Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives.
Fern always found the best deals. If she knew a bottle of shampoo was a nickel cheaper at another store, she would wait and buy it at the other store. If Fern missed out on the best deal, she [...]

Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives.
Fellow PF blogger, Trent Hamm, tells his story of financial recovery at The Simple Dollar. Trent has shared two defining moments in his life.
Trent first took on consumer debt with what he calls “The Single Biggest Money Mistake I’ve [...]

Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives.
This is a story from my yoga teacher, AM, about when she was first living on her own with her daughter.
One day when her daughter was young, AM did not have money to buy milk. There was absolutely nothing [...]

Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives. The first time I ran out of money I was 16-years-old. I was attending a boarding school and had an allowance (from my parents) each semester of $500. Since my tuition, housing, cafeteria plan, and books were all [...]

Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives.
A while back, I taught a personal finance course for women in Trenton, NJ. At the first class, each woman introduced herself and said something she was proud of financially. Here is what one woman said.
When I was [...]

Defining Moments is a series about how we remember money and how it has shaped our lives.
At the end of my first year of graduate school, I stayed in the dorm one extra week before leaving for the summer, and for this I owed the housing office $110. I wrote a check to the housing [...]