Personal Finance Advice

If you are planning a home improvement project in the near future, here id a huge money saving tip you may be able to utilize. Even with the ever expanding reach of large discount home improvement stores over the last decade, repairing and fixing a home is still an expensive proposition. If you don’t think [...]

I explained earlier tricks to get Black Friday items without having to get up early and stand in line. If you decide to do any Black Friday shopping, here are the things that you can get for free. All the items listed below are “Free After Rebate”
Understanding Free After Rebate: This is where you initially [...]

Did you ever hear the expression, “the lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client?” Divorce is one of those events when you really should hire a lawyer rather than try to do-it-yourself. You can’t possibly be objective in what is probably the most emotional legal battle you will ever face. However, if [...]

My mom had a light burn out in the bathroom and she asked me to replace it if I had time today. When I went to do so, I found that the light took four 100w light bulbs which I thought was a bit of an overkill for the bathroom that isn’t that big. Instead [...]

This isn’t going to be a typical Black Friday article because Mark (who has asked me to change his real name so that nobody will know who I’m talking about, but which I find absolutely hilarious because any friend will instantly know who I am talking about even with the changed name) is not a [...]

I can tell it’s getting colder because I have switched to hot tea as my beverage of choice (well, at least while working on the computer) instead of water. While there is some cost involved with the tea, it’s nothing compared to what I used to spend on soda. Besides, have you ever tried drinking [...]

I just completed a remote survey from Google for a $75 American Express gift card. While I can’t discuss what it was about (you must sign a non disclosure agreement), I thought others might be interested in participating in these surveys. Mine took about an hour.
You sign up and if they need you for a [...]

It’s time to start thinking about Christmas gifts and one of my old stand-bys is a 64 set of Crayola Crayons. I think they are the greatest gift to give because no matter how old someone is, they will bring a smile to the person’s face. Of course, kids love them, but I also give [...]

While this is usually not the place where you would come for information on stars the likes of Britney Spears (but hey, it’s not often a personal finance blogger like me finds an excuse to legitimately place a photo of Britney Spears in their blog - or even write about her ), I found [...]

I stopped by a friend’s house while he happened to be cleaning out the drawers of his desk. From the depths of the clutter inside, he produced three cell phones that he no longer needed and so he decided to throw them out. I told him that while he needed to be careful to erase [...]

Over the past week, this subject has come up in a number of different ways with several bloggers asking me to help them, but the central theme has been “Is it really possible to make money on the Internet?” and “How can I make money on the Internet?” I’m a perfect example that it can [...]

Working long days on personal finance I sometimes need a break from anything financial. I walked down to the local library today and picked up some non financial reading. Now the question is whether I’ll actually find the time to read it before it is due back…
I actually need to spend more time in our [...]

I was running some number for my niece who is 16 months old and what her college is going to cost when I came across the LAUMC Children’s Center in the area where I live. These parents must be the super obsessed types that you read about in the newspapers (or those in Japan) because [...]

One of the things that I miss most about Japan is their efficient public transportation system. There is absolutely no need to own a car in Japan. The same can’t be said in the US. When I do go to San Francisco, I try to take the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system as much [...]

Some people apparently do follow this blog Jon sent me a reminder that I hadn’t done the monthly review for the sites and it was a well timed nudge to get me off my butt and look at the numbers (thanks Jon)
It was another month like September with both good and bad news. The [...]

I mentioned a bit ago about having some checks that I had forgotten to cash and just received this information from Google:
We’d like to let you know that an AdSense check issued to you almost one year ago will soon expire. When it does, the funds will be returned to your account and appear as [...]

I was a personal taxi today for my dad and his wife who were flying off to New York. Instead of paying $100 to get driven to the airport, I was asked to do the honors and in return, I get their car for the week while they’re gone.
It works out well for everyone [...]

There seems to be an assumption that the only way that people can help a charitable cause is by donating money. While these organizations are almost always in need of extra cash, there are still ways that you can help without spending any money.
Donate Your Time: While this may seem obviously to a lot [...]

I can tell that fall is here and winter is just around the corner. The leaves outside are yellows, oranges and reds while the days are getting colder. Last night my dad decided to have a fire in the fire place since it was just that kind of night. Instead of getting a few logs [...]

Stopped to fill up the car today. Most days my dad won’t go out of his way to purchase gas at Costco versus the local gas station because it is only a few cents less and the distance negates any savings at the pump. The last couple of days, however, there has been a larger [...]