As said by the famous Carrie Bradshaw, “a closet full of clothes, nothing to wear.” If you’re like me, you may run into this dilemma far more often than you should. Luckily, I’ve found the perfect solution, thrift shopping. When you’re able to find trendy outfits for cheap at your local thrift store or Goodwill, you can feel a lot less guilty about overfilling your closet.

As Carolina Trust's Brand Ambassador, I spend a lot of my time out and about in the grand strand area. Although we have seven branches that stretch across our large field of membership, most of my engagements tend to be in the Conway/Myrtle Beach area. However, I love the quaintness of our Florence County branches, which is why I was so excited to head out there for one of my recent Living Local Carolina Financial Friday segments. 

With Father's Day coming up, I've been on the hunt for the perfect gift to give my dad. Luckily, my dad is the easiest person in my family to shop for. Unlike my mother and sister, my dad will tell you exactly what he wants; all you have to do is listen to him or walk around the Bass Pro Shop with him. He will practically put his gift in the buggy for you. He also has pretty inexpensive taste, which helps me stay on budget. My dad also hates to throw things away. He wears everything he has slap out, which, luckily for me, means I can just replace his old item with the newest addition, and he's tickled pink.

If your dad is a little harder to shop for than mine, don't worry! Here are some tips that you can use to find the perfect gift for your dad this Father's Day:

When I think about summer, the first thing to come to mind is vacation. As a kid, summer is when you get a break from school, go to new places, and try new things. Other than the one week of paid vacation that you worked all year to take, summer is pretty much the same as any other time of year for adults. But what if this summer, we too, could spend all summer on vacation. 

Every April, bright, colorful puzzle pieces begin to appear all around us on social media, television, and storefront advertisements. World Autism Month is a great time to spread awareness for a disorder that affects so many. With 1 in 54 children being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), it has touched most of us in one way or another.

Knowing how to make a monthly budget is the important first step to financial freedom. That means retiring comfortably, spending time with your family, and traveling like you always wanted. Monthly budgets, however, aren’t something you can set and forget about. In order to make one work for you and your family, you must always review and tweak it. To help, here are seven tips for improving your monthly budget for your family:

Budgets are a valuable money management tool.  Even if you’re happy with your financial health, budgets can keep you from slipping into bad habits.  They can even help you save a lot of money.  If you’re struggling to make ends meet, budgeting is an excellent way to get control of your spending.

If the word budget makes you think of never-ending columns and rows, don’t worry.  There are budgeting methods that make it easier to manage your finances once a budget template is in place.  There are even budgeting apps for your smartphone that can keep you on track. 

According to the American Psychological Association's survey, which measures causes of stress, money consistently lands near the top with 61% of Americans reporting money-related anxiety. The biggest factor in this stress is overspending according to CNBC Personal Finance. We worry when total expenses (amount spent monthly) exceed total income (amount made monthly), causing mounting debt. 

Create a monthly budget to ensure you do not spend more than you make in a month, forcing you to take on additional debt. 

The basic idea behind putting in long work-hours is that our quality of life will improve. Maybe you pull some overtime or go above and beyond to earn a raise or promotion. Regardless of how you go about increasing your salary, there’s an expectation that bank accounts will swell, and life will get a tad easier. One of the things that hold many of us back from saving a lot of money though is controlling our spending.

If you're a beauty product lover like me, you know how difficult it can be to decide which products are most essential to pack on a trip, throw in your bag for touch-ups, or get rid of when you're running out of space. Honestly, I follow the same rule for beauty products that I follow for clothes; you only get rid of them to make room for more. Luckily, I have Professional Stylist, Jaimie Maynor's help when it comes to narrowing down my must-have products.