Family Financial Management

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Space heaters and fireplaces can help keep temperatures comfortable during cold weather. However, all types of heating equipment can be fire hazards if safety precautions are not taken. According to the National Fire Protection Association, home heating fires happen most often in December, January and February, accounting for almost half of all home heating fires.

Using digital resources to buy products from individuals can be as easy as making online purchases from major sellers if consumers take steps to ensure financial security. Mark Kilpatrick recently offered a desk for sale in Starkville, Mississippi, and was targeted for a questionable transaction. The name of the financial app was deleted from the following conversation.

Scams come in a variety of disguises, and some of them are very convincing. It can be especially hard to ignore phone calls from what appears to be a legitimate community business, organization or individual. But those calls could be coming from scammers anywhere in the world. Telemarketers out to defraud customers use caller ID spoofing to intentionally hide their identity by falsifying the information transmitted to someone’s caller ID.

Gas prices have been inching up for months, but the recent overnight increases have many people looking for ways to keep costs down. According to AAA, gas prices in Mississippi average $3.99 per gallon of regular unleaded. A month ago, that average was $3.14; a year ago, it was $2.48.

The first step to achieving financial fitness is creating a budget, but that first step can be hard to take. This step-by-step approach makes the budgeting process less intimidating.