16 guides
Family money guides
Plain-English guides for parents. General education, not financial advice: we don't sell financial products or get paid for mentioning anything.
Family budget
A budget that works with kids, tracking spending and money meetings.
- A family budget that survives real life
Pick a simple method, plan for kid costs, and review it monthly.
- Track your spending for 30 days
The fastest way to find money you didn't know you were spending.
- The 20-minute family money meeting
A short monthly check-in that keeps the budget working.
- Sinking funds for kid costs
Turn back-to-school, birthdays and holidays into small monthly amounts.
Kid costs
Groceries, childcare, back-to-school and birthdays.
- Cut the grocery bill with kids at home
Meal planning, a few rules for the store and less food waste.
- Ways to lower childcare costs
Options to compare, and tax breaks to ask about.
- Back-to-school on a budget
Inventory first, list second, shop the sales third.
- Birthday parties without the big bill
Fun parties for less, and how to handle all the classmates' parties too.
Teaching kids
Allowance, jars, first bank accounts and teens.
- Allowance: how much, when and what for
Choose an approach, decide what kids pay for, and stay consistent.
- Spend, save, give: the three-jar system
A simple, visual way for young kids to manage money.
- Your child's first bank account
What to compare and when to open one.
- Teens and money: paychecks, debit cards and credit
The skills teens need before they leave home.
Planning ahead
Emergency funds, college savings, paperwork and holidays.
- An emergency fund for a family
Start small, keep it separate and use it for real emergencies.
- Saving for college: the basics
A plain-English overview of the main options.
- The paperwork every parent should have
Guardianship, beneficiaries and where everything lives.
- A holiday budget the kids won't notice
Set a number, plan gifts, and keep traditions that cost little.