Personal Finance Advice

My driveway is in serious need of pressure washing. The need is so serious that my homeowners association has sent me a nasty-gram telling me that if I do not pressure wash the driveway by tomorrow, the association will refer the matter to its attorneys. Yikes. I have no desire to have to deal with [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance and money related stories that caught the eye of our forum members this week: Black Friday 10: Retailers that may not survive until 2009 The Holiday Season Is Already Over For Retailers Drinking tap water can save you $1,400 a year 20 tycoons who have lost billions [...]

I spend a lot of time outside and, if I’m inside working, my desk faces the road. As such, I know a lot about what goes on in my neighbor’s lives. (Disclaimer: I don’t spy on people, but when you’re driving back and forth in front of my house and piling your purchases in the [...]

If you came of age in the days when you might have had 8 or 9 channels that you received on your television, before cable and VHS, you remember that if you wanted to watch a movie, you had to see it in a cinema or wait for it to be rebroadcast. Sometimes, the rebroadcast [...]

Yesterday, I noted that although my wife and I will do just about anything for each other, my wife is not willing to buy my lottery tickets for me. I also have an errand that I cannot bring myself to perform for my wife. When I am in the grocery store, I won’t buy grapes. [...]

Ambition is one of the elements that made the United States an economic powerhouse. The drive to work hard and succeed spawned innovation, efficiency, and opportunity. Over the course of time ambition was a characteristic of millions of Americans and put them in positive financial situations. What some may not have known, but are beginning [...]

While at a networking event the other day, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two guys. The first guy was complaining about how much he hated his job. He said he couldn’t stand the job, the people, the commute, the stress, the hours, or any of it. The only thing he liked was [...]

The palm trees in my front yard are in need of trimming. I can trim the shortest of the three trees, but the other two trees are about 35 feet tall – about 10 feet taller than my courage will allow me to climb with a saw in my hand. My trees will continue to [...]

I can see it. The end. It’s almost here. We only have one week left of no-spend month, where we vowed to only spend $400 for all of November on everything we need, including groceries, entertainment, and gas. But it’s a big week, with Thanksgiving and all of the usually-oh-so-tempting Black Friday deals that I [...]

As my father says, “When you own a home, there is always something to do.” I might add that there is always something to spend money on too. In fact, when money is tight, it’s often home maintenance that suffers. Most people have at least half their wealth tied up in their home. Some of [...]

Weekend reading is a round-up of personal finance and money related stories that caught the eye of our forum members this week: Big Three auto CEOs flew private jets to ask for taxpayer money This is when you know the Economy is Doomed! Savers caused the financial crisis Worst Year Ever for Stocks: ‘Irrational Exuberance’ [...]

Automate your payments? Automate your life. Put everything on autopilot and just sail on up that river. Sounds convenient and easy, doesn’t it? Yep. That’s what they want you to think. I have to admit that automatic payments can make your life easier if, and this is a big if, you are organized and able [...]

My wife and I will do just about anything for each other. We have a great relationship and complement each other’s strengths. I fold the laundry. She puts it away. I do the grocery shopping. She puts the groceries away. I clean the bathrooms while she does the floors. I know that I can ask [...]

If you celebrate Christmas, chances are good that you decorate a Christmas tree. Whatever other decorations, ornaments and other seasonal reminders with which you adorn your home, your Christmas tree is probably the focal point. You may decorate your tree on Christmas Eve, as one of my neighbours used to do, or you may set [...]

Is this a recession or opportunity knocking? I’ve seen this question posed all over the media. A lot of the articles are aimed at higher income execs who work the stock markets. But I’m beginning to see front porch lights coming on in businesses everywhere. Yes, we’re all still feeling the pinch of high unemployment [...]

Having a hobby (or several) can be a great thing. Hobbies give us a creative outlet or a way to meet new people. We learn new skills through hobbies and some of them can even earn us extra money. Several articles have appeared here at Saving Advice about how to save money on hobby expenses [...]

I recently mentioned Martha, my trash-exploring next door neighbor when I was a child. Martha always found creative ways to make money, whether it was through her yard sales, plant sales or barn-based general store. She made money on her crafts and her preserves. If she touched it, she found a way to sell it. [...]

When I was a boy, tipping in a restaurant was always a discretionary expense. As a general rule, one was expected to tip 15% of the pre-tax bill as long as good service and good food was delivered. I lived in a state with a 5% meals tax so calculating the tip for a good [...]

I’m sure you’ve heard that if you want to be successful in getting or staying out of debt, you should craft a budget and stick to it. Does this really work? I suppose for some people it does, but it’s really never worked for me. That is until I stopped caring so much. The problem [...]

In my house we’ve had a tough couple of months with deaths, health scares, and general work-related stress. We’ve been tired, sad, and angry. There’s been a definite need in this house to feel better. We’ve needed some cheering up and calming down. In our spendier days we would have gone out to eat, gone [...]