Phoenix Zoo | 365 Magical Days of Travel

16 May 2019

Creating a Menu of Summer Activities

Saving Money

231/365 Summer is almost here! I don't mean the season since that's over a month away. I mean that time of year when the kids are out of school for weeks on end. Here in the Valley of the Sun, kids generally get out before Memorial Day and go back in early August. That's ten weeks of uninterrupted stay-at-home-parent-and-kid-time! Since…

Trip Report: San Francisco & the Bay Area, Part 1

Disney, Travel

118/365 Over the summer, we had a family party to attend in the East Bay, so we decided to tack on a trip into the city of San Francisco. We had done a similar trip a few years ago, but it was a bit of a stressful flop. All of us wanted a redo. Transportation It's a good 13 hour…

Increase Your Giving, Lower Your Tax

Budgeting, Saving Money

93/365 It's that time of year to evaluate your charitable giving for 2018 in order to reap the benefits on your taxes come April (or February if you're not a procrastinator). It seems counterintuitive, but you can actually save money in the long run by increasing your giving now. Standard Deduction Let me explain. The IRS has an allowance for…