Personal Finance and Family Finance ideas and articles from an LDS perspective.

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Elder Hales

Those four words, according to Elder Hales, are the key to living providently, and maintaining financial peace in a marriage and family. Beyond all other money saving ideas and strategies - the greatest is to simply cut down on spending - to differentiate between wants and needs, and control the wants.

Elder Hales teaches the “We Can’t Afford It” lesson with two stories Read more…

I recently spoke with a friend that told me he had been paying a $25 fee every time he wrote a check that bounced! To all my readers out there - oh please . . . I beg you . . . don’t pay money for something as silly as a bounced check (also known as insufficient funds - it happens with debit cards too)!

If you have the habit of running your checking account into the negative - don’t worry about it! A great way to save money is to talk to your bank or credit union and set up Read more…

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You may have heard about the Cash for Clunkers bill congress just passed - if you haven’t, and you’ve got a vehicle that doesn’t get very good gas mileage - now might be a good time for you to consider action - the newly passed ‘Cash for Clunkers’ bill could save you up to $4,500 on your next car purchase.

So, here’s the nitty-gritty on the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ bill:
Read more…

I just saved $540 - and it wasn’t with Geico. It only took a 5 minute call to my agent.

I hear the Geico commercials all the time “You can save a bundle on car insurance…” blah, blah blah. I’ve always been happy with my insurance company - my agent knows me well, and I know him. I’ve always been willing to pay a little extra for the personal touch - and it’s saved me a lot of grief in the past when I was in an accident that was no fault of my own. I had a caring agent that knew who I was, dealt with my tirade of questions, and covered my back.

A few weeks ago Read more…

Sure, the weather’s been a little a little nasty in Utah and Idaho the last few weeks - but as soon as the nice weather peeks out through the clouds, it’ll be prime time for visiting our great National Parks. Just this last weekend I went on a hike with my Father in the Alaska Basin near the Teton Mountain range in the corner of Idaho/Wyoming, and had a wonderful time enjoying the peaceful, relaxing nature our Heavenly Father created for us all.

For three weekends this summer, every National Park across the U.S. will have free admission, saving you up to $25 in fees! The special fee-free weekends are Read more…

It’s nearly half way through the year now, so now is a great time to pull out your master plan for your personal finances - and make sure your budget for the year still makes sense. One consideration to make as you update your financial budget should be rising gas prices.

Sure, today’s national average of $2.63 a gallon may seem bad when compared to a few years ago, but it’s certainly a refreshing break from last year’s average around this same time - a scorching $4.04 per gallon.

That being said, AAA reports gas prices are on the rise Read more…