Savvy Money Blog
I want to learn about…
Learn from our Experts.
Get $avvy financial tips. Read an article today!
Saving Money on Groceries: Does Hitting Up Five Different Stores Really Pay Off?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAIn a teleconference last week, a woman shared that her credit card debt was very much weighing on her, and that she wanted to take on an extra job for a while to pay it down. The problem was, she had no time whatsoever to spare. It all...
Four Rules for Paying Off Credit Cards
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFANumerous people have told me that Mary Hunt’s book Debt-Free Living is well worth a look. This weekend, I finally got a chance to read it. Sure enough, it had some excellent points. My favorite was her four rules for getting out of debt. I...
Talking to Kids about Money
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFADuring a dinner party last weekend, a woman told me her son had taken her by surprise by asking “are we rich?” She said she was dumbfounded, and as she had no idea how to respond, she mumbled, “no.” Her son got extremely anxious, and she...
Shopping Triggers and How to Curb Them: Sense of Entitlement
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWatching TV last night got me thinking about how our entire society is built around this shopping trigger. TV and radio ads, magazines and catalogues all scream to us: you deserve this, you’re worth it, treat yourself! This is because savvy...
The Prenup
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOver lattes today, my best friend reported that her friend was finally leaving the husband we all tried to tell her she never should have married in the first place. I am sure that you have a few girlfriends who you love in spite of their...
Living Together=Spending Together?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy always-single girlfriend surprised me the other day at lunch, by informing me that she is moving in with her boyfriend. As this is a first for her, she had a million questions. Should she keep her apartment in case things don’t work out?...
Shopping Triggers and How to Curb Them: Bargain Hunting
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThe more I blog about shopping triggers, the more they seem to pop up all around me. Here’s another one I have encountered three different times – just today.I saw that Gristedes has grapes on sale, so you can save over $2 per pound. Our...
Strengthen Your Investment Portfolio
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAEven in a market like today’s, many people are making nice returns from their investments. Though the masses are mainly nervous, the latest issue of one of the newsletters I subscribe to featured interviews with six self-made investment...
How Many Investments Are Too Many? Is More Better?
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAAnother question I get all the time is, how many investments should I go for? 2, 5 or 1,000? With a virtually unlimited number of securities available, and a limited budget (for most of us, anyway), how do you get the most out of your...
The Passion Test: Living Your Dream
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI spent last night with yet another inspirational book, and figured I should share the concept. In The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Destiny, Janet and Chris Attwood make living your dream as accessible as, say,...
Investing in Real Estate
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA client just called me up to ask what my take was on the real estate market. She half-wanted to get into what mass media refers to as “flipping houses,” but was concerned that this may be the end of the real estate boom.The truth is, of...
Understanding the Business You’re Investing in – or Hiring Someone Who Does
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAFlipping channels last night, I came across one of those corporate ads that are so vague and nondescript it had even me scratching my forehead, wondering what the company in question really did. Because the thing is, while some businesses...
How to Benefit from Currency Fluctuations
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWalking from my office to my favorite lunch spot today, I heard four different languages spoken. The cameras, backpacks and maps made it difficult to take the people for immigrants – rather, I gather they were a few out of the countless...
Opportunity Cost
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAStrolling through Tribeca, New York this weekend, I stumbled upon a gorgeous cashmere sweater at a designer sample sale. It fit me perfectly; the only problem was that it was a still little on the expensive side, and I loved it in black and...
Buy Low, Sell High – A Hard Concept to Follow
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend of mine called the other day to tell me about this “miracle fund” she’d been watching. Despite the markets, it had climbed almost 40% over the past five months. I have to have this fund, she said. Could I get her some?Well, I told...
The Financing Trap
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFASomeone told me the other day that whenever an American scores a 5% raise, he or she immediately ups spending with 10%. Crazy, you may say, but the thing is, our society is built around exactly this sort of behavior. It doesn’t actually...
Market Risk
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhat happened when the Dow took its most recent nosedive? As most of my clients are in it for the long term, my day went on as usual. My friend who is a stockbroker, on the other hand, was slammed with phone calls from nervous investors....
Why Investments Are Nothing Like Husbands
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWith Sex and the City: The Movie hitting cinemas and everyone dying to see Carrie in her wedding dress, I became aware of yet another reason I love financial planning. Ready?One of the greatest things with investing is that it’s nothing...
When to Give Up on an Investment
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI had an interesting conversation with a client the other day.I don’t feel good about this certain fund, she told me, in a market like todays.So let’s sell it, I advised her. Buy something you feel better about – or if you are really...
Investing in Different Countries
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWith China recovering from a devastating earth quake, and Burma still receiving aid to fix the damage from the enormous cyclone that hit the country recently, it is easy to pass “overseas” off as a scary place where you could lose your...
Pet Healthcare and Insurance
by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFALast week, I spent a long afternoon in the animal hospital with my cat. The good news is that Sunshine is doing just fine – the bad news is the bill - almost $700. Most people who – like me – love their pets to death have considered...
English 
Spanish