With school spring breaks in the next few weeks and summer right around the corner, you may be planning upcoming travel with your kids. 

In honor of Women's Month, I was joined on the March Financial Friday Community Panel by special guest, Henrietta Golding. 

This weekend is the 2nd Annual Waccamaw Sportsmen's Expo in Downtown Conway. The Expo focuses on the outdoor lifestyle along the banks of the Waccamaw River. 

The event kicks off on Friday, March 24, as DockDogs bring their high-flying competition to Conway's Town Green at 200 Laurel Street. On Saturday, March 25, the DockDogs events continue all day, and the full Expo opens at the Conway Marina at 4 Elm Street. Saturday's busy schedule of activities includes vendors, music, cooking demonstrations, a reptile program, an outdoor quick draw event, a wildlife rehabilitation session, and much more.

As a self-proclaimed "SportsWOMAN," I'm super excited about the event and wanted to give you all tips to navigate it if you decide to attend.

Eating out is a budget killer, especially if you do it constantly. The best alternative, of course, is to eat at home. However, while this will save you money, cooking every meal can be daunting for some people—unless you make a meal plan.

No matter how hard I try to focus on making the most of my money by saving or investing it, I also work hard for it, so it's only natural to want to spend it how I want to. Although it seems a bit counterintuitive to splurge, doing so in a budgeted way may help you in the long run. 

America Saves Week is an annual celebration and a call to action for Americans to commit to saving successfully. Over the past few years, America Saves has been exploring what it means to be financially confident. Financial confidence is inclusive in that it recognizes that Savers have unique circumstances. Even if you are in a scenario that makes it difficult or impossible to save at this moment — you are committed to doing the work, taking control of your finances, and becoming more financially stable. 

In honor of America Saves Week, I wanted to share this exclusive Financial Friday segment where Carolina Trust Chief Operations Officer, Christina Naylor shares some saving tips and tools with me on how to jump-start your savings and grow your wealth once you've developed healthy savings habits.

It's that time of year again; W2s are rolling in, tax professionals are gearing up, and your mind is already swirling with ways to spend your tax refund check. Before getting too excited and seeing dollar signs, check out this BALANCE blog post for common tax blunders you should try to avoid. 

With the big game this weekend, there's one big question on everyone's mind; what snacks are you making? If you're like me, you're probably on the hunt for a delicious treat that's also budget-friendly. 

Working for a company that has been serving our local community since 1958 instilled a desire in me to strengthen my ties within the community. As someone who grew up in a small town and was extremely involved, I knew I would have to find ways to become involved here to make the Grand Strand feel like my home. 

At the start of 2022, I started researching different organizations I could get involved in that shared a mission I supported. Between networking, leadership, non-profit, and small business organizations, I have certainly found ways to fill up my plate. Below are some different ways I've rooted myself in our community and how I took the leap to get involved.

Scams are a constant concern in the world we live in today. With methods of consumer spending and financial management ever-changing, scammers have created more ways than imaginable to try to scam innocent people. In this two-part blog series, we'll go over a few of the most common scams that you should avoid. Click here to visit our fraud prevention resources page, where you can get additional information on how to protect yourself from scammers.