Grace Pomroy
Stuck in a Season of Waiting

Lately I feel like I’ve been stuck in a season of waiting. My husband and I have been dreaming of putting down roots in the Pacific Northwest since the first time we visited Oregon seven years ago. While we are just months away from making that goal a reality – we hope to buy a house sometime this summer – we are still in transition. In addition to waiting as we search for the right house, I spent the fall waiting to get an appointment with a doctor about a health concern I was dealing with, spent the winter waiting for medical tests, and am now spending the spring waiting to fully recover from surgery.

Stuck in a Season of Waiting
Grace Pomroy
How to Handle a Big Income Gap in Your ...

It’s not uncommon for couples to have an income gap between partners – in fact, it's the norm. According to data from Morning Consult and Insider, nearly three-quarters of Americans reported they had some income imbalance with their partner before they started dating. And while that imbalance can flip-flop as partners change jobs or receive a raise or bonus, at times it can be significant. This might happen when one partner retires, decides to go back to school, or opts to stay at home with the kids. This might also happen when one partner gets a big promotion or receives a large inheritance. How can you manage your finances so this imbalance in income doesn’t throw your relationship off balance? Consider these steps:

How to Handle a Big Income Gap in Your Relationship
Grace Pomroy
My 6 Favorite Money Psychology Hacks

I’m a big fan of the Financial Feminist podcast. A few weeks ago the host, Tori Dunlap, shared a money hack that she had heard about from another financial educator on Science Finance: Before making an impulse purchase, ask yourself: “How many ‘taco dollars’ does it cost?” That particular financial educator really loved tacos, so he judged each purchase by asking, “How many tacos could I buy for the cost of that item?” Concert tickets: 20 tacos. Cupcake: 1 taco. Fancy hotel stay: 83 tacos. Then, he would ask himself: “Is it really worth that many tacos?”

My 6 Favorite Money Psychology Hacks
Grace Pomroy
The Power of the Icebreaker (Part 2)

My last post on things that can jumpstart your financial life in 5 minutes or less got me thinking  about one of the most effective steps I ever took during our marriage: asking my husband an icebreaker question about our life together. That word icebreaker is key: these are questions designed to get conversation going, not shut it down. And that means the question has to be open-ended and asked with a spirit of genuine curiosity of learning what your partner thinks.

The Power of the Icebreaker (Part 2)
Grace Pomroy
Welcome "The Earner" Money Personality

Long-time readers of this blog are familiar with the four money personalities I discuss: the giver, the saver, the spender, and the acquirer. Over time, though, I’ve learned that while people tend to understand the first three, they often stumble over the last one. On first blush, people generally thought the “acquirer” referred to someone who liked to accumulate or collect things. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The acquirer was someone focused on how money came into their life, not what was done with the money after it was received. 

Welcome "The Earner" Money Personality

spend

Meaningful Ways to Save During a Season of Spend

Meaningful Ways to Save During a Season of Spend

It may be the season of giving, but that doesn’t have to automatically mean spending. In fact, with a little creativity and careful intentionality, you might find some meaningful ways to save this season. Now, I promise I’m not getting Grinchy here – I love giving gifts and showing my loved ones how important they are to me. But with so many of us feeling the pinch in this economy, this might be the time to reevaluate your patterns. Here are some of my favorite approaches to achieving both the joy of giving, and the satisfaction of saving:

Help! My Partner is an Extravagant Spender

Help! My Partner is an Extravagant Spender

As you might know from reading my blog, my husband is naturally more of a spender than I am. Maybe that’s why I hear from so many people wondering how they should deal with their partner’s free-wheeling approach to buying things. Often their question sounds like this: It seems like every time we finally get our financial life back on track I see another extravagant purchase on our credit card and I can feel our financial goals slipping away. Help! How can I stop the spending and get us back on track?

Our Spending Plan

Our Spending Plan

A few years ago at a financial wellness event a participant asked me: “Is there a rule of thumb for how much I should spend on things like clothing or food?” I’ve always thought of personal finances as more personal than financial, and how much to spend in specific categories certainly seems like a personal decision. Still, it can be helpful to see how others pattern their spending plan as you begin to craft your own.

Caring for Yourself on Any Budget

Caring for Yourself on Any Budget

A few months back I heard a story of someone who went to a financial counselor for advice on repaying her student loan debt. The counselor offered a litany of traditional ideas for reducing your budget: eat out less, cut back on entertainment, downsize your housing costs, eliminate your gym membership. This person was particularly caught off guard by that last idea. She often went swimming at her gym not only for fitness, but to decompress after a stressful day at work. For her, the gym membership was an important way that she cared for herself. It was worth so much more to her than the price she paid each month. In her debt repayment journey, that’s one thing she just wouldn’t cut.

My Not-So-Guilty Pleasures

My Not-So-Guilty Pleasures

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a guest on a podcast. During our conversation, the host and I talked about the times in our life when we had the least amount of money, and how even in those tough times we found small ways to spend our money to bring us joy. For him, it was when he was a newlywed and just starting out in ministry. Once a week he and his wife would go to a nearby pizza place and order one personal pan pizza to split. Yes, one — it was all they could afford. But that weekly baby pizza gave them something to look forward to, and he said those dates are some of their happiest memories.

Ask The Classy Frugalist: Which Credit Card Should I Get? (Part 2)

Ask The Classy Frugalist: Which Credit Card Should I Get? (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of a three-part series on credit cards. If you missed last week’s post, I took a look at the reasons why you might get a credit card. This week, we’ll take a look at what factors you should consider when you’re looking for a credit card.

The most important factors vary depending on what you plan to use the card for:

·      Planning to pay off your bill in full every month? In this case, the interest rate doesn’t really matter as much. Look for a card with the best perks for your lifestyle that has a longer grace period to pay your bill and a minimal annual fee.

When I'm 85

When I'm 85

During the Super Bowl, interspersed between the beer, chips, and car ads I saw an intriguing financial commercial. It features 85-year olds flying planes, DJing at a club, performing surgery, lifeguarding on the beach, working tech support, and fighting fires. The theme song running through the ad is “I’m 85 and I want to go home” – a riff on the famous Jamacian folk song “Day O” (The Banana Boat Song). If you haven’t seen the ad, I encourage you to check it out.