Personal Finance Advice

I find myself daydreaming about money quite a bit. It’s not so much about the money I have, but it’s about the money I don’t have…yet. Of course, if you add in my work bonuses and my lottery winnings I’m doing quite well for myself. Well no, I haven’t actually earned these bonuses yet and [...]

My family is unusual. We love to go to the mall, but we rarely buy anything. While I don’t recommend this form of recreation for a compulsive spender, those who have strong self-control (or who simply don’t want many of the things for sale) will find quite a few free ways to pass the time [...]

I have always spread my money around in multiple accounts. I use multiple checking, savings, and investment accounts, all marked for different purposes. Some are at the same institution, but I also use several different banks, depending on my needs. When I started making money years ago, spreading it around was simply the easiest way [...]

By Keith Brainard from Brainard Brewing Editor’s Note: This guest post came about from discussion of the article Life Is Far Too Short To Drink Cheap Beer – 10 Ways To Maximize Your Beer Value where several readers commented that brewing your own beer gives the best value for your money I have to admit, [...]

I made my first eBay purchase a few years ago, but I didn’t get serious until recently. I can honestly say I’m almost on my way to becoming an eBay addict. The things you can get there – and the prices. It’s a bargain shopper’s dream. I hate to pay full price for anything, so [...]

The Best Travel Deals Don’t End in .Com: “Some of the best travel deals on the Web these days don’t end in .com but can be found on a travel company’s foreign offshoot, which usually ends with the country’s domain name, like .fr (France), and .de (Germany). Though the travel companies don’t advertise it, they [...]

With heating costs on the rise, it’s tempting to avoid turning your heat on all together in order to save money on heating bills, but who wants to be a human Popsicle in their own house? Here are some creative (and some practical) ways to avoid or delay turning on your heat this winter. Here [...]

When I got married 2 years ago, I wanted a beautiful wedding (like most girls do). But we also had to pay for most of the wedding ourselves, which many couples have to do. So one our first big decisions as a new couple was to decide how extravagant, or how stingy, we wanted our [...]

EBay and its competitors have renewed the popularity of auction-style sales, but many online auction devotees have been too busy or too intimidated to try the real thing – a live auction. They are the equivalent of football fans who have never seen their team play in the stadium. Even if you have never used [...]

By Wixx, special contributing writer I have a gas guzzler (a Chrysler Pacifica) and so most people would recommend that I trade it in for a car that gets better gas mileage to help save money. Since this is the only car I own, I use to to commute back and forth to work which [...]

In Investing in Socially Responsible Mutual Funds, I explained that most socially responsible funds provide subpar returns compared to traditional funds. I also talked about how you may not agree with many of these funds’ definition of socially responsible. If you’d like to invest only in companies you support or try to achieve better returns [...]

Spend less than you earn. Pay yourself first. Save 10 percent of all of your earnings. These are some of the most basic principles of personal finance, yet millions fail to do this. There are hundreds of personal finance books that talk about these financial basics, and more are on their way. Simple solutions are [...]

I never pay any of our bills. Neither does my husband. But they get paid. Every month and on time. Now I’m not advocating ignoring your bills and racking up a ton of debt. That would be stupid and begging for bankruptcy. What I am advocating is never physically going through the process of paying [...]

I saw “DWI — You can’t Afford It” written on road signs along Interstate 40 as we passed through Texas on our recent vacation. What an interesting angle, I thought. I guess that since the fact that the risk of killing innocent people, as well as themselves, isn’t enough of a deterrent for drunk drivers, [...]

Working in the web development industry, I get a chance to go to at least one conference, seminar, or training class every year. This way I can keep up with the latest technologies and our company benefits from my acquired knowledge. However, convincing the company my conference of choice is worthwhile can be a problem. [...]

Last week, eBay sent me a message urging me to contact my state representatives in support of a bill that would exempt eBay sellers in Pennsylvania from having to get auctioneer licenses. “You may have heard the Pennsylvania State Board of Auctioneer Examiners is lobbying for eBay sellers to be licensed under the state’s outdated [...]

My husband and I just returned from a 17 day, 5,500-mile road trip westward from our home in South Carolina. Even though 4.5 million visit the Grand Canyon every year, we still felt like bold adventurers because it was all new to us. And, I have learned that as a white person, apparently I can [...]

I didn’t pay anything for Radiohead’s download: “I didn’t pay anything to download Radiohead’s In Rainbows last Wednesday. When the checkout page on the band’s Web site allowed me to type in whatever price I wanted, I put 0.00, the lowest I could go. My economist friends say this makes me a rational being.” Consumers [...]

You may not be able to sleep at night knowing that you own a tiny piece of Halliburton, nor will you be able to sleep at night in 25 years if you can’t afford to send your kids to college. Investing is essential to your future financial security — even if you manage to sock [...]

While I can’t guarantee that these are the absolute top 10 ways you can waste money on e-Bay this week, they certainly deserve some attention and possibly some laughs… 10. A rubber band: No joke. You can get a regular rubber band for $1 with free shipping. 9. A million ants: You can adopt an [...]