Television commercials can no longer be louder than the shows they interrupt. Sick of your kids turning off the tv only to ask for new toys? Well, that will still happen but now at least the FCC banned commercials -- the ones toy and cereal companies create to zap their marketing messages directly to your [...]
Teach your kids about tradition - and that television commercials are for suckers. If your kids have a gift list a mile long of all store-bought stuff, it's time to curl up by the fire and tell everyone the modern day holiday story: How Retailers Hijacked Christmas: The Myth About Debt Being Normal and Presents Mandatory. Because the only thing normal and mandatory at holiday time, people, [...]
Here are homemade holiday gift ideas teachers will value. Your kids are probably right now talking about what they'll give their teachers for the holidays and if not, well, you'd better get busy. Otherwise you'll be the only parent who doesn't bribe - ahem - bestow holiday cheer upon these people. (Unless our kids [...]
Families of four spend $756 each year on cereal and families of five spend $833. We're going to do something really nice here and not - in this post anyway - include how much money couples withoutkids spend on movies and vacations. It's too late for us to turn back and be carefree with our cash so [...]
They need the perfect amount of free time. BY THE HOME ECONOMIST Dr. Elizabeth Leight has four kids, including two teenage girls ages 14 and 15 years old. Naturally, their calendars packed with schoolwork, sports and social engagements. So when it comes time to booking an appointment at the orthodontist or an enrichment class after school, [...]
Protect your kid from a having a credit catastrophe before reaching puberty. By THE HOME ECONOMIST Protect your kid from having a credit crisis before puberty As if there wasn't enough paranoia associated with parenting, scammers are now out there stealing our kids' Social Security numbers and reselling them. How? They promise to help people with poor credit start anew. Anyone [...]
You've donated your time, your money, and your sanity. Some of it's actually tax deductible. If the amount you owe in taxes this year is making you want to stop volunteering and start earning a paycheck then remember this: the more money you make the more you pay the IRS. So while yes, the work you do for [...]
Allowances, jobs, saving and spending, the lastest push in education is to get economics in schools. Here's what you need to do at home. BY THE HOME ECONOMIST This week in her after-school program, teen coordinator for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Miami Diana Perez will introduce to junior-high kids a few real-life financial skills [...]