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I have not always been a dog person. In fact, I was a cat person for most of my life. Dogs were an animal I only tolerated, so when I found myself working briefly as a veterinary assistant, I was sure I would fall in love with all the cats and endure the dogs. The opposite actually happened. I fell in love with a customer’s blue Great Dane, and all large breed dogs became my preference over cats.

Princely Devotion and Despair

Recently, as some of you might recall, my "Savings to the Extreme" post mentioned an "extreme couponer." To refresh your memory, this man clipped coupons like some of us breathe air. The documentary-type show followed him to a grocery store where he stocked up on all kinds of products at really low prices, like 80 bottles of hand soap for just over a quarter each.

Continuing our Relationship and Finance series, we come to “The Plan.” We have built the basics, and now, with knowledge in our pockets, let’s look at ways to build a financial plan.

Design Your Blueprints

As you build your joint financial future with your spouse, you will be relying on all of the building blocks you have already laid through your work in the series, beginning with talking about your ideal future.

The best thing about tax-time? The refund. Such a joyous time, don't you think? When you hear the word, doesn’t it make your little heart go pitter-pat in sheer delight? Regardless of whether overpaying your taxes so you get a big refund is a good idea, for most self-employed people they probably aren't going to have a refund. Let's look at some ways to minimize what you'll have to pay, or maybe even get you into that refund territory.

Deductions

So, let’s say you have $10,000 to invest (I wish I did, too). You could buy $10,000 worth of a stock -- all at one time -- and hope the value goes up. Or you could purchase shares of a stock in smaller bunches over a longer period time to increase your odds of buying at a lower price — and to decrease your market risk.

This tactic is called dollar cost averaging, and it could save you a lot of dough in losses should your stock choice crash. Still not making much sense? Let’s look at this idea a little closer, with a hypothetical example.

It’s been another great week here at MomVesting.  Perhaps it’s spring beginning to mingle into our senses, but the future is looking bright.  I hope everything has been going great for you, as well.

A couple of months ago I shared with you that I still drive my very first car.  She’s approximately a decade old now, but she still hasn’t had any engine problems and I haven’t made payments in over five years.  Oh, and one more thing, she’s still shiny.

Some people see cars as an investment.  Maybe they think that pretty little mode of transportation is going to become a classic and one day they’ll be able to sell it for a nice profit.  Most of us, however, aren’t that lucky, and unless we want to retire in our cars (as in sleeping in them), our cars are not an investment.

What better time is there to ponder taxes than now, when tax season is upon us and in full swing? While some of us are still deciding between employing Turbo Tax, H & R Block or our college buddy who kinda dabbled in accounting, here's a bit of tax-related reading dedicated to marginal taxes.

Continuing our series about relationships and finance, it is important to talk about your big financial goals, so let’s look at some pointers.

Agree On The Basics

As you begin your discussion, lay out some big-picture groundwork that you and your spouse can agree on. Figure out where you want to be in 10 years. Ask yourselves what big-ticket items are you want to save for. Look closely at your budget to break some bad spending habits.

As moms, we take care of everybody in our family: our kids, our spouses, our pets. It's in our job description, and it's just what we do. So . . . who's taking care of you? More specifically, who is looking after your health? So often, we'll meet others' needs well before even thinking about our own. Get a healthy snack for Junior's soccer practice. Check. Make sure Fido's dog food is certified organic. Check. Send the hubby a reminder text that his eye appointment is at 5. Check. Sound familiar?