Tax season is coming to a close, which means many will soon have refunds, if not already. We talk a lot about taxes -- how to file them, how to minimize them and how to plan for them, but another really important part of tax planning is making the best use of your refund. 

If you’ve filed and know exactly how much you’re getting back, here’s a step-by-step recommendation for making the most of your tax refund. 

A few summers ago, we took our son on his first overseas trip to England. We decided to go because one of my best friends had just moved to London and as part of our nanny share arrangement (2 kids, 1 nanny) we coordinated vacation time with our wonderful share family so the nanny got some time off. 

But with new child expenses (our son starting preschool in the fall) and investing in my business, I was torn about whether or not to take the trip. I had “YOLO” on one shoulder and our savings goals on the other shoulder and they were saying very conflicting things!

Regardless of how much or how little money we have, we only get to use each dollar once. I know… bummer.

Once we realize that, it becomes easier to navigate our spending. We understand that every time we use a dollar, we miss out on the opportunity to use it somewhere else. That’s called opportunity cost.

We deal with opportunity costs all day every day. When I choose a restaurant for dinner, I don’t get to eat at all the other restaurants I didn’t choose. When I say yes to a project, I don’t have the opportunity to use that time for something else.

Cleanses are a great way to hit reset on certain areas of your life. They help you break bad habits, flush toxins, and set yourself up with a powerful plan for the future. I’ve done technology cleanses, sugar cleanses, and closet cleanses that have had these effects.

A 30-Day Money Cleanse is no different than any other cleanse - except that it hits reset on your money.

Maybe you already know you are in need of a Money Cleanse and are ready to take one one. Maybe you know you could improve your financial habits, but you aren’t quite sure that a Money Cleanse is right for you.

Almost everyone I know wants to save more money. Make saving into a game to make the process a whole lot easier and more fun.

Here’s how to play the money game.

We tend to spend more money than usual around the holidays, and this year with inflation it’s going to be even more expensive. If you are feeling stressed about your holiday budget, we have you covered.

The good news? You can add some extra holiday cheer to your life without spending more with frugal joys.

Frugal joys are free or inexpensive things that make us really happy. If you are looking for some festive free or inexpensive treats, here are our favorite holiday frugal joys.

Many of us were hopeful that our spending was going to decrease due to stay-at-home orders, but we’ve been surprised to see that’s not always the case. Many of us are now spending more.

How can this be? Yes, we’re spending much more on groceries - stockpiling shelf-stabilized goods or paying extreme markups for toilet paper, but the main culprit for most is online shopping.

Have you ever walked into a store just to “look around” and ended up needing something you didn’t know existed five minutes earlier? Or opened up your email to get some work done and got completely side-tracked by a sales email from one of your favorite brands? Yeah, me too. Companies are getting better and better at separating us from our money, and sales are one of their favorite tactics because they combine two great marketing strategies - scarcity (time is running out!) and a great deal.

So how do we decide what to do? How do we evaluate a purchase to make sure it’s worth it? With the holidays and the biggest shopping weekend upon us, it’s the perfect time to arm ourselves with a checklist to consult before buying something on sale.