One of the things you have to watch out for is letting fear rule your financial decisions.

“Fear, in and of itself, is not harmful,” says Pandora MacLean-Hoover, LICSW, a psychotherapist in private practice in Cambridge, MA. “Judging oneself for feeling fear may be detrimental. If a person believes they are weak for feeling afraid about spending too much money, so much so they ignore the fear, they may decide to over-spend just to counteract this judgment.”

MacLean-Hoover believes that it’s possible to overcome fear in your finances, and harness that fear so that you better direct your efforts toward financial improvement. She suggests 4 TIPS to help you face your financial fears:

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My friend Mike at Wealthy Turtle wrote a post debating the merits of Costco and whether the membership fee is a bargain or not. We’ve long been a fan of Costco and we’ve been members since 2003, when I graduated college, and big fans of the company. We started with the regular Gold Star Membership at $55 a year and sometime in the last three or four years we upgraded to the $110 Executive membership and its 2% cash back reward (we spend more than $2750 a year at Costco).

Mike goes into the pros and cons of Costco but I’ll tell you why we continue to pay for a membership and why we think it’s worth it.

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With so much uncertainty in the world right now, especially in terms of the economic situation, many people are looking for guidance with their finances. While many consumers are turning to financial planners and advisers for suggestions, there are those who are also seeking supplementary guidance.

“Though most fortune tellers are not qualified to give financial advice, a reading can be a good complementary service to those of a financial planner or accountant,” Alexandra Chauran says. Chauran is a certified counselor and a fortune teller, and the owner of EarthShod.com. “Often, a reading can help one discover additional sources of income or reasons to be cautious, or can confirm financial choices.”

Since the recession following the financial crisis, Chauran has seen an increase in business. “I have seen an increase in clientele in these uncertain economic times. Most of my clients are usually working at good jobs, and first visit a fortune teller when things go awry. Once they first visit a fortune teller, they are more likely to be open-minded about using for more regular advice.”

Chauran points out that a little extra guidance can help consumers feel their way forward, whether they are looking to sell a home or change careers: “One can discover potential financial losses or windfalls before they occur and confirm major financial decisions after making them with a qualified financial adviser. A fortune teller can help people feel empowered to create their own financial destiny.”

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Today’s question is really intriguing because it’s a problem I probably won’t ever experience but it does pique my interest. Cyndie emailed me to say that she had a large piece of land that she no longer wants and isn’t sure what she should do with it given that it’s likely difficult to sell. It’s costing her quite a bit each year in property taxes so she’d really like to be rid of it.

Here’s the question from Cyndie:

About 10 years ago I bought a piece of land. Was going to build on it but that didn’t happen and at this point I don’t really want to. So, it is up for sale. Now, I highly doubt that it will sell, it is a beautiful piece on a hill overlooking a creek, but building there would be more expensive. As soon as I bought the land the taxes went sky high. I have worked with the county to get them lowered.

So, what my dilemma is that I feel it is not going to sell (similar piece has been for sale for 10 years) and I basically need to get out from under it. I have thought about donating it to the city, but don’t know if they would want it. Any other suggestions would be wonderful.

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If you’re one of the unfortunate taxpayers who will owe taxes when you file your return, you might be tempted to pay your taxes using a credit card and try to take advantage of any cash back or rewards programs you’ve joined. Why not pay with plastic, get a month or so of grace period, and earn a percent of cash back or rewards? It’s a win win, right?

In short – no.

Paying your taxes with a credit is generally a terrible idea. It’s not only more expensive than paying with a check but it can have a big impact on a variety aspects of your financial life. We’ll discuss the many reasons why paying your taxes with a credit card is a bad idea.

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I recently received my annual automobile insurance bill from State Farm and they included an insert about their new Drive Safe & Save discount program. It’s an add-on to their low mileage driver discount program, which I joined. The program is simple – you get a discount of a set percentage based on how many miles you drive.

Sample mileage and associated annual premium discount in percent:

• 500 miles – 45%
• 3500 miles – 26%
• 6000 miles – 19%
• 8500 miles – 16%
• 11000 miles – 11%
• 13000 miles – 7%
• 16000+ miles – 1%

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When it comes to traditional gender roles, my household is a practically-perfect example of reversal. I’m the primary breadwinner. My husband was the primary caregiver to our son for the first 18 months, and still does a good amount of caregiving when I head off to some career-related conference (FinCon, anyone?). I usually take out the trash, my husband usually does the laundry.

However, our arrangement, which many in our rather traditional neighborhood find unusual, is becoming a little more common. Not too long ago, the Pew Research Center released the results of a study that indicate that the roles played by men and women are showing some convergence.

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A few months ago, the shredder we bought from Staples, after four years of dutiful service, finally died. It was one of their Staples branded cross cut shredders, I think I paid something like $40 for it, and it worked well for two years and struggled for another two before the motor burned out (my guess anyway). Since then, I’d just been accumulating my documents in a banker’s box in anticipate of a visit to one of the office supply stores for their shredding services. I’ve mentioned, in the past, that there are plenty of free document shredding services available and they usually peak around tax season, which is right about now.

I had accumulated around five pounds of shreddable documents, which isn’t more than a couple inches laid flat, and was looking to get rid of them. With an Office Depot and a Staples nearby, I decided to try out both to see how they compared.

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