a pre-owned four bedroom house. We’ve looked at several in our price range and we’re getting set to make a move. One major part in this decision is determining whether

A reader wrote to me recently with the following interesting query: I was wondering if you had ever sat down and done the math? It seems that exclusively breastfeeding would save an enormous amount of money. It would be very interesting to compare breastmilk versus formula costs for one year (at which point you can

As many of you know, I’m the proud parent of a sixteen month old boy. My wife and I are carefully considering the possibility of adding a second child (and perhaps more) to the family. One major part of this decision is the financial aspect of it: can we really afford another child on our

I’ve been a part of a parenting email community for almost two years now, and recently we’ve been engaged in a lengthy discussion about the degree to which our children should be aware of our personal finances. The differences of opinion have been dramatic, and I’ve collected some of the pros and cons here for

I was only seven when my grandfather passed away, but during the last year and a half of his life, he made a special effort to take me under his wing and express to me, as only he could, some of the lessons life had taught him. Some of them were hauntingly accurate; others, more

I wanted to finish up this week with what I felt was the biggest danger with financial independence. From my perspective, the biggest challenge that people on the cusp of financial independence face is the danger of a damaged relationship. Parents are afraid to let go, or push their children away roughly in an effort

For many people, adulthood is a time to find your own path and walk alone, but some parents and children have difficulty breaking the financial ties that bind and the financial dependence continues well into traditional adulthood. This is a dangerous path, fraught with many challenges for both the parent and the child, some of

College-age readers (and younger), this post is directly aimed at you. Paying for college isn’t easy, whether it’s you doing it or your parents covering it for you. Unless you were very lucky in the scholarship department, someone is facing a financial hardship from this: your parents, you, your future self, or maybe even someone

Several times during the ongoing discussion of financial independence on this site, readers have asked about how they, as young and financially stable professionals, can help their parents who have given them so much. Parents are often very uncomfortable about such situations, as they view it as a reversal of the parent-child relationship that they