We took a trip the kinkakuji (the golden temple - another world heritage site) in Kyoto and it was a beautiful day with the temple reflecting in the water around it:

Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion
It was also another place where coins were thrown…this time to stone statues along the path through the temple grounds. I watched and […]

As I mentioned before, prices in Japan can be expensive. We went for an excursion in the Japanese countryside and came across a bunch of Matsutake mushrooms for sale.

$200 mushrooms
While I must admit that these mushrooms do taste good ( I had a chance to taste them a number of years back at a friend’s […]

I need to follow my own advice better. While I thought we had gotten a good deal buying the seaweed spread at the 100 yen (dollar store), it turns out we wasted that dollar. Paul had his seaweed spread on his toast this morning and said that although it was good, it was edible (”kind […]

As I mentioned before, one of the goals of my friend is to eat a number of strange foods while in Japan. Yesterday we took off to Nara. It is known for the largest bronze Buddha in the world that is housed in Todaiji Temple (which is the largest wooden structure in the world). These […]

Himeji Castle
We took a trip to Himeji Castle yesterday which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it was a beautiful day to visit. One part of the castle is Okiku’s Well:
This castle has a famous ghost story called “Banshu Sara-Yashiki.” A servant named “Okiku” serving the lord of the castle happened to learn of […]

As I mentioned earlier, I have friends visiting me this week. Day one was spent at the hospital (long story that I’ll get to in another post when I have a bit more time to write) and today we’re off to Himeji to see the famous castle there.
One of the main goals of my friend […]

The purchase of the $1000 I-Bonds (for my niece)went through without a hitch and now it’s a matter of waiting to see if I made the correct decision in purchasing them in October rather than November. Either way, it will be a good investment for the money for the time being as I look for […]

“Money never starts an idea; it is the idea that starts the money.” - W. J. Cameron

It was one of the big trash days out here a couple of days ago. Now when people throw things away, one would assume that they are throwing away things that are no longer working, but that certainly is not the case in Japan. My theory of why so many perfectly good items get thrown […]

I mentioned earlier that I opened a Treasury Direct account to place some of the money that my niece is saving for her college education. While the plane is for me to invest the money in Japanese antiques, I don’t need more than $1000 to do so at the moment and I didn’t want the […]

“There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody.” - Adlai Stevenson

I ran across this site called How To be Poor (and keep all your original teeth - it looks like he has a revolving subtext as I have also seen “Pinch Your Pennies Like A Pro” and “And How to Still Survive”). While it has some good reading, the item on the site that struck […]

“If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can’t buy.” - Unknown

Okay, it’s still late Sunday night, but the Monday carnivals are already up. Blawg Review is hosting Carnival of the Capitalists which has my The Best Investment You Can Make post. Consumer Commentary is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance and my Case study On Saving Money. Last, but not least, Frugal For Life is […]

I received an email asking me about me decision to take the plunge and try and make the websites my full time job instead of concentrating on auctions for my income since they seem to be making more money. There’s no doubt about it. If I put as much time into auctions as I am […]

I have a good college friend coming in on Tuesday for 10 days with his wife and I’ll be giving them the tour around Western Japan. Since I’m writing about personal finances I’ve been debating whether or not to include their trip out here or not. I figure it would be a shame not to […]

“It is physically impossible for a well-educated, intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts.” - John Ruskin

As you have probably heard a million times from your parents growing up, money doesn’t grow on trees, but it may now be found in the roots and leaves of corn, canola or mustard plants according to a short piece on Business 2.0.
…Anderson spent eight years refining a chemical process that causes plants to […]

It’s getting down to crunch time on finding that perfect Halloween costume. Since Halloween isn’t really celebrated in Japan, the expatiates usually take over a train car on the Osaka loop line and spend the evening celebrating while going around in circles until we all get kicked off. Part of the challenge is coming up […]

I’m a huge fan of public transportation, at least here in Japan. No doubt that it is expensive and most Americans would likely have a mini heart attack if they saw the prices, but it’s still a lot less than driving a car and it’s extremely convenient. Even with changes, the public transportation system in […]