By: Laura Walton AFC® With Thanksgiving behind us (I hope you enjoyed yours) and 24/7 holiday music everywhere, let’s have fun with some holiday facts. First, the most expensive Christmas card… Apparently the Christmas card was conceived as a way to encourage ordinary folks to use the Post Office! In 1843, Sir Henry Cole asked…
By: Laura Walton AFC® I think I could write a book based on the snippets of conversation I hear walking Tumamoc Hill in the early mornings. This morning I overheard “when I was in New Jersey, we’d camp at the Battenkill River”and “I’m bringing cucumber salad” and “we’re leaving early Thursday morning for San Diego.”…
By: Laura Walton AFC® I often say this isn’t “rocket surgery” – personal finance really just boils down to spending less than you make over your lifetime. On the other hand, that’s easier said than done. Maybe, one day, my blog will detail all the financial mistakes I’ve made along the way. Want to know the most…
By: Laura Walton AFC® Did you know that there is a government unit, the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team, dedicated to improving the effectiveness of government programs by better understanding how we make decisions? Maya Shankar, senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, assembled the SBST team of 35…
By: Laura Walton AFC® We’ve all experienced sticker shock at the grocery store now and then so it came as a big surprise to me that our spending on food is a fraction of what it has been historically. Today we spend about 13% of our income on food. In 1900, we spent 43%! And, we find…