How to Budget When You Hate Spreadsheets
A reader emailed me last March with a question I have been asked, in some form, by every person who has ever sat down across from me at the Parma Heights library workshop. The email read, in part: “I want to be better with money. I have tried YNAB…
A Realistic Budget for Living on Disability Income
My aunt Marie is my mom’s older sister. She is 58 and has been on Social Security Disability Insurance since 2018, after a series of strokes left her unable to keep working as a hospital records clerk in Buffalo, New York. Her monthly SSDI payment…
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors Step by Step
In February 2024 my younger brother Rick tried to refinance the family minivan and was told by his Columbus credit union that his score had dropped 76 points in eight months. He had not missed a single payment, taken on new debt, or done anything…
How to Start Investing After 40 with Little Savings
I want to be honest about something before I write the rest of this article. I am 42. I left a salaried job at Allstate in September 2019 to start my own marketing consulting business, and at that point my retirement balance was $7,400, all of it in an…
How to Budget for ADHD Adults
Traditional budgeting advice fails most ADHD adults. Spreadsheets, weekly check-ins, color-coded categories — these tools are designed for brains that thrive on routine and detail, the exact opposite of how the ADHD brain works. The result is years of…
How to Save Money Without a Bank Account
Roughly 4.5% of U.S. households (about 5.9 million) operate without any bank account, and another 14% are ‘underbanked,’ relying mostly on cash or prepaid cards. The traditional path to saving — open a savings account, set up auto-transfers —…
How to Pay Off Student Loans on a $40k Salary
Figuring out how to pay off student loans on a 40k salary feels mathematically impossible some months. After rent, groceries, transportation, and basic bills, there’s often less than $200 left for student loan payments — and the average federal…