Personal Finance Advice

I get a call, “I’ve just left the third shoe store and I still can’t find what I want!” the voice speaks to me. “Did they have anything close?” I asked. “Nothing!” “Didn’t you call them first?” “Well, no, it’s an obvious thing everybody should have, isn’t it?” Apparently not, but I didn’t say that [...]

Though they’ve been around for more than sixty years, fair trade products have been gaining popularity in recent years. They seem to have made the jump from something only bought only by earth mothers to a common way for mainstream shoppers to purchase responsibly. Though not without its critics from both sides of the political [...]

One of the major costs of college is the amount of time you stay there. By being able to graduate in a shorter period of time, students can not only save on tuition, but also college related expenses such as room and board. So what can college students do to ensure they spend no more [...]

When people ask me about ways to save money, I give them the usual answers. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need, look for the best deal on what you do need, be conscious of your spending, etc. But I also throw in one more simple piece of advice. Don’t throw stuff away that you know [...]

While one way to cut the cost of college is take AP classes, many cost saving college pundits suggest another is going to a less expensive community college rather than starting straight off at a more expensive 4-year university. I agree with them. I also think those savings should also be claimed by high school [...]

We all know that depression is a terrible disease that can have an enormous psychological cost, both for the sufferer and their family and friends. But there is also a monetary cost to depression that goes beyond the medical and therapy bills. I’m not a doctor and I’m in no position to offer treatment advice [...]

“I want the toys and I want them now.” It sounds like something a toddler would say, doesn’t it? Yet this is what I hear nowadays from many people in their 20s and 30s indirectly through their spending habits. “I want toys and conveniences and I don’t want to have to wait for them.” When [...]

Most of us enjoy luxurious things. They look nice. They feel good. They confer status and elevate us above our peers. We’re conditioned from an early age to want the best clothes, beauty products, electronics, jewelry, cars, or furnishings. In our quest to have the best, many of us only look at the price tag. [...]

Oh the AP tests. One 4-hour exam can determine the fate of a whole college course. The 1st two weeks each May, high schoolers across the US gather at testing sites to spill their brains onto their testing booklets in the hopes of proving they are worthy of college credit. Here are the basics. This [...]

If I were to ask the average person what makes a Lexus better than a Kia, an outfit from Nordstrom better than one from WalMart or a Coach purse better than a Canyon River Blues one, the most common response I would probably get is “quality.” Now I’ve always been one to try to spend [...]

Probably the most difficult step in getting ones personal finances in order is the step to actually begin working on them. If you have a great adversion to looking at your personal finances, it makes it that much more difficult as this reader knows: I hate personal finance and my finances shows this. They are [...]

Taking care of another person, even someone you love, can be stressful on your emotions, your body, and your (or the other person’s) pocketbook. Even if you have great insurance for medicine, the cost of incidentals – everything from blood pressure monitors to incontinence products – adds up. Drugstores and grocery stores sometimes offer one-check [...]

At craft shows, a maze of booths show off handcrafted original wares. Some things are common from show to show, like polymer clay jewelry, stained-glass window décor, and beaded designs, but it’s not the medium that matters, it’s the artist’s individuality and handiwork. I go into stores and see things mass produced and refuse to [...]

I know most people are not techie geeks like me. They don’t want to get involved with the “guts” of their computers and the software that runs on them. However, if you do any shopping online, you need to know about cookies and how they can cost you money. Cookies are tiny files, implanted into [...]

Advertising sells products. Yet, for all the time advertisers spend trying to make their products stand out, many ads don’t seem to be very well thought out. In fact, many of them have the opposite of the intended effect on me. More often than I would expect, I see an advertisement that either insults my [...]

Spave (SPAYV) v. Spending money in order to save money by purchasing items at less than their retail cost. Spaver n. Spaving means “spending to save.” In other words, you’re spending money now in order to save money in the future. This may be by buying needed items on sale, using a coupon, or submitting [...]

It’s an old saying: “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” But what if it did? What would that look like? Would everybody be rich and well taken care of due to readily available money? Or would we still end up with rich, middle class and poor people? Here’s what I bet would happen if money really [...]

By David John Marotta and Beth Anderson Nedelisky Before reverse mortgages, pensioners wishing to tap into home equity were presented with two options: either sell the house or get a home equity loan. But since their humble beginnings in the late ’80s, reverse mortgages provided seniors with an additional tool for accessing home equity. The [...]

By Wixx, special contributor Recently, as I am sure you have noticed, retailers have begun to move Christmas to an earlier timeslot. No longer is it the White Christmas in the middle of the winter. This year Christmas moved into a tie with Halloween for space in retail stores and card shops in October. It [...]

This is a question that often comes up — the difference between being frugal and being cheap. This reader asks for help in trying to remain frugal without becoming cheap: I have a huge problem with my husband’s family. They don’t understand there is a difference between being frugal and being cheap. They constantly complain [...]