Personal Finance Advice

Ok, I admit it. I have a serious addiction. Two of them in fact. Everyday, I allow myself one soda and a pack of cigarettes. On Saturday, I have two sodas. My elixir of choice is Diet Mountain Dew. I’ve been downing them daily for over 20 years. My other addiction, smoking, I know I [...]

Going out to eat can be an expensive endeavor and even though it’s generally cheaper to eat fast food, even that can get expensive if you are feeding more than one person. While it seems that the days of getting a complete fast food meal (sandwich, side and drink) for under $4 are gone, there [...]

I have been fortunate. For most of my adult life, I have been able to telecommute to work. Indeed, from 2000 through 2007, I was able to hold a position as a corporate vice president at a 700+ employee company. During that time, I only had to make a total of 5 business trips, totaling [...]

The Wizard of Oz was a big deal when I was a kid. It only played on television once a year, and I made sure I didn’t miss it. Of course I didn’t realize it at the time, but this movie provides young viewers with solid examples of adult finances in terms a kid can [...]

A friend of mine recently told me her money secret. She has a modest job, yet always has the latest gadgets: flat screen TVs, home theater system, the works. She also recently had new carpet put in her basement and bought an air-hockey table for her rec room. I finally asked her how on earth [...]

It seems like every day I hear someone talking about what they “deserve.” Some examples: “I work hard, so I deserve a nice vacation.” “The kids are only young once, they deserve the best of everything.” “I’ve worked all my life, so I deserve to retire in comfort.” “I’ve paid my dues so I deserve [...]

There was a time when I thought a weeklong vacation to Hilton Head would be outrageously expensive — either that or I’d have to stay at a less-than-desirable hotel 15 miles from the beach to make it affordable. In my seemingly never-ending quest to find the best deal on everything, I serendipitously stumbled upon something [...]

I grew up hearing my dad say “Most people don’t know how money works.” He is a Certified Financial Planner, and while there were a few drawbacks growing up the son of a financial planner (no Gameboy or frivolous purchases unless we had saved up for them in advance), it also had huge advantages. Hearing [...]

I generally try to save money on everything I buy, especially groceries since they take up a large chunk of our budget each month. We usually try to shop at our military commissary or at a certain national chain that is known for their low prices on groceries and everything else you can think of [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance and money related stories that caught the eye of our forum members this week: Inexpensive ways to improve value of house Homebuyers turn screws on sellers Is It Time For A Sex Tax? Professor Claims It’s More Stressful To Be Rich Than Poor Rebuttal: Professor Claims It’s [...]

One of the most common wishes I hear from people is, “I wish I could work from home.” And the thought that almost always immediately follows that is, “But I don’t know what I could do or how to go about it.” Either that or I hear, “Poor me. There’s nothing that I can do [...]

Christmas and Chanukah and Kwanzaa are coming! That means that if you are a prudent shopper, you have been doing your holiday shopping for many months now. I am sure that all are doing a fine job of controlling their spending while they shop for holiday gifts but I wonder whether we are all spending [...]

If you are reading this, I can safely assume that you are concerned about saving money and maximizing your financial resources. Unless you have unlimited wealth (which I can also safely assume is not the case), then you must be financially wise to take full advantage of the money you have. The following list in [...]

When I was a younger man, I used to spend most of my free time at night hopping from concerts to films to theatrical productions. It was easy then. I needed only to purchase tickets for myself and I could often find a way to get myself added to guest lists. As long as I [...]

Dear Mr. CEO of a fiction company that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the author’s current real-life employer: We, your loyal employees, understand money is tight. We know you’re doing everything you can to keep the company running. But morale is down. Your employees think all you care about is meeting a sales number. Do [...]

This week I was trawling one of my favorite message boards and noticed a thread on whether or not a child should have an expensive cell phone and, if so, should it be given as a gift for a big occasion, bought with the child’s own money, or just purchased outright by the parents. The [...]

There is so much involved when you are getting a divorce. The emotional shock seems to outweigh all else. You certainly don’t want to think about financial matters. But you must. Many unscrupulous lawyers make their monies on quick and dirty divorces. They don’t tell you everything that you need to know. The following story [...]

I hate rush hour almost as much as I hate Paris Hilton. I understand that scientists believe that we are putting the earth into an oven and turning up the heat too high. I’m keeping their warnings in mind and making rational decisions with this information. When I have saved enough to make a down [...]

We talk a lot about money: How to get it, how to spend it, where to spend it, and how to save it. For all the time we devote to talking about, worrying about, and dealing with money, you’d think it was the most important thing in the world. If the time spent obsessing about [...]

Technology has made it much simpler to compare rates and find the cheapest prices for services and products. Why pull out the phone book to call several insurance agents to find the best price when you can visit one website to instantly get the most competitive price quotes? Why settle for paltry interest rates at [...]