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Hey, MomVesting readers! Here's a step-by-step article about building credit, laid out in easy terms for all the young people we love. Feel free to share with the young adults in your lives!

When first starting out in building your financial path, you may be confused by the many details that go into personal finances. Checking accounts, credit cards, debits, loans, credit scores – eek! It may seem overwhelming. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be. Let's take a look at one of the major parts of your financial life: your credit score.

Explaining the Credit Score

The old "Pyramid" nutrition guidelines are pretty much obsolete now as the government puts forth the new "My Plate" guidelines. The old system, it seems, was confusing, and the "My Plate" system should help clear things up. What does this mean for you and your family as you strive to meet nutritional needs? Let's take a look.

"My Plate" in a Nutshell

We're all trying to pay off debt. It's often a part of life that we cannot avoid. But is it so terrible to have debt? Should we avoid all loans and credit cards? Should we pay cash for everything, even those huge purchases that could take ten or twenty years to save for? Not necessarily. Let's take a look at the positives and negatives behind our debts.

The Negatives of Debt

One of the biggest issues that two-career families face as they make their way up two very different corporate ladders is finding a balance between family needs and work goals. Your job may demand that you work 60 hours per week to get ahead, and the bosses that be in your workplace could frown upon your need to, say, leave at three to take care of a sick child. If your spouse's workplace is just as unfriendly to family needs, both you and your spouse could be stuck between a rock and a hard place. So what's a two-career family to do? Let's take a look.

When I first began investing in a 401(k), everything about investments intimidated me. The stock market. The many details in my simple 401(k). The possibility of losing money. Everything left me scared out of my wits. But the most intimidating part of the retirement account, to me, was the darned periodic investment reports.

Parents who work outside the home face unique challenges, many of which take a super-hero-esque focus and balance. Here at MomVesting, we realize that when both parents work, life can become more than a little hectic, so we've devised a new series that will focus on the challenges presented by balancing two careers with kids and household necessities.

My Background

A while back, I wrote an opinion article "Counting Children: How Many is Too Many?" In it, I discussed reality stars who are having large numbers of children. Some responsibly, some not. And I got some great responses to my opinions, which is now driving me to better lay out my thoughts on the issue of family size in normal families. You know, for those who don't have cameras following them around every day. Like me...and possibly you...

I have never been good at eating. Scratch that. I've never been good at eating well. Since my teen years, I have yo-yo dieted, and it wasn't until recently that I discovered some of the reasons my weight and I have fought like cats in heat: I have a low resting metabolism; my estimations of portion sizes were way off; and I like tasty (but oh-so-very-bad-for-me) foods. All of that has led me to many struggles over my adult life, and I hope to teach my children to eat well from the get-go. How? Well, let me lay out my plan.

Start Young

As we continue to define finance terms here at MomVesting, we now come to the term "Land Contract." This term refers to a real estate contract that allows a buyer to purchase directly from the seller rather than through a bank. Sound familiar? Yes, land contract is similar to a rent-to-own agreement...but it is also very different. Let's take a look at everything that goes into the land contract.

What is a Land Contract?

Last time that we talked about single parenting, we discussed how you can land your ideal job. But once there, how can you keep that job when you're the sole provider for your lovely but needy children?