Finances on TV

If you are looking for sources of personal finance information, there are two shows on CNBC, The Suze Orman Show and Til Debt Do Us Part. The Suze Orman Show is on from 8:00-9:00 PM (CT) Saturday nights. Til Debt Do Us Part has two segments also on Saturday from 9:00-9:30 (CT) and 9:30-10:00.

On The Suze Orman Show, Suze usually has a guest on that has a financial problem, answers questions from callers and the “Can you Afford It” segment. During the “Can you Afford It” segment viewers call in with something they want to purchase, after looking at their finances, Suze either approves or denies them. Sometimes you may wonder why she approves them, but like she says with their finances they can afford to do it but many times she still tells them she doesn’t think they should make the purchase. Sometimes she has a follow-up call where she hast the person on the show again to see if they did make the purchase.

Til Debt Do Us Part is hosted by Gail Vaz-Oxlade. She meets with couples once a week for a month to work on getting their finances in order. In a lot of the cases, some couples are spending $3,000 - $5,000 more each month than they make. Some couples spend twice the amount of their income. She shows them where their money actually goes, how much debt they actually do have and how much debt they will be in 5 years from now if they stay on the track they are on. Each week she gives them an exercise to do to either make more money or to learn to work together better. If they follow her instructions and show they are willing to continue to work on getting out of debt, at the end of the show she rewards them with a check of up to $5,000 to go towards their debt.

Race to the finish line

Since this is the weekend of the Fargo marathon, I thought I would write about hot training for a marathon is similar to learning about your finances. Learning to manage and save your money can be compared to training for a marathon or other competition. Just as you need to train and take small steps to run a marathon you also need to take small steps and obtain knowledge on how to deal with your finances. If you would go out and try to run a marathon without any training, you probably wouldn’t get very far and would be in pain. The more you train the easier it will be to finish the race. The same is true with your finances, the longer you keep track of how you spend your money and watch your spending the easier it will get.

At first, it will seem like a lot of work but over time it will become a habit just like learning anything else.

A budget tells you where your money goes like your training schedule suggests how much to run each day and maybe what to eat and drink.

So just as you may need a trainer to get you in shape for a race, it may also be helpful to have someone assist you to get your financial life on track.

$100 College fund for babies

Children FIRST is a program to help people start a college fund for their babies. It is open to every baby born in North Dakota on or after January 1, 2011. The plan administrator and state-owned Bank of North Dakota will contribute $100 for the baby which is earmarked for his or her higher education fund.

Anyone can apply for a Children FIRST Grant for a North Dakota newborn - including parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, or friends. (Only one grant is allowed per child.)


To get $100 for a little one's college fund. Here's how:
1. Complete the short Children FIRST Enrollment Form.

2. Bank of North Dakota will make a $100 contribution for the baby.

3. Open a College SAVE account and contribute at least $100 within the next four years. The Children FIRST contribution will be added to your College SAVE account for the child's future education.

4. Continue to add to the College SAVE account for the child's future higher education costs at the pace that's right for you.

Click here to apply.

Deal on books

This afternoon I stopped at the thrift store for a quick trip of browsing. I ended up with 8 books for $6 (total value of almost $100). Some are books that I have read and buy when I find them like this to give to others. A couple that I have not read are The 250 Personal Finance Questions Everyone should ask and The Buck Book. The Buck Book has instructions of things to do with a dollar bill besides spending it, such as making a bow tie, a ring, elephant and peacock.

Over the past few years, I have found quite a few books that I was interested in reading for a fraction of the retail price.

Summer budgeting

Along with the warmer weather of summer in most cases also come extra expenses of summer. While you may budget your monthly expenses, it is also important to figure out what extra expenses you may have over the next few months and work them into your monthly budget instead of having to charge them.

Some examples of extra expenses are graduation and wedding gifts and other expenses, summer vacation and kids activities. Graduation and wedding gifts can add up and if you have a number of weddings to attend you may have expenses besides the gifts such as travel, and extra clothing costs.

Especially, this year with other costs such as gas and food prices going up it is more important than ever to make room in your budget for the added expenses of summer activities.

So with a little planning and tweaking of your budget, the activities of summer can be more enjoyable if you don’t have to worry about taking on more debt to cover them.

Free Womens Financial Future Presentation

The YWCA Cass Clay and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans are hosting an Empowering Your Financial Future presentation on Thursday, May 26. The event is free will be at the VIP Room at 624 Main, Fargo. Social will be at 5:30 and the hour presentation will start at 6:00. Heavy Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Guest speaker will be Sheri Cooper, Regional Managing Partner for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The topic will be “Financial Independence: It is Women’s Work.”

The one hour presentation will cover budgeting and investment principals along with family and retirement planning.

No products will be sold at this event.

Please RSVP by May 20th to Darren Buttke 701-232-2547
or dbuttke@ywcacassclay.org. Space is limited.

Is it a deal

There was a coupon in the Parade magazine on Sunday in many newspapers for a free frozen Lemonade at McDonalds. This is a good deal if you were planning on going anyways. But this and other coupons are not good deals if they are for items you were not planning on purchasing or places you were not planning on going to.

When hunting for deals something you have to consider is if it is worth the extra time and stops. Also, if you have to travel a distance or out of your way for it, consider if it is worth the extra costs and time.

Also, watch out for coupons for a percentage off, or even free discounts. Some stores give a coupon for a certain amount for your birthday. One example I know of is a store giving $15 certificate. This is great if you find something you need and not spend much over that amount. But if you spend quite a bit more and it is something you don’t necessarily need, you would possibly be better off not using it at all.

This is one thing I had to change in the past also, thinking about if I really needed something instead of buying it just because it was on sale.