My New Used Car – Almost Paid Off

automobiles
In my last post I shared that the State of Arizona had intercepted our tax refund, thankfully the problem was resolved quickly. The balance remaining ($421) landed in our checking account last Friday, so I did not pursue charging them for fees, interest or penalties. I had originally planned for our tax refund to pay off my car.  That was before I was done with our taxes.  While putting the numbers into the tax software, it looked like we would… Read the rest

Oh Boy, Arizona Intercepted Our Tax Refund Again

income taxes
I wrote about the last time the state “intercepted” our income tax return here: What Arizona did with our 2008 Tax Refund and here: Finally – Our 2008 Tax Refund Arrived.   I filed an extension for our 2011 taxes and when I bought my car off Craigslist I forced myself to get it done sooner than later since I want to get our line of credit paid off, since that's where I had to take the money from in… Read the rest

Teaching Your Children About Money

Money
In this article Teaching Children the Value of a Dollar in a Debt Filled World the author states, “Responsibly using money is one of the most important things we learn in our lifetime, and yet it's a lesson too few of us take the time to teach our kids.” My personal experience as a child with money: practically nil.  I was not given allowance, although we were supposed to get an allowance of one quarter a week.  This was in… Read the rest

Shopping for Homecoming Dresses at Nordstrom’s Outlet Last Chance

spending money
My niece and I went shopping at Last Chance, Nordstrom's Outlet in Phoenix, Arizona.  We found three dresses and two pairs of shoes for a total of: $73.89. Today I've been researching the items we bought, and if the items were bought at original retail value the cost would have been $898.98.  Wow. I have never been to a homecoming dance or any kind of high school dance for that matter. The main reason: I dropped out of high school… Read the rest