I’m expecting a baby! It’s my first so everything is new for me. I’m feeling overwhelmed with the whole thing. I can’t ask my mom for advice (long story) so I’m really on my own. There seems to be a million things that I need to buy. I want the best for my baby but if I buy everything they say I’ll need my husband will kill me. What should I do?

Forecasting the future is always hard. Companies pay big bucks to economists in an effort to get an edge on what might happen in the financial markets. Sometimes they’re right. And, sometimes they’re wrong.

Last Saturday I went to the drag strip with some friends of mine. It’s an annual event for us. We’re a bunch of car enthusiasts who get to spend a day with some truly amazing equipment. For those of you who are not familiar with drag races here’s a brief explanation. Each race is a 2 car competition to see who can cover an 1/8 or 1/4 mile in the fastest time.

I’m worried about losing my job. They’ve been cutting back our hours and things just don’t look good. I’d like to find a new job before this place goes down the tubes, but I haven’t looked for a job in years. I know that there are all kinds of job sites available, but what else should I consider? When I find a job I like to keep it so this is an important decision for me.

In the current economy it’s no surprise that families will be watching their holiday spending closely. Consumers are expected to use every tool at their disposal to get the best value for their shopping dollar.

I see a guy on TV all the time. He says that you can buy a home with no money down and then come from closing with money in your pocket. Supposedly people buy homes and make millions a year. Do you know about this? How this could be done? Is it worth the 3 payments of $59.99? Or is it a scam?

They call nearly every day hounding us for the rest of our minimum payment which has reached in the neighborhood of $800 a month. Although we are not paying what they request every month, we ARE making a payment. Is there any way we can stop the phone calls? Are we breaking the law by not paying the entire minimum payment?

My 20 year old son will soon need to buy a car but he has no credit. What’s the best way for him to establish credit? I don’t know of any stores that will let him pay off a purchase without first checking his credit. Are there still credit cards that will let him put some money on hold in order to back any purchases he might make? How do I find them?

In our neighborhood we get a lot of dog walkers. We’re near a city park and we get a lot of people taking their daily walks. Sometimes we’re even on the route for charity walks. Every once in awhile we see something a little different. Last Saturday was one of those times.

Can you help me develop a way to control spending by every member of a family? I want to try to come up with a set of spending criteria. Something that’s fact based and removes emotional elements. What would you include in the criteria and do you think that the idea will work for family members who tend to buy on the spur of the moment?