My Inaugural Post

This being my first post, I thought it appropriate to explain a bit about my background and what qualifies me to give money management advice. -- When I was a little girl my parents gave me a weekly allowance, and I would immediately pull out my ledger book. (This was back in the days before the fancy ATM piggy banks!) I had 3 categories that I placed my allowance into: 1/2 of the money went into long-term savings (for that oh-so-distant idea of college), 1/4 of the money was placed in short-term savings (for the more expensive toys), and the remaining 1/4 was mine to spend at the toy store or 7-11 whenever I wanted. I didn't manage to put myself all the way through college with 1/2 of the allowance I received as a child, but I always had plenty of money for anything that I wanted (unlike my brother!)

My method is more sophisticated these days, but I still use the same basic principles and I still always have enough money for everything that I need. I have also managed to remain free of credit card debt for the majority of my adult life, and start saving for retirement and college funds for my kids. I still place my money in 3 categories to be able to better manage how I spend it. The 1st category is investments like 401k, Roth IRA, savings account, etc. The 2nd category is allocated money which is how I save for Christmas, home repairs, license plates and the like. The 3rd category is my regular checking account that contains my spending money, although I spend it on vastly different things than I used to!

I have plenty to write about in this blog, but I'm well aware that I can't think of everything so I'd love to get your questions. I am not a financial planner or advisor, and I won’t pretend that I can give you advice on what stocks or bonds to invest in to get rich. If you send me a question that I can't answer, I'll be honest, but if you have questions about things like how to budget or how to make sure you have enough money leftover before every paycheck, I can probably give you an answer that could help you out. So email me those questions at themoneymaiden@yahoo.com.