Consider DebtGoal as An Alternative to Debt Settlement

I’ve been a big fan of DebtGoal for a quite some time now.  As you might gather from reading One Money Design, I’m in favor of trying to sort debt problems out on your own by getting organized and creating a debt payment plan.  You might be surprised to know you can do this without paying [...]

How to Select a Legitimate Credit Counseling Agency

This is a guest post provided by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).  The NFCC is the nations largest and longest serving national nonprofit credit counseling network.  It promotes the national agenda for financially responsible behavior and builds capacity for its Members to deliver the highest quality financial education and counseling services. The last [...]

Tips to Buy Organic Foods on a Budget

Normally you don’t think of those two words in the same sentence – organic and budget, but it can be done.  Living on a budget doesn’t mean I cannot make healthy life choices.  It just dictates my method of making those choices. Only buy what you need.  If you buy more than you can use, [...]

New Staff Writer Announcement: Please Welcome Jocelin Boutet!

I’m pleased to welcome Jocelin Boutet as a new staff writer to One Money Design!  Jocelin joins the team with a strong passion for helping people with their personal finances and teaching God’s financial principles.  You’ll read in this interview post how Jocelin helps people in the area of money management each day as the Crown Financial Ministry Money [...]

What Does Proverbs Say About Debt?

Solomon wrote the Proverbs to share his wisdom and help people walk closer with God.  Here is what my NIV study Bible states as the purpose of the Proverbs: To teach people how to attain wisdom and discipline and a prudent life, how to do what is right and just and fair – short, to apply [...]

How To Survive (and perhaps thrive) On A Teacher’s Salary [Giveaway & Roundup]

It’s been an exciting time around our house this week.  My daughter started Kindergarten which is one of those life events I don’t think I’ll ever forget as a parent.  In fact, you typically don’t forget it as a child either. I think most people remember their Kindergarten teacher no matter how old they are today.  Elementary [...]

Earn Cash-Back Rewards with PerkStreet Financial

There’s recently been a lot of positive buzz about earning cash-back rewards with PerkStreet Financial, so I thought I’d look into their program and see how it works. You most commonly hear of credit card reward programs, but I’ve found PerkStreet to be different.  They offer rewards based on debit card usage.  Why is that [...]

How Much Emergency Savings Do You Need?

As we continue to build our family emergency fund, I often think about what is the right amount.  For the longest time I’ve heard from financial gurus you need to have a minimum of 3 months and possibly up to 6 months.  We’re now hearing 9 months up to a year since the economic crisis [...]

Retiring Abroad: A Sensible Choice in Today’s Economic Climate?

This is a guest post from Rick Todd who writes at Expat Investing on such topics as to whether retiring abroad is right for you and if you can afford to live abroad on social security alone. For many, retirement is seen with fear and trepidation rather than optimism and happiness. Why? For many it will [...]

How Do You Save Money for a Vacation?

Looking to get away? We all need a vacation every once and a while. When and where you want to go will not only determine the cost of your vacation, but the method you save. Your vacation savings can be time driven or location driven. For example, if you want to spend some time on [...]

Too Much Financial Advice? [Devotion]

This Crown Financial Ministries devotion definitely has some applicable truths in society today.  A lot of people are talking about money management, getting out of debt and savings, which are all good things.  But, with more need and urgency around such issues as debt, we see more and more services advertising help.  These services are not always offered in [...]

How Do You Find Joy During Financial Struggle?

You’re probably familiar with the following question often the subject of study and discussion:  Can money buy happiness?  In fact, if you Google the question you’ll run across articles and perhaps research trying to determine the answer. In most cases, at least in what I’ve read, researched, and experienced, the answer to the question in [...]

How Much Do You Really Pay for Free Wi-Fi?

In case you don’t know, Starbucks recently stopped charging for in-store internet access.  I took advantage of their free internet the other day when my internet was off-line because of a problem with our internet services provider.  To be honest, it was nice to get out of the house, drive a few miles down the [...]

Is Renting Textbooks a Good Idea?

It appears one of the latest solutions to high textbook costs for the poor college student is renting them. Looking back on my college days I remember paying hundreds of dollars for text books. I always bought used when I could, but not every text was available as used book, so many times I had [...]