We hear the news like a drum beat throughout the day, recession, depression, hard times ahead… During these tough times, is there still a way to take an occasional break and go out for a meal? Restaurants are doing everything they can to draw people in. The most recent stunt was when Denny’s offered a free breakfast on a Tuesday morning recently. They ended up serving more than 2 million breakfasts on February 3. I went to my local Denny’s and was almost trampled (see pic below). I decided to skip the free breakfast in exchange for not being crushed.... Read more →

President Obama signed the $800 billion American Recovery And Reinvestment Act into law today. The legislation represents the single largest government spending bill in United States history. Today’s blog will not be my personal or political views about the legislation (I think you all know what that is), but a review of what is in it and how you might benefit. Since this is now the law of the land, not much of a point in protesting it anymore. We might as well all get to the trough as quickly as possible to get our share of the money and... Read more →

Well. its that time again…. We all scramble to find our receipts and tax documents to get prepared to file the dreaded tax return. I remember growing up in Chicago and my parents’ tax preparer coming to our house each year. He did their tax return on our kitchen table. We were always warned that this was the night of all nights for us to be quiet and be on our best behavior. I watched the tax guy set up his adding machine and unpack his sharpened pencils. When he was finished I would hear my parents discussing with excitement... Read more →

Download Jim’s Latest Podcast This week my local library conducted a free seminar on college financial aid. The seminar was presented by a financial aid specialist from our community college. They expected about 20 people, but 50 showed up. I was fortunate to be one of those that arrived early enough to be able to get a seat. It appears that the tough economy has made federal financial aid more popular than ever. There is still a widespread myth that in order to qualify for financial aid, you must be in poverty or be a high academic achiever. It is... Read more →