Early on in our marriage my husband and I discussed plans for how our children's childhoods would be scheduled and structured. My husband grew up in a rural area, lived in the middle of the woods, and had limited scheduled activities. His imagination often served as his playmate and he has wonderful memories of laying in the grass, staring at the clouds, and getting lost all day in a world he created. I, on the other hand, grew up in the suburbs and was overbooked with activities. I have great memories of daily dance classes, swim team, soccer, cheerleading, piano, horseback riding, Girl Scouts, and even not-so-great memories of softball and tennis. I tried just about everything.

Of course we each see the value in the different ways we grew up in regard to activities. Our mothers made decisions based on their own childhoods and what they had available for us. My mom grew up with a strict father who didn't allow activities, so she wanted her daughters to benefit from the social aspect

Tonight, as she has for the past few weeks my 14-year-old is rehearsing for her school's production of Moulin Rouge. Soon she'll spend weekends rehearsing, seven hours a day up until the show's premiere in late February. In between she still seeks out and performs at open mic nights, singing and playing guitar. She has one singular dream, to be a pop star and as she puts it "There is no Plan B because that means you have no faith in your dreams." Cue applause and a Z-snap.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old is preparing to begin rehearsals for her school's production of Tommy. On Tuesdays she takes a dance intensive class to learn steps for the numbers and just to hone her dancing skills for future shows. She's in love with performing and wants to be on Broadway one day, and already has her monologue ready for when she's a guest on Jimmy Fallon. You know, after she wins the Tony.

As for me, I freak out and break out in a cold sweat if I have to address a audience of more than two

I am one of the most absentminded people I know. I can never find my keys or my phone. I perenially miss play dates, birthday parties, school volunteer hours and after school pickups. I'm also messy Not exactly a winning resume for the family CFO, yet I'm stuck with the job.

Much as I dislike it, Alfie has entrusted me with CFO responsibility so I've dealt with it and done the best that I can. And somehow we've managed to make all our house payments and keep our kids in shoes without running into loan sharks named Guido. Here are five strategies I use to manage our family finances and make sure we stay in the black:


Auto Pay is my friend
If it weren't for the modern-day miracle of Auto Payments, I would either be paying a fortune in late fees, or be a walking nervous wreck. All fixed monthly payments, such as mortgage payments, life insurance payments, the kids' college fund contributions, ballet school tuition, etc.. get debited directly from our bank account. Also, I put most

While it may be nearly February it's never too late in the year to start New Year's financial resolutions. If you're like the majority of people you have a list a mile long of things to do, including some financial upkeep that you most likely put off. Start right with some easy steps to keep your finances organized.

1. Get your free credit report and set up reminders (like on your phone or a google calendar) to stagger them throughout the year. The ONLY place to get an actual free credit report with no strings attached is annualcreditreport.com all those other sites are trying to get you to sign up for credit monitoring which isn't usually worth it unless you are planning on purchasing a house soon.
2. Set aside time to go over your money goals by yourself or with your spouse. It's important to make measurable goals for your year. Whether it's waning to cut back spending so you can save more, or finding a house in your budget, you need to have a plan of action.
3. Go

My name is Gayle, and I am addicted to books. Unlike many addictions I could have, however, this is one that I don't mind passing along to my kids. I've been thinking a lot lately about how I can try to instill the same love of reading in my daughters that I had at their age, and still have today.

The first step is simply to surround them with books. Those piles of books all over my house - the mishmash of review copies, used book sale finds, and library books? Well, those piles exist in the girls' room too. Some of them are books I loved as a kid, some of them are series books I've inherited from parents of older kids, and some are books that the girls have picked out from the Scholastic catalog that comes home once a month. I try not to impose my taste on them; if there's a book that catches their fancy, I try to make it available to them even it doesn't look interesting to me. (I do draw the line on books about actresses on Disney teen sitcoms!) I keep a basket of books for each

When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut. Specifically, I wanted to be Sally Ride. I remember checking out an old, worn book from the school library that chronicled the life of this amazing female astronaut. I remember thinking 'How cool that a girl is doing what is usually just for boys!' Maybe I was a feminist long before I knew what that word meant.
As I got older and discovered the joy of keeping a diary, I moved beyond literal space travel and discovered a love of writing my own version of adventures and travels. I knew from that moment that writing would be a part of my life somehow. I thought maybe this would include writing books or even editing a major daily newspaper. Either way I felt the power of words and clung to them through all the ups and downs of adolescence.
I'll admit that this writing dream was momentarily put on hold in junior high school as I developed my plan to move to Boston to be close to the New Kids on the Block. But, I quickly got back on track

I loved being a cheerleader. There. I said it.

And I would be proud if my daughters wanted to follow in my footsteps and become cheerleaders, too.

I honestly loved it. I cheered for knee-high football leagues from the time I was in elementary school until middle school, and I made the high school freshman squad then spent three years on the Varsity squad. As a senior, I was captain. I spent a ton of years cheering, and I enjoyed every one of them.

I loved the leadership opportunities that cheerleading afforded me. I loved that cheerleading kept me healthy and strong and taught me to work cooperatively--collaboratively--with a group of my peers. I loved the challenge of learning something new, trying out difficult stunts, seeing exciting places, and meeting people from all over our area. I loved feeling like I was a key player in generating spirit for a school I truly adored.

Does that color your perception of me? Does being a cheerleader mean I'm an airhead? Ditsy

Just about every journalist I know has steered their children away from a career in journalism. I consider myself pretty fortunate to still be employed in the TV news business since I have many friends who are now unemployed or in other fields of work. I joined my current workplace after being squeezed out of another Chicago station where I had worked for nine years. My husband is a former network correspondent who now works in financial services.

Like many industries, broadcast news is constantly changing due to technology. And that's allowed television stations to operate with far fewer people. The changes are painful but managers are surely thinking, "It's not personal, it's business." In general, salaries have come down significantly due to the glut of newly-graduated or out-of-work journalists and a very limited number of jobs. Whenever new interns show up in any newsroom, someone will often joke, "Get out while you still can. You don't want to work here!"

I have worked hard to