Personal Finance Advice

On a recent visit to the Yahoo! Answers website, I found a lot of questions that boiled down to the same thing: How can I make money (usually about $100) fast (usually by the end of the week)? Apparently this question is on many people’s minds. So here are a few answers: My best answer [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance reading that has caught our eye that may be of interest to you: Discussions From The Forums These are threads started this past week within the forums which have created quite a bit of discussion: Adult child won’t leave – what would you do? Kid Question Chasing [...]

“Here, let me show you these great glasses — I want to make sure you get the full value of your insurance coverage,” enthused the salesman trying to get me to upgrade my purchase. I had already carefully chosen my favorite pair from the rack of frames my insurance would cover completely, using up enough [...]

School is out and the kids are home. If it hasn’t happened already, chances are it won’t be long before you hear those famous words: “I’m bored.” Now would be a good time to use that boredom to teach kids a little something about finance in ways that are fun. The more kids learn about [...]

Eyeglasses are an oddball purchase. Most people who need them will buy them, but the amount they pay can vary greatly without much difference in quality. There are a few ways, however, to find glasses you like for a price that’s low on the scale. First, consider whether you truly need prescription glasses. If you [...]

My husband and I are do-it-yourselfers when it comes to home improvement. This is mostly because my husband’s dad is a contractor and he often guides and helps us when we need it. That being said, we’re barely a year into owning our first home and are still newbies. We recently took on a larger-than-we-thought [...]

With the prices of everything skyrocketing, making your own cleaning products can be an easy way to save money. In addition to saving money, most are non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and safe for use around pets and children. They take very little time to make, so they don’t add to the workload. I am frequently asked [...]

We are faced daily with an overwhelming number of choices, particularly when it comes to spending. A simple choice like buying shampoo can turn into a ten-minute decision if we consider overall price, bottle size, brand reputation, specific variety (for oily hair, for straight hair, for red hair, for thin hair), per-unit price, coupons, and [...]

What is it about children that invite us to spend money on them? Is it that we see they are cute at everything, so everything is fair game? Is it that we want them to have the best so we better make sure that they have the newest and most recent and most expensive? Is [...]

I’ve recently discovered the joy of belonging to a special club that gives you discounts at restaurants of half off (and sometimes more). I want to share this saving opportunity with those who are not yet aware so they can save money at restaurants too. It doesn’t cost anything to join and it’s not a [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance reading that has caught our eye that may be of interest to you: Discussions From The Forums These are threads started this past week within the forums which have created quite a bit of discussion: Marriage – luck or work? To have or not have a freezer [...]

It never fails: You encounter new people and the first question they ask is, “So, what do you do?” Occasionally you’ll encounter people that seem to ask this question out of a genuine interest in you and your life, but most of the time you can tell that it’s their way of quickly sizing up [...]

When it seems that everyone wants to trade in their SUV for a more fuel efficient car, it might come as a surprise that I just purchased a SUV to replace my fuel efficient car. Although I have been told that I’m stupid for doing so, I often find that it makes financial sense to [...]

Last year I read an article in Redbook declaring that mothers should hire people to do some of their household work and errands for them. The article made the popular argument that if you can hire someone to do your housework for less than what you make doing something else, you shouldn’t waste your time [...]

I’m sure you have heard that there is a difference between “good debt” and “bad debt.” Bad debt is usually associated with credit cards, car loans, and other debts that aren’t secured by something that is growing in value. However, the term “good debt” is often given to such debt as mortgages and student loan [...]

This week I attended the funeral of an old family friend. This man was a member of the “Greatest Generation,” growing up during the Great Depression and coming of age during WWII. Aside from his stories, the thing that always amazed me about this man was his ability to construct the most useful items from [...]

Saving is one half of an equation, but to save, you have to make money. Many like to supplement their regular jobs, many are retired and would like to work — but not too much. Many are teens and can’t get a regular job yet. What, oh, what can you do? So you can hit [...]

I am simply amazed at how much money certain “business opportunities” can end up costing. I put the term “business opportunities” in quotes because what I’m really talking about are multilevel marketing plans that disguise themselves as “business opportunities.” I am most familiar with one particular company (though I won’t name it here) but I [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance reading that has caught our eye that may be of interest to you: Discussions From The Forums These are threads started this past week within the forums which have created quite a bit of discussion: I hate waste Will I save a lot of money by NOT [...]

There are few sources of information these days that do not come riddled with advertising, or at least with a list of generous corporate sponsors. To escape the constant bombardment of “buy this” “recognize my name” and “we’re so cool” I decided to take some drastic steps. As a result, I have noticed an improvement [...]