I am raising four children in a pricey part of the country and I am sorry, these costs are really exaggerated.  2,700 diapers per year is 8 per day.  No one changes that many times after the first month.  Spanish for a 2 year-old.  Really?  I know a whole lot of kids in speech therapy or occupational therapy.  Parents ...more

I keep seeing this $25K+ statistic and have to wonder who they polled and what they had in common.  Average cost of a wedding using a coordinator, maybe?  I don't know anyone who spent that kind of money on their wedding.  I know I sure didn't!

Narcissism at a whole new level.    My husband and I wanted to celebrate with EVERYONE and our budget was really low.  So we just bought a cake, made some punch, found a free hall and included everybody.  Our family dinner was frozen lasagna from the grocery store because we wanted to be with our whole family, but t...more

So, she's over the top, but let's put this into perspective. First, most women plan some aspect of their wedding from the time they are little girls.  No, not to this extreme, but I have attended plenty of weddings where totally single girls said, "What a great idea!  I will have to remember that when I get married." ...more

Do what you have to do.  A dream life isn't waiting on the other side of graduation.  You have to put a life together one piece at a time and a degree just makes it possible, it doesn't make it happen for you.  Welcome to the real world.    My husband and I took low paying jobs out of college that had nothing to do ...more

"Her parents warned that debt would make it hard to buy a home. But she did not understand what that meant." But she managed to earn a master's degree? Hmmm. I naively believed that if I went to college, someone would want to hire me for my major as soon as I graduated. I ended up working at a job I could have done...more

There are always people who are truly in need of the help and there will always be people who can't find the line between wants and needs.  The people I know personally who accept government assistance do have cable, smart phones with unlimited plans, time shares, gym memberships and a host of other things I choose not...more