Tips to Make your Kid Financially Ready for College

Is your child “ready” for college? The freshman year of college is not solely about exploring academic inclinations, meeting new friends and discovering professional potential. In most cases, college is the time when your kid actually learns to manage money on his own. College or university might as well be the time when your child actually gains access to adult finances. From understanding quick cash loans to mulling opportunities of financial freedom, there is – at once – a lot which your child needs to learn about money while he is in college. Here are a few tips with the help of which you can actually help your child become financially fit for college or university.

Financial Freedom

First things first. We have already mentioned financial freedom once here in this article. Your child might as well access a quick cash loan to pay a semester fee when he is totally running out of cash or choose to work for around 10 hours a week (a part time job) and not only have his needs fulfilled without the help of these loans but also bolster his productivity, time-management and organization skills. Your child can either put the money (thus earned) as savings or fund occasional needs like paying to do the laundry. By encouraging them to earn money thus, you will actually help your child allocate his earnings. And, effective allocation invariably teaches him/her to establish a direct link between money earned and money spent.

Avoid Education Loans

In fact, there are a few financial experts who also opine that you should also try not to fund an expensive college experience—if you think that you will not really be able to afford it at any cost whatsoever! You should avoid taking out education loans if you can avoid it. Parents often commit the grave mistake of taking hefty loans without really ascertaining whether at all the loan will actually translate into equally promising income in future or not. Here once again, experts have urged parents to encourage their children to find part-time jobs for themselves. This can help them achieve the right balance between budget, time and money. It is also a good idea to start a credit card under the child’s name so that he ends up understanding the true meaning of good credit history.

Make them Understand the Value of Budgeting

Help you kids understand the consequences of mismanaging their money. You might as well help them prepare the budget initially – then let them take it from there. Then it’s your responsibility to leave the job of maintaining the budget to him or her. If he/she has over spent – so much so – that he/she has to run the last few days of a month on Ramen instead of proper meals then just let it be. Let them struggle with their finances so that they understand the true impact of financial mismanagement.

Are they Exploring Career Opportunities?

Besides helping your kids handle “immediate” cash needs, you should also encourage them to discover their passion so that they can take it up as a career in future. Make sure your child is duly exploring campus opportunities, turning to professors whenever needed and developing a thorough understanding of the cyclical job market.   

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Do I Need to Deduct Taxes for My Nanny?

Good quality child care for your children is something all parents strive for.  For many parents, hiring a nanny is the path they choose to get the quality childcare they are looking for.  But, the financial implications of hiring a household employee can be complicated!  One of the most common questions folks that have a nanny ask is “do I need to deduct taxes for my nanny?”  We’ll answer that question and many more in this article!

What is a Household Employee?

Before we jump into the question of “do I need to deduct taxes for my nanny,” we need to understand what a household employee is.  Let’s get the definition straight from the IRS’ website: Household employees include housekeepers, maids, babysitters, gardeners, and others who work in or around your private residence as your employee. Repairmen, plumbers, contractors, and other business people who provide their services as independent contractors, are not your employees. Household workers are your employees if you can control not only the work they do but also how they do it.

So, you can see that a nanny definitely falls into the category of a household employee.  Why is this distinction important?  Taxes of course!

The IRS Always Wants Their Cut!

The IRS tells us that any household employee which receives cash wages of $2,000 or more needs to have 6.2% withheld for social security and 1.45% withheld for medicare taxes (total of 7.65%).  This amount needs to be deducted from the cash you pay them.  Don’t forget – you’ll also have to pay 7.65% to match their half and send all that (15.3% total) to our friendly IRS annually.

If that doesn’t sound complicated enough, there are all kinds of further exceptions from there.  And… don’t forget about state taxes as well.  Also, your household employee may or may not want you to withhold federal income tax from their pay.  ARGHH!

Is There a Simple Solution?

If this all sounds like a complicated nightmare of tax intricacies, you’re right – it is.  Thankfully, there are solutions out there to help pay your nanny (or other household employee) and deduct the proper amount of taxes for you.  Who wants to spend time worrying about all these deductions and stress about making a potential mistake?

One of the best and most cost effective solutions I’ve run across is NannyPay.  NannyPay is secure and cost-effective desktop payroll management software for calculating taxes for your nanny, babysitter, housekeeper, assistant or any household employee.

The great thing about NannyPay is that it is less than 20% of the cost of a lot of other payroll services.  They have different packages to match the number of household employees you have working for you.  Their cheapest package if only $150 for 1-3 employees.  Check the coupon below to save $25 off your first year (for new customers)!  They also offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied, so you have no risk in giving it a try.

Click here for the $25 off of NannyPay (new customers only) or click the banner below:

Keep Things Simple for Yourself

If you employ a nanny, babysitter, housekeeper, gardener, maid, etc., then you need to take action.  If you pay them $2,000 or more a year, you are REQUIRED to withhold and pay employment taxes to the IRS.  Keep yourself out of trouble and ensure you are following the rules :-).  One of the easiest ways to ensure you are compliant and keep yourself off the naughty list is to use software like NannyPay to take the hassle out of household employee payroll.

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Should You Give Your Kids an Allowance?

It’s time to talk about the age old question for parents: should you give your kids an allowance?

I am participating in a “kids allowance debate,” and I’ll be arguing that you should give your kids an allowance.  The matching article that argues that you should NOT give your kids and allowance can be found here: 5 Reasons You Should Not Give Your Kids an Allowance.

I think allowances can be a great way to teach your children about personal finance if done PROPERLY.  Check out these five ways an allowance can help your kid:

1) Teach Kids The Value of Money

We have all heard the cliche “money doesn’t grow on trees.”  It is true!  Money does not just come out of thin air (unless you’re the Federal Reserve).  We all need to work in some form, shape, or fashion to receive money.  Helping kids to understand this early in life will help them to understand the concept of “hard earned money.”

2) Helping Children Understand the Benefits of Delayed Gratification

Many, many adults struggle with the “I want in now” feeling.  They go out and spend money they don’t have for things they don’t really need.  If a little bit of delayed gratification discipline were utilized, most folks would not be drowning in debt.  This is where an allowance can come in.  You kid wants that brand new sparkling scooter with a chrome handle bar?  No problem, wait a couple of weeks until you have enough money to pay for it!

3) Kids Need to Learn Simple Accounting

It sounds a bit obvious, but some kids really need practice with simple accounting such as how much they have in the wallet, and how much they are making every week.  This will help them to form the foundation of budgetary thinking when determining how long it will take them to save for their next desire.  If the parent just throws money random the child’s way, they are less likely to pick up this important skill.

4) Educate Kids on the Time Value of Money

No one said allowances have to be boring or set in stone, did they?  We make our kids allowance fun by actually adjusting the amount they get paid based on how much they have saved.  We pay them a 1% interest on their allowance they have “saved in the bank” to encourage them to save.  This helps them to understand the time value of money and good saving and investing habits.

5) Use an Allowance to Drive the Right Behaviors

No one said an allowance has to be used just to compensate kids for performing chores the last time I checked.  We use our kid’s allowance to drive the right behaviors we would like to see as parents.  Reading a book or doing something creative for an hour?  That’s one dollar!  Watching screen time, that’s minus a dollar.  Nagging your sibling or having the wrong attitude, that’s also one dollar!

We use the allowance to giveth and taketh away   This helps us to teach our children the responsible way to act and helps them to build other habits and hobbies that are positive.

Summary on Child Allowances

As you can see, there is a right way and a wrong way to do the “child allowance” thing.  If you are just straight out handing you kid money each week, you are not really using the allowance to its full ability.  If you can put in the extra work to use the weekly/monthly allowance as a tool to teach your child personal finance topics, then you can really make the allowance count.  Taking these extra steps will really ensure your child has a good footing in personal finance habits when they leave the nest.

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Moving to Oregon

Things have been a little slow around the blog for the past couple of weeks if you hadn’t noticed.  This is mainly because my time has been taken up interviewing for a new job :-).  Between flying out, interviewing, and deciding whether or not I should take it, I figure I lost at least about a week’s worth of blog-time.

Anyhow, my wife and I decided that I should take the position – so we are moving to Oregon!  Read on to find out more and why I think this will be a great move for me and the fam.  I also discuss some of the potential challenges we think we’ll face as well!

Location, Location, Location

Let’s start with one of the biggest upsides we saw when considering moving to Oregon.  Simply put, Oregon is a beautiful place for folks that like the great outdoors and temperate weather.  With the Oregon Pacific coast, the Cascade mountains, multiple rivers, and all kinds of outdoor activities, it’s a great place for the nature lover.

This is What Might Happen to You if Moving to Oregon – Maybe?

While I’m not a huge outdoor kinda guy, I guess I have always aspired to be.  Living in Oregon will give us all a chance to put down the screens and enjoy more fresh air.  It was difficult to get enough outdoor time in Southern Georgia where 8 months out of the year is feels like it’s sweltering hot.  So, Oregon definitely gets bonus points for increased quality of life.

One other thing I’m really stoked about is that we’ll be just a little over an hour away from Portland.  So, I am sure we’ll take lots of family trips there to hang out and enjoy all this awesome city has to offer.  We can also check out all kinds of sweet vegan bakeries I’ve been hearing so much about!

Making an Industry Switch

Probably the most obvious reason we are considering moving to Oregon in the first place is because of my job opportunity.  With everything going on in my current company, I was going to end up in the chemical industry for the rest of my career.  As a mechanical engineer, this wasn’t necessarily how I wanted things to end up  :-).

The new position I am taking as Director of Manufacturing Operations seems like it is going to be a lot of fun and a real challenge.  It is in an industry that I do not have a lot of experience in (highly precise robotics and electronics), so I am a bit nervous about it.  I love a good challenge to put my brain to work, and I am sure to find it here!  As a nice bonus, the job has a pay increase of 10% vs. what I am making now.  While that isn’t a huge increase, there is a lot of potential upside.

What do I mean with “potential upside?”  Well, I will get the opportunity to obtain a bunch of shares of company stock.  This could eventually be sold for lots of moolah if everything goes well and the company successfully goes public.  If things don’t work out, then at least I’ll know I did my best and won’t regret going for it.

An Investment in Knowledge Pays the Best Interest

I attended some great schools when I was younger, and my good education really helped to shape my success.  I am very thankful that my parents sacrificed so much to ensure my sister and I could get a good education.  So, good schools were very important in our decision as to where we should relocate should an opportunity come up.  Our kids are both smart, and we want to do everything we can to keep them that way.

So, you can imagine my excitement when the excellent job opportunity came up, and the area has some of the best schools in the state!  The schools are all 9/10 r 10/10 according to GreatSchools.org.  There are also several great colleges within an hour or two if we choose to put down roots here.  What’s not to love?

What’s the Catch?

So, with all of these great factors, there has to be a downside, right?  It’s true – it’s not all rose-colored glasses for us as we move to Oregon.  There are a couple pretty big downsides to the whole decision.

First of all, my wife is probably going to be making ~20% less on her hourly income.  We are not sure why the wages are much lower than Southern Georgia.  We are guessing the lower wagers are due to larger supply of Physical Therapists in the area compared to  where we are coming from.

Another downside is that the company has a pretty standard 401(k) with a 3% match.  This is a big difference compared to the 9% match I was getting at my old job.  This will result in nearly $7,500 less in savings per year for our retirement :-(.

Likely the largest downside is that the houses nearby my job are EXPENSIVE!  The houses here are basically 3x the price than we are used to in Southern Georgia.  I guess we can say goodbye to our sub-$900 monthly payment.  Most of the homes here are going to be around $450k with a monthly house payment around $2,400.  That’s a huge change for us!

Throw all those financial downsides together, and it made for a really tough decision from a financial perspective as to whether or not we should go for it.  In the end, we decided that even if it wasn’t the best choice from a financial perspective, we should give it a shot because of all of the positives I mentioned above.

Wish us Luck!

So, I’m off to Oregon to start the new job tomorrow!  We will see what the future holds – we are all nervous yet excited.  Maybe we’ll come up with some creative ways to minimize the impact of some of our anticipated downsides.  Check out the future money reports to see just how everything works out from a financial perspective!

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Today is the warmest day we’ve had thus far at 26 degrees Celsius, that’s almost 79 Fahrenheit.

Ross Castle – Kilarney Ireland

We started our day in Killarney at the Ross Castle.  Ross is actually Gaelic for peninsula, so no one named Ross ever lived in the castle.  It was actually inhabited by O’Donoghue and then the Brownes in the 15th century.  The castle is actually a tower castle and therefore wasn’t luxurious but meant for protection.  I learned that the term threshold comes from the extra height in the floor that intended to keep the thresh (straw) in the room.  The castle includes barracks that was used in the early 19th century, and the castle was destroyed as the roof was removed to avoid paying taxes (It has since been beautifully restored.).  We enjoyed our guided tour (the only way to see inside the castle) and saved 16 Euro with our Heritage card.

Ross Castle in Killarney National Park

The kids climbing a tree outside of the Ross Castle

Blarney Castle Ireland – the Blarney Stone

We then headed to Blarney to see the infamous Blarney Castle  and stone.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch, finishing our purchased food from yesterday, on the grounds outside the castle.  So, lunch was basically free for today :-).   Unfortunately the Blarney Castle is not part of the Heritage program so we had to pay 37 Euro for a family admission.

The Blarney Castle near Cork

Another view of the Blarney Castle

My daughter caught in the Blarney Castle dungeon

We headed straight to the castle so we could kiss the Blarney stone, thinking we would avoid some of the lines.  We were wrong, the line from the stone (at the top of the castle) wound down the narrow, tripping, spiral staircase and extended outside the castle.  But we waited in line and almost 45 minutes later we were at the stone.  The worst part was being stuck on a narrow step without light and with people on either side of you – maybe I’m a bit claustrophobic?  The castle is in ruin and so there is not any furniture or tapestries within the castle.  There are some signs in some of the rooms indicating what the room would have been.

I learned that a machicolation is a  floor opening used to throw stones/hot water/etc to help in defense of the castle.  The Blarney stone is one of these machocolation of the castle.  Why do people kiss the Blarney stone?  It is said to grant the kisser with great eloquence.  Because of its location, you must lie on your back and lean over the wall to kiss the stone.  Don’t worry, there is a man there to help you and guide you to the stone (as well as a photographer).  So we all kissed the stone…wonder how long this eloquence takes?

Kissing the Blarney stone, or shortly after, can you tell which one it is? I had to tuck my shirt in because it was so windy.

Our next stop in the castle grounds was the Poison Garden.  Here we saw poisonous plants from around the world, including the Mandrake and Wolfsbane – any Harry Potter fans?  Did you know that the leaves of rhubarb are deadly?  I didn’t until today.  We continued through the castle grounds and found the caves, which my kids really enjoyed!

Outside the caves at the Blarney Castle, we found 3!

Then we walked through the Fern Garden to an area they call Rock Close.  Here we found the “wishing steps,” said to grant your wish within one year if you walk up and down them backwards with your eyes closed.  I’m not sure about the validity, but I’m sure people enjoyed the sight of us trying to do this.  There was also a pretty waterfall and some beautiful flowers .  (We are not really flower people-they are nice to look at and smell but no need to examine each one.)

My daughter making her wish on the wishing steps in the Rock Close at Blarney Castle.

The waterfall in the Rock Close at Blarney Castle

The kids played for a bit on a playground, yes another one, before we got ice cream in the park costing us 7.50 Euro.  We actually had to buy the more expensive ones so we could meet the minimum credit card purchase.

My son working on his strength at the play area at the Blarney Castle.

Enjoying some ice cream – some of us more than others! Yes, that’s ice cream on their faces and my husband’s beard.  Mmm!

Cork International Hotel

Our hotel in Cork was about 40 minutes from Blarney near the Cork airport.  We thought we would check in and then head to town to get dinner, but the airport is a bit further from town than we thought.  Our hotel – Wow!  Our room is the size of 3 rooms and we have 2 queen size beds and a twin bed, 2 showers, and a Espresso machine.  This hotel only cost us $128 for the night. The kids are in love withe the extra space since we have been pretty cramped recently, so we decided to stay at the hotel and eat dinner in the New Yorker restaurant.  It was delicious, although pricey.  I had a cosmopolitan, and after 1/4 of it I was feeling a bit light headed..ha, I don’t drink much.  My husband and I split a 3 course meal and the kids shared a pizza and dessert for a price of 55.50 Euro.  I know that is the most expensive meal, but we haven’t had a fancier meal since we’ve been on vacation, so it was our chance to splurge a bit.

My cosmopolitan, it wasn’t much after this picture I had to add some water since I was feeling a bit tipsy. Lol!

Our dinner at the Cork International Hotel…it was delicious!

We headed back to room and enjoyed some wi-fi time with our tablets, and me writing these posts.  We’re scheduled to go to Wexford tomorrow and seeing a castle and some beaches on the way, but we may sleep in and enjoy the room/hotel.

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How to Be Smart When Planning a Family Reunion

When your favorite aunt calls you up and says it’s been far too long since the whole family last got together, you earnestly agree that a family reunion is in order. Then, she and your mom consult and name you head of the planning committee. This you agree to less eagerly.

Planning any group event can be daunting, especially if the invitees live across multiple states and run on very different schedules. The two greatest causes of the planning headache: coordination and cost.

As far as coordination goes, the best you can do is start planning early, establish a date months in advance and notify your fellow family members as soon as that date is picked. That way, they’ll have time to ask off from work and free up their schedules.

Cost is a little trickier. There are a lot of financial factors that go into planning a family reunion but, fortunately, there are just as many cost-saving solutions. Here are three big ones that can help you plan your next event.

1) Choose Affordable Sleeping Arrangements

If you’d like your reunion to last longer than a day, or if some family members have to travel a long distance, sleeping arrangements will have to be made.

But consider your options before you start booking hotel rooms. For example, you can save everyone money on both travel and hotel expenses by hosting the event at your house or the house of a family member — preferably the one with a pool!

If a family member’s house isn’t a possibility, though, you can always try booking a set of hotel rooms with a group deal. If Googling these keywords doesn’t get you what you’re looking for, you can always call potential hotel venues to compare group rates before booking.

Just remember, whether it’s a hotel or a relative’s home, where you all sleep is just that — a place to sleep. If you’re reunion’s done right, the guests at this event won’t be spending much time in their rooms, apart from sleeping. Don’t feel like it has to be the Ritz.

2) Use Your Local Resources

As you know, the highlight of any family reunion isn’t the hotel stay. It’s the actual event or set of events that get the family all in one place to catch up and have fun.

Depending on the span of your family reunion, your get-together event may simply be one big meal, or it may be a few meals and a fun activity — like a pool party, a bowling night or a trip to Worlds of Fun.

Wherever possible, save money by using your local resources. Look online for Groupons at local attractions. Go to the public park for your family picnic and have everyone bring a dish. Play touch football at that same park, rather than renting out a field in a sports center. Consider using an economical event transportation service in lieu of having everyone drive separately.

3) Have a Game Night In

When you’re the one being asked to plan an event, it’s easy to worry that your plans won’t be exciting enough to pacify everyone. But don’t overcompensate. Remember, the whole point is to have fun as a family. And fun is easy — and inexpensive! — to come by when you get creative.

So, rather than going out every single night of your family get-together, try having a game night in. Play cards, have board game stations, teach the kids the joy of charades, let the kids teach Grandma and Grandpa how to play a couple Wii games.

Heck, if you’re crafty, you can even make your own outdoor games fairly inexpensively. Consider putting together your own cornhole set or ladder toss game. Meanwhile, you can have some classics laid out for the kids like horseshoe, Twister and hide-and-go-seek.

And when’s the last time you had a three-legged race? You can bet you’ll get some laughs out of everyone when you pair up teams for this classic field day event.

Ultimately, you don’t have to go anywhere to have fun with your family. And by sharing one another’s favorite games, you’ll talk and laugh more, everyone will learn something new, the kids will have a blast and the adults will feel great about saving money.

4) Make Your Reunions Count

Wherever your family reunions take you, remember the most important rule: it’s all about having fun. Booking hotels, hiring transportation services, choosing events to attend — they’re all just details. So plan ahead, consider your resources, look for group discounts and book in advance.

Then, when it all gets started, keep your focus where it belongs: on your family.

Anum Yoon is a personal finance blogger and writer. She created and maintains her personal finance blog Current on Currency. You can subscribe to her blog newsletter right here for her weekly updates

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The Second Biggest Financial Mistake You Can Make

We all know that the biggest financial mistake you can make is not saving for retirement.  You’ve probably read that hundreds of times.  If you’re here reading this blog, then I think we are safe to assume you are at least somewhat financially savvy and are saving for retirement.  Now that we have that out of the way, this begs the questions – what’s the second biggest financial mistake you can make?

Many would say it’s buying an expensive car, not investing in yourself, etc.  But, I have got a slightly different take on what the biggest financial mistake could be.  This of course assumes that we are all above average intelligence here and we are following some basic personal finance tenements…  Read on to find out what I think the biggest financial mistake is.

Assumptions Before the Biggest Mistake Reveal

As mentioned above, I wanted to assume for the sake of this article that you are at least saving something for the future years (IRA, 401(k), etc.).  This article is really aimed at people that have the basics of personal finance down and are looking for a major pitfall they may not yet have considered.  Or perhaps they have considered it, but not taken a full assessment of the damage this event could have in your life as it relates to your personal finances.

Tell Me the Second Biggest Financial Mistake You Can Make Already!

OK, here it goes – in my opinion the second biggest financial mistake you can make in your life is getting divorced.  There are hundreds of reasons why people may choose to get divorced, and I don’t really want this article to be about that.  I want to look at divorce from a personal finance angle and show just how damaging this can be from a personal finance angle.

Getting married can be one of the happiest days of your life.  Conversely, divorce can be one of the worst journeys that someone will have to go on.  I have never been divorced myself, so I cannot really speak on detail there.  For those of you that have been divorced, you’ve experienced first hand just how bad it can be.

What Do the Numbers on Divorce Say?

According to the Huffington Post, divorce costs run an average of $15,000 – $20,000.  That doesn’t sound so bad in the grand scheme of things does it?  To me, this is under estimating the real cost by several orders of magnitude!!!  I decided to put my hunch to the test and actually calculate the real cost of divorce.  Let’s look at some possible “hidden costs” of divorce that aren’t measured in this headline number by coming up with a fictional couple that decides to get divorced.

Example Divorced Couple Financial Details

Here are the example details.  I’m not a divorce attorney or divorce expert, but I’ll assume everything is split right down the middle.  For this example, let’s pretend we are the husband and calculate the costs:

• The couple is ~35 years old and has been married for 10 years
• Savings of $300,000 (401(k), IRA, cash)
• Husband makes $80,000 a year, wife stays home and takes care of two kids – assume ages 5 and 7
• $250,000 home with $50,000 is equity

Cost of splitting the assets

This is the cost of splitting up the assets 50/50:

• $300,000 savings and $50,000 in home equity – loss of $150,000 + $25,000 = $175,000

Alimony

This is the amount the husband needs to pay the wife for a period of time until she can get a job.  I assumed 5 years here.

• various calculators suggest about $20,000 annually in this type of scenario – $25,000 annually for 5 years

Child Support

This is the amount the husband needs to pay the wife to support the two children.

• various estimators suggest about $15,000 annually if you watch the kids two nights per month – $15,000 annually for 13 years

The Total Cost of Divorce

Let’s add all of these divorce costs up to see what we come up with:

• Lawyer fees + Asset split + Alimony + Child support = $20,000 + $175,000 + $125,000 + $195,000 = $530,000

But wait, there’s more!  This whole analysis assumes that you didn’t take this cost money and invest it in the stock market to receive a return on your investment.  If we assume a 4% return ABOVE INFLATION on your investment, the new number looks like the following:

Yep – that’s over $800,000 you would be out if you get divorced!  This is just for the fictitional example given above.  Your numbers could be a bit better or much, much worse.  It’s no wonder that with a such a high divorce rate in the US people cannot get their finances straight!

How to Avoid the Costs of Divorce

Don’t get divorced in the first place!!

Obviously this is easier said than done and some divorces are avoidable I guess…  I’m by no means a love expert and I don’t proclaim to be.  In fact, sometimes I am a huge jerk – I’m pretty sure I’m probably below average in terms of husband material :-).  So, I won’t give any real tips on how to be a better spouse maybe other than the obvious idea to send flowers from time to time (especially if you get in hot water).  I’ll leave it up to you to figure this one out :-).

The Second Biggest Financial Mistake You Can Make – Final Thoughts

Of course you should not stay in a “bad marriage” just to save money.  No one is advocating that at all.  But I really do believe that MOST failed marriages come from both parties making mistakes.  I want you to avoid making the second biggest financial mistake you can make.

We are all only responsible for our own actions – the important thing is to do everything within your control to not screw things up in your marriage based on your actions.  The next time you think about being a jerk to your spouse or doing something just downright bad for your marriage, just keep in the back of your mind that it could really cost you big – up to $800K or more!

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How to Childproof Your Home on a Budget

If you’re expecting a little one, you may be tempted to run out and baby-proof your home before he or she even arrives. Don’t feel like you need to do that just yet, but when your baby is beginning to learn how to crawl, start looking at ways to protect him or her.

Unfortunately, childproofing your home can become quite the expense. If you have a professional come into your home and baby-proof it, it could cost up to $90 an hour – and if you get your own childproof products, the price total can also add up quickly. However, there are a lot of DIY ways to childproof your home. You can rest assured that your baby will be safe and you’ll save some money as well. Here are some areas in your home to consider baby-proofing and some frugal ideas to help you out.

How to Childproof The Kitchen

The kitchen is where you want to start baby-proofing your home. To keep your child from opening the refrigerator and pulling food out, get a couple of Command Strip hooks and stick them on the door and the side of the refrigerator. Take a rubber bracelet or a hairband and connect the hooks.

Also, consider how you want to baby-proof your stove and oven. If your oven has a lock, make sure to have it engaged at all times to keep your baby from pulling himself up on the handle and falling over. To protect your child from playing with the stovetop knobs, simply pop the knobs off and stick them in a drawer. Replace them when you’re ready to cook.

How to Childproof The Bathroom

Just like the kitchen, it’s important that you baby-proof the bathroom. Wrap a rubber band around the roll of toilet paper to keep your baby from playing with it!

If you don’t want to buy a fancy toilet seat lock, take some painters tape and secure it by taping it down.

How to Childproof Cabinets

Cabinets are perhaps one of the most important things to baby-proof because of what you keep in them. If you have door knobs on your cabinets, use a hair tie or a rubber band and secure the knobs together to keep your baby from pulling the doors open. If there are handles on the cabinet doors, place a rod or a rolled up newspapers through the handles to secure them.

How to Childproof Bookshelves

Bookshelves can be really fun for babies. Who doesn’t love pulling books off shelves and throwing them on the floor? Unfortunately, it’s not so fun for parents. To keep your child from potentially ruining your books, place a thin rubber inner tube around the bookshelf. Use one inner tube for each shelf and place it so it’s difficult for those tiny fingers to grab books and pull them out.

How to Childproof Air Vents

Those central air vents in your house are fun for your baby to drop toys in, losing that toy for who knows how long. Instead of worrying about digging a toy out of a vent, remove the vent and place a layer of chicken wire underneath it. Replace the cover. Now you don’t have to spend your days retrieving lost toys!

How to Childproof Doors

Doors are another important thing to childproof in your house. You don’t want little fingers to get jammed and you don’t want your child wandering into rooms they shouldn’t be in. To protect your little one’s fingers, cut off about a foot of a pool noodle, then slice it so it will fit over the side of the door.

To baby-proof door knobs, slide a sock over them and secure the base with a rubber band. Adults can still open the door by squeezing the knob and turning, but it should be a little more difficult for a baby to figure out.

How to Childproof The Fireplace and Radiators

Of course, fireplaces and radiators are very dangerous for babies to be around. If you rent, first ask your landlord if they will provide a cover or a shield for your fireplace or radiators. Some landlords are required to give you one. You could also place a chalkboard over your fireplace opening. It protects your child and it also gives them a place to draw and play.

How to Childproof Sharp Corners

Afraid your baby may fall and hit her head on the sharp corner of a table? You don’t have to spend much money to protect her. If you have some old tennis balls lying around, slice two perpendicular lines into the tennis balls, then slide them over the corners of your furniture.

How to Childproof Your Home on a Budget – Final Thoughts

Baby-proofing is necessary, but it certainly shouldn’t be expensive. Remember, this stage doesn’t last too long. Enjoy this time and keep your little explorer safe.

Anum Yoon is a personal finance blogger and writer. She created and maintains her personal finance blog Current on Currency. You can subscribe to her blog newsletter right here for her weekly updates.

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How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents

Discussing finances with your aging parents may be difficult. In fact, there is data to indicate that many people think it is. Seventy percent of people report that they have difficulty discussing with their family who will handle finances if older parents lose their ability to manage finances.

The issue is widespread. Sometimes, older parents are reluctant to discuss their finances because they see it as an intrusion or a possible loss of independence. They may even see it as a burden on their children.

However, conditions like Alzheimer’s or dementia can cause senior citizens to lose the ability to take care of their finances, as can sudden events such as a stroke or a car accident. If these happen, your older parent needs to know that their finances will be taken care of — and so do their families. Insurance premiums, mortgage payments and even nursing care all require consistent management of existing financial arrangements and of the finances themselves.

Becoming involved with your parents’ finances can also help stop the financial abuse that many senior citizens experience. People take advantage of senior citizens by scamming them for a total cost of more than $2 billion annually in the U.S. alone. More than half of these abusers are strangers, while the rest are typically neighbors, family or friends. These abusers might ask to be wired money for illegitimate reasons or prey on kindness by taking out a loan with no intention of paying your parents back.

Having a handle on your parents’ finances will let you see if there are any red flags like recurring charges that aren’t for legitimate reasons. Seeing how much money is going in and going out can also ensure that scammers aren’t able to take advantage of your parents. Here’s how to help.

How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents – How to Bring Up the Subject

Given the importance of consistent financial management to the well-being of your aging parents, what’s the best way to bring it up? First, plan to discuss it before there is a need — that way, their affairs can be managed in a comfortable way for all concerned.

There are five good times to broach the subject:

1) Link it to your own financial planning. You should be making financial plans relating to aging, just like your parents. All adults should have a will, for example, whether they have dependents or not. Every adult should have a medical directive. It’s a good idea for adults over 50 with dependents to keep a list of their financial obligations (assets like mutual funds and debits like mortgages, say) with their children or other trusted family member. The list ensures that the disposition of assets and meeting of obligations goes smoothly if something happens to an individual.

Therefore, you can broach the subject of financial management to your parents at a point where you’ve done this. If you’ve just made a will, for example, mention it to your parents and ask if they have one.

This method also enables you to approach the subject as a peer. This may make your parents more comfortable when discussing their financial future with you.

2) Link it to a recent event. Unfortunately, events like strokes or dementia do happen to older people. It may even have happened to another family member, a neighbor or friend. If your parents know someone whose sudden stroke made them unable to speak or remember, for example, and they had no will or no family member who could step in and make sure the mortgage was paid on time, the issue may loom large for your parents.

Use the incident as a way to gently bring up the need for information and for your parents’ participation in a plan for financial management of their affairs should they become incapacitated.

3) Link it to a family event. Having a discussion on a family event that recurs yearly is also a good idea. It could be a Fourth of July picnic or someone’s birthday. Because it’s a time that comes around annually, it may provide a comfortable setting to discuss the future.

4) Give them space when asking. Some parents simply don’t want to talk about finances even if they’re in good enough health to do so. Whether their decision is out of stubbornness, impatience or stress, you’ll need to find a way to address financial discussions indirectly.

Instead of keeping close tabs on parents’ finances, let them handle some aspects of it on their own. Gently ask them to fill out their financial information on their own time so they don’t feel pressured. This might take longer than you’d like, but with patience you’ll get the information you need.

5) Stress the benefits. It might help if you explain that sharing their financial information can help them obtain useful government benefits. Inputting their financial information on your state’s benefits websites will let you know what benefits they qualify for.

Most qualified people don’t take advantage of a number of programs out there. Only a third of people that qualify for benefits actually receive any, so having your parents’ information is important.

How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents – Family Dynamics

Be aware of your family dynamics as you bring up the subject. Your parents have to be comfortable discussing their finances and other arrangements with you and with the other people around.

If you have brothers and sisters, decide who among your siblings might be the best person to bring it up. Perhaps one sibling is an accountant, and your parents have always been proud of her money-managing acumen. If that’s so, perhaps they would be happy to plan that she would manage their finances in case they were no longer able to do so.

How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents –What You Need to Know

Once you’ve broached the subject, know what you need to know. Wills and health directives are primary. You also should know who your parents’ lawyer and financial advisers are. It’s a good idea to have a list of their obligations and assets. You should know their tax situation: Plan to see the lists and tax returns when they are still hale and hearty.

How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents – Final Thoughts

Although thinking about discussing their financial situation with your aging parents can be difficult, it’s necessary for the family to do. Think about the best way to broach the discussion, treat your parents as peers and make a plan for what you need to know.

Anum Yoon is a personal finance blogger and writer. She created and maintains her personal finance blog Current on Currency. You can subscribe to her blog newsletter right here for her weekly updates.

The post How to Discuss Finances With Aging Parents appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

The Perfect Gift Does NOT Have to Be Expensive

Did you know that the perfect gift does NOT have to be expensive?  I was reminded of this just a couple of months ago as Christmas rolled around.  I am normally one of the worlds worst buyers of presents for reasons we will get into in a minute, but I hit gold with a bit of help from my wife here recently.  

The Most Important Rule When Buying a Gift

The number one most important rule when buying a gift for someone if you are looking to save money is one that I usually break all the time.  I have a feeling that most guys fall into this category for whatever the reason…  The #1 rule is – DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!  Waiting until the last minute creates a time pressure that will many times force you to settle for a gift that is much more expensive than you would like.  If you give yourself plenty of time to find that perfect gift, you will be sure to find a good deal on a gift sooner or later.

Know the Person You Are Giving the Gift To

This is second most important rule of gift giving.  I’m reminded of one of my favorite scenes from Waynes World when Wayne’s pyscho girlfriend gives him a gunrack as a present.  

So get to know that person you are shopping for.  I mean really get to know them.  Find out their dreams, how they like to spend their free time, what they really love in life.  Obviously, for a gift to hit the mark you really need to know what that person loves.  For close friends and family, this should be pretty easy.  This is because we have typically spent years with the person.  For others that we don’t know as well, it may take a bit of brainstorming to find that perfect gift.  Don’t skimp out here!  If you find a great deal on something that the person doesn’t want, you really haven’t done yourself any favors.

Try to Combine Two or Three Ideas to Find the Perfect Gift

If you are able to combine multiple things that the person loves into one gift, then you are sure to come up with that perfect gift that will be treasured for years to come.

Let me use the recent example I mentioned above from this past Christmas.  So, we know our daughter loves anything that has to do with swords, ninjas, fights, or the like.  Don’t ask me why, she just does :-).  She’s always liked watching ninja movies and any sort of kids action movie that has fighting.  Our daughter also LOVES to play dress-up.  She has any number of outfits and halloween costumes that she dresses up with when we don’t have her occupied.  Since we know she loves dressing up and ninjas, what better gift to give her than a ninja dress-up costume?  It really only took us a minute or two to come to the conclusion on the perfect gift for her.   

Wait For the Perfect Deal to Come Along

Now that we knew what the perfect gift for our daughter would be, we were on the hunt.  The whole family was out at a yard sale around September when we ran across the perfect present for our daughter.  Because we had done the appropriate mental prep work, it practially fell into our lap.  We found a complete ninja outfit with mask, fake swords, fake throwing stars, the whole nine yards.  The price? A whopping $0.50!  Because we were looking well ahead of time, really knew what she would like by combining a couple of things she loved, we had the perfect opportunity.  We were 100% ready to jump on the deal when it presented itself and we made out like bandits.

The Perfect Gift Does NOT Have to Be Expensive – Final Thoughts

With a little bit of forethought, you can find the perfect gift for that friend or loved one for next to nothing.  You just need to keep in mind what each person on your upcoming list to buy for might love.  Also, remember not to wait until the last minute – this is the surefire way to force yourself to overpay for that gift.

As for our daughter, that ninja outfit ended up being her favorite gift this past Christmas.  If only it were this easy (and cheap) for all of the people on our Christmas list!

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