Personal Finance Advice

In the past year, I have moved. My sister-in-law has and is again moving. My best friend’s mom moved, and my best friend moved. In the past six years, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have each made significant moves, I have moved 4 more times, and my aunt moved. Moving costs a ridiculous amount of money [...]

We all feel we deserve a raise, but are we entitled to one. Are employers required to give raises? Unless you have a contract stating you will receive a raise at a certain point, your employer is not required to give you one. Additionally, some people work without ever seeing a raise. The average raise [...]

I would imagine that everyone has at least one money secret that they keep themselves. I ask people to anonymously write down their money secrets at the end of talks I give and share some of the more interesting ones here. This is confession number 48 in the series: “Debt has taught me how to [...]

My brother-in-law, whom I called “a bachelor with expensive taste” in a previous article, wants a retraction. He says “bachelor” is a slur. He prefers to be called “a single, successful marketing genius.” I will call him single and successful, but “genius” is pushing it. Yes, he does well in his advertising career, but he [...]

I once saw a T.V. chef – he had the hat and the accent so I guess he was legit – make an Asian dish with toasted sesame seeds. The recipe was so simple and tasty – he said so, so I knew it was true – that I decided to give it a try. [...]

I have been collecting people’s money confessions at the end of my talks. I ask the people to write down a money confession and anonymously place it in a box that gets passed around. Through this I have found that people have a large number of different money secrets and view money in very different [...]

I just saw an ad for a nudist fish fry in our local weekly paper. My first question was how on earth do you safely deep fry anything while in the nude? Yow! And my second question was, Is it cheaper to be a nudist? Certainly, nudism has its benefits: no decisions about what to [...]

I recently purchased a game that I wanted to check out. My intention was to sell off some of the pieces and end up with a limited number — like nine or ten out of fifty — to use to check out the game. I recently have had success selling all but the most valuable [...]

I collect people’s money confessions which they give to me anonymously and share some of the more interesting ones here. This is confession number 46 in the series: “I spend all my money today because there might not be a tomorrow.” Other confession already listed: The First 25 Confessions Shopping Taxes College Dining Out Artist [...]

For the first day of kindergarten, I walked in to my daughter’s classroom and at each child’s place at the table lay 3 pennies. These were fake pennies, but as our kindergarten information packet stated, they were worth something. Every day, the children get three pennies, which they put in designated containers. Every four or [...]

This is one in a series of anonymous confessions I have collected over the past few months from audience members after talks I give. Some of the confessions I found interesting and I decided I would share some of them on this blog. This is confession number 45 in the series: “I judge people by [...]

I am awed by those perfectly neat houses I see in magazines. I appreciate their aesthetics, and I have even been tempted a few times to go out and buy the organizing tools recommended for creating such a space-efficient closet or refrigerator. But then I think, “None of those compartments would hold our supersized jar [...]

Not everyone can afford the impromptu vacation, and we couldn’t have done it without having done some basic preparations. Here’s what we did, and what we spent, that made our two days refreshing and allowed us to arrive home relaxed. What an Impromptu Vacation is: The past weekend surprised us with a vacation hidden around [...]

I have collected anonymous confessions for the past few months from audience members after the talks I give. I decided to share some of the more interesting confessions as part of a daily photo confession series. This is confession number 44 in the series: “The $3000 diamond ring I bought her is fake.” Other confession [...]

From time to time, things get the best of me and I let various forms of paperwork pile up, putting off today what I can do tomorrow. I become the Bizzaro Ben Franklin. This pile can end up filling a paper box or two before I tackle it. This pile continues to grow larger until [...]

After the Pain of Foreclosure, a Big Tax Bill: “For those who struggle to pay their bills, who watch their housing payments rise out of reach with their adjustable-rate mortgages, who lose a job or who fall victim to illness, losing one’s home can feel like hitting bottom. But one more financial indignity may await [...]

I remember my mother being hit with that little piece of paper once a year: the school supply list specifying discretely the ways your child will be ridiculed if you skip something, or worse, choose to empty your wallet on alternative items. I know, I was sometimes that child. I think a kid bit me [...]

I seem to have inherited the garage sale gene from my grandparents. Every time I went to their house as a kid, they would show off their latest garage sale finds — puzzles, wall art, books, and whatever knickknacks struck their fancy. I never went to many garage sales as a kid, but now that [...]

I recently became one of the 9 million people to become victim to identity theft this year in the United States. Much of what I have learned in the last few weeks I share to spark outrage at what is becoming more and more common and also to share what you can and should be [...]

This is one of the anonymous confessions that I have collected over the past few months that I thought was worth sharing. This is confession number 43 in the series: “I always give what I have to those begging on the streets because I know that could have very easily have been me.” Other confession [...]