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. 

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. 

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. 

Did you make any new year's resolutions for 2023? Have you done a good job of sticking to them thus far? If you haven't set any goals for the new year or are struggling to live out the action steps to achieve the goals you set, I encourage you to make a vision board and write your goals down.

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to set goals and resolutions for change. Two common goals that folks have each year are saving money and eating healthier. With the cost of food and other goods rising at the grocery store, it can make these two resolutions a bit contradictory.

If you've been looking to make positive changes in your life or just looking for a fresh start, there's no better time than the beginning of a new year. Starting now, you have 365 days to make changes in your life and work towards new goals. I encourage you to reflect this week about areas of your life that you want to improve and set attainable goals to make positive changes.

If you're looking to improve your physical or financial health in 2023, check out the Financial Friday Community Panel segment below, where I was joined by special guests Dr. Kevin M. Satelle MD, Physician at Rapid Weight Loss and Esthetics Center and Christina Naylor, Chief Operation Officer at Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union to talk about creating healthy lifestyle habits for the upcoming year.

Giving gifts to the ones I love is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. However, as someone who sticks to a strict monthly budget, forking out additional money for gifts during December always makes me a bit anxious. It's hard enough deciding what to get everyone, but then trying to stay within my budget while doing it adds a whole other layer to the cake.

Below are a few tips I've been using this holiday season while shopping for gifts for others, which have helped me stay within my budget and less anxious about spending.

With the holidays right around the corner, you've probably started making your shopping list and scouring through sales ads for all of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Although you could quickly load up your Amazon cart with all the gifts on your list, I would encourage you to look into local businesses as an alternative.

With the holidays right around the corner, you may do more shopping than usual. In the blog post below, you'll learn some of the most costly mistakes shoppers make and how to avoid them so that you don't fall into a trap while doing your holiday shopping.