Kids’ Money is a website with financial education resources for parents, teachers and kids.  It has been awarded a Parenting Journals Editors Choice Award.

This site has a good variety of resources to help teach kids about money.

Money Talk Night is an event sponsored by American Express promoting teaching children and young adults about personal finance. I’m not a fan of their credit cards and debt, but I like teaching kids about personal finance.

The host of Money Talk Night is Jean Chatzky.  Chatzky is an award-winning journalist and financial expert. She’s a New York Times best-selling author, financial editor for NBC’s Today, contributing editor for More magazine, and a columnist for the New York Daily News.

Visit JeanChatzky.com to get more of her tips on how to lower debt and find financial security.

Found money is any money that comes to you unexpectedly…money you did not necessarily earn as Jimmy Buffett would say.  And there are 3 things you must do every time you are lucky enough to fine some money.

I’ll start by describing what you should not do.  A volunteer firefighter in Colorado won a $1.2 million home in Maryland.  After selling the home and paying the taxes the found money amounted to about $200,000.

So what did she and her husband do with their found money?  They took $50,000 and bought a new truck, paid off some debt and saved the rest.

• $50,000 for a new truck.  Not a good choice.  The truck will go down in value fastest in the first years of ownership.  I would have suggested buying a 2 year-old, low mileage truck.
• Paid off some debt.  I would have suggested paying off all debt.
• Saved the rest.  Good and I would suggest it go in an emergency fund.

The 3 things you must do when you get found money are:

1. Establish a $1000 emergency fund.
2. Catch up on any past due bills and if there are none then use it to pay off debt.
3. If you have no debt, other than a mortgage, then use it build your emergency fund to equal 3 to 6 months of living expenses.

Following these 3 steps make sure you are on the path to financial independence.

Here is an excellent rent Vs own calculator that can help you make an informed decision about how to spend your housing budget. Home ownership is a dream when you can afford it and can quickly turn into a nightmare when you can’t.

The true cost of ownership is not just the PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance), but also the maintenance of the home and lifestyle of the neighborhood.

Home maintenance must be part of your budget and saved in your Momentum Account.

Keeping up with the Jones’ is a real thing. Your neighbors are will likely become your friends and your social reference so beware of moving into a neighborhood where your neighbors earn substantially more money than you do. Keeping up can lead to consumer debt.

Green with Envy by Shira Boss is a wonderful look into the lives and checkbooks of our neighbors.

It’s time to change your vacation plans if you see any of these red flags.  And by change your vacation plans I mean – plan a less costly vacation.

These are by no means all of the possible budgeting red flags, but they are common. If you notice that

1. You are unable to pay cash for your vacation – using a credit card is borrowing money.
2. You don’t yet have a minimum of a $1,000 emergency fund.
3. Going on vacation will cause you to stop paying extra on your debt payoff.

Then it’s time to go back to the planning stage so that you can design a vacation that you can truly afford.

I understand that it’s important to rejuvenate by taking time off from work even if you are focused on getting out o debt.  However, ignoring these red flags can make it even harder to get out of debt.

Some of the ways to reduce the cost of your vacation are to:

1. Stay closer to home to reduce the cost of getting there.
2. Reduce the number of days you’ll be away from home.
3. Stay home and be a tourist in your own town.

If you watch for these red flags and adjust accordingly your vacation will be relaxing and fun instead of financially stressful.

Related articles:

• Inexpensive 2-week vacation (mytotalmoneymakeover.com)