The other night I was searching online for a toddler blanket for my son’s new “big boy” bed. He recently graduated from his crib to the new freedom of a toddler bed and I want to get him an appropriately sized blanket for this new venture. Because I like to pay the cheapest amount I can for an item I did a quick Google search and found the blanket for sale through Amazon.com, but one link was a price that was $10 less.

Turns out Amazon uses different vendors for some of the same products. When I conducted my search directly on Amazon, the only return I got was for the higher priced blanket. Interesting.
The lesson here is to always check multiple outlets before you purchase anything online. Here is a short list of some of the price comparison Web sites that do the work for you:

Pricegrabber.com
Pricewatch.com
MySimon.com
DealTime.com

Here’s a great article on the subject from “USA Today”

In Wordpress (the software I use to write this blog) there is a great feature that tells you all the search keywords people use to find your blog. Most of mine are pretty normal: they are about kids and being a mom, but some of the keywords are strange. Here’s a sampling:

• “magnets to go to sleep”
  I did write about how my son wanted to go to bed with magnets, but I find it odd that someone would search for magnets to go to sleep.
• “moms need money”
  Amen, Hallelujah sista’-friend. Yes we do need money! We can have more money if we manage our finances properly. Read my financial posts here.
• “sad about motherhood”
  This one really struck me. I just hope that what I write here helped this person. It’s a tough job and can be sad at times, but overall it’s the greatest job on earth.
• “what women carry in their purses”
  Yes, this one is very popular. I’m not sure if it’s women trying to find one of the articles that was written in “O Magazine” or in “Real Simple” magazine, but I get this one a lot. Read my post about what’s in women’s purses and get a link to view photos of strangers’ purses.
• “goodie reverse trick or treating”
  OK, I thought I coined the phrase “reverse trick-o-treating” in my Halloween post, but I guess some other brilliant person thought of it too.

1. She’s THE symbol for women and finances
2. She empowers women
3. She says it like it is
4. She wrote the book on Women & Finances
5. She got herself out of $250,000 in credit card debt
6. She says the best financial planner you’ll ever meet is the one you see in the mirror
7. She’s out there championing women to learn more about finances and take control of their money and their futures
8. She wants women to take care of themselves, first
9. She says, read financial magazines, listen to financial radio shows, and watch financial TV shows. I.E. educate yourself
10. Trust no one, she says, no one except YOU!

Related links:

• Read Balancing Motherhood’s Financial posts here.
• Suzy answers important financial questions on Oprah.
• Suzy’s new book: Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

I’ve been writing about women and finances for a few months now, posting topics as I find them. Increasingly, it is easier and easier to find information –it’s everywhere, screaming at women to do something about our finances. Even while on vacation, I still couldn’t get away from the topic of financial education for women. While reading the “Asheville Citizen-Times,” I found an article by Marle Bartlett about a free seminar about the top 10 financial mistakes women make.

The article starts:

“A 52-year-old woman is $10,000 in debt because she ‘helped out’ her family — including a son who earns twice her income. A 78-year-old widow, married to a banker for more than 50 years, never learned to write a check because her husband took care of all their finances. A woman in her 20s wants to get married but is afraid to tell her partner that she is a compulsive shopper, and thus always broke.”

Powerful statements. Sad statements. Reality for some. For many.

Linda Saylor, a certified financial planner, says that women are uneducated about finances. The deadliest combination, she adds, is when women have a lack of financial education and “help” their grown children.

Saylor, from A. G. Edwards, offered a free seminar called, “Avoiding the Top Ten Mistakes Women Make with Their Money.” I wish more companies would offer sessions like these across the country.

Early last year, Rice University was commissioned by The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston to conduct a pilot study to determine the effectiveness of TWR’s free financial literacy seminars. The facts, according to the Rice Web site:

“In 2005, 1 million women declared bankruptcy—150,000 more than the number of men in the same year. Women work an average of 12 fewer years than men, get less in Social Security and retirement and live longer. Roughly 90 percent of women will be solely responsible for managing their finances at some point in their lives.”

The University concluded:

“The results of the Rice study showed that TWR’s seminars are having a measurable impact on the participants. On average, grades increased from less than 50 percent correct on the preseminar test to more than 70 percent on the postseminar test.”

Women need to get ahold of our finances and become educated about them too. We also need to make sure that financial planning classes can be taken in high school. Melody Hobson, from “Good Morning America,” whom I wrote about yesterday, has said that she is frustrated that young people can take home economics and wood shop, but can’t take financial planning classes. I have to agree. If we want women to know more about finances, we need to start with girls. Now.

Keep your eye open for financial seminars in your area. Google it. It’s how I got started. If you can’t get to a class, buy a book, go to the library. Just start today.

“Parents” magazine has a good article for every stay-at-home mom (and working moms too) about what we must know about our money. The article is a quick read, but has several key points:

• Know your worth
• Stay in the loop
• Have a spending plan
• Make sure you’re insured
• Keep money in your name
• Stay marketable

But, the most important piece of advice is a quote they hightlight in the second page of the article:

“If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you shouldn’t hesitate to insist on having an equal say in financial matters. Taking care of yourkids and the household is just as important to your family’s economic health as your husband’s job is.”

This is true of working moms too — we must be an active participant in our family’s financial plans. Women need to become knowledgeable about our finances so we can participate and know where our money is going and how we are going to save for retirement. I’m going to keep preaching this until the cows come home. Until I see the cow, I’ll keep sending the message to women about becoming knowledgeable about money. Hurray to those of you who are there already — you are the model for the rest of us to follow.

• Read the full article at Parents.com.
• Balancing Motherhood’s posts about women and finances