Two friends separately contacted me yesterday with the same question: “I have a full time job now… what do I do?” (They both play the trombone too, it’s kinda eerie.) I understand where they’re coming from. With a sudden influx of money comes this daunting feeling that you should really take control of your finances. […]
Back to Basics #4: Credit
I have a pet peeve. Actually, I have more than one of them. My number one pet peeve? People who say “ATM Machine.” But running a close second is when people mistake “credit” and “debt” to mean the same thing. I shouldn’t get so annoyed about it. Commercials, ads, banks… everyone throws the two words […]
Back to Basics #3: Checking Accounts
Savings accounts are cool and all, but sometimes, you actually want to be able to exchange your money for goods and services. Checking accounts make this easy to do, by allowing you to fill out a little form, appropriately named a “check,” handing over some of the money in your account to someone else. No […]
Back to Basics #2: Savings Accounts
Most people have (or know they should have) a savings account. But do you know how the money in your savings account works, and earns interest? How do banks work, anyways? Banks work by buying your money from you and selling it to other people. I’m not even kidding. When you put your money into […]
Back to Basics #1: Time
People are fond of saying “Time is Money!” Usually, people say this as some excuse not to be somewhere, or not to do something. Like, “Gee Stephanie, I’d love to stay here and help you organize your sock drawer according to a precise mathematical formula, but, uh, time is money!” *runs away* But my friends […]