Personal Finance Advice

One of the things that saves us the most money is our well-stocked pantry and freezer. Like many people, I used to shop once a week or more for the food we needed just for that week. It was annoying because I hate grocery shopping. As far as I’m concerned, the less time I spend [...]

One of the most enduring images that I recall from college was a video clip of an obviously drunk student at a football game and holding up a sign which read, “I don’t care. Daddy’s paying.” At the time, although my parents had paid for my tuition, I was working about 20 hours per work [...]

One of the items that people most frequently go into debt to purchase is a car. That’s not surprising given that even the most basic brand new car begins around $12,000. And that’s for four wheels and a seat; no extras or room for many passengers. Most people don’t have that kind of money lying [...]

Interest in gardening is on the rise as people, fed up with rising prices and declining safety and quality standards, seek to produce more of their own food. Even the President has started a garden at the White House. While there is little argument that a properly tended garden raised without a lot of pesticides [...]

Editors Note: With the Mexican swine flu making headlines, a trip this weekend found my local drug store had nearly run out of surgical masks – if you haven’t already made preparations, it’s certainly the time to do it while supplies are still available. This is an article that was written toward preparing for the [...]

Last week, a fellow I know was lamenting to me the cost of his daughters’ weddings. He has three girls. Both he and his wife are very loving parents so I found it really quite odd that he was worrying about wedding plans. He even went so far as to express the hope that at [...]

The other day I went to lunch with a friend who is working on becoming debt free and simplifying her life overall. I asked her how it was going. “Ugh,” she said. “Well, I told you that Herman took a sabbatical so he could teach for six months, right?” Teaching was, her husband believed, his [...]

We are DINK’s (Dual Income No Kids). Many years ago we made the decision not to have kids. That decision didn’t have anything to do with money. On the contrary, we could have afforded kids quite easily. We just didn’t want kids. I’m the sort of person who likes to visit with my nieces and [...]

When I was in high school I was a “smart kid.” I got great grades and studied hard. I chose to make school a priority rather than going out partying every night. I got called a nerd, dork, or geek, as well as some other less flattering names. I learned to hide my intelligence and [...]

Like millions of Americans, my family will likely face a layoff. And, like other families we aren’t sure when we will get the news. Tomorrow? In another month? The suspense makes one reach for the bismuth. My husband has been a teacher all his adult life, but could be laid off at the end of [...]

This past Sunday, my wife and I awoke to the pitter patter of little feet in our home. It was not our children, because long ago they left gentle footsteps behind them in favor of the thundering stomp-stomp-stomp of teenage boys. It was not our grandchildren because we do not have any. It was not [...]

Last week, Sadie wrote about how debt free living means not being a slave to a FICO score. In the article, she pointed out that FICO has become such an integral part of our lives that even the debt free can’t ignore the score completely, which is annoying, at best. But I’ve been giving it [...]

About ten years ago, a woman I know gave up a high paying job in Connecticut because she felt that she could not handle the stress. She moved to rural Florida for a few years, lived with a guy she had met in high school in a house that her parents bought and basically became [...]

I’ve mentioned before that I really like saving money. To me it’s like a game to find new ways to reduce my spending. Constantly finding new ways to lower spending keeps me on my toes and protects me from slipping into careless patterns that could lead to debt. It also frees up more cash that [...]

Suze Orman was on Oprah last week and one of the pieces of advice that she gave for dealing with the recession was to learn how to live on half your income. The reason behind the advice was that if you have a job loss or a reduction in hours you would have to live [...]

The other day my son managed to lose a pair of pants from his school uniform. How he did this, I am not sure, since he was wearing them at school that day. Nevertheless, somehow between the end of the school day and the end of his bus ride home, he managed to lose his [...]

When I started working after college in 1993, I was thrilled to get a job and make more than minimum wage. However, that $5.65 an hour didn’t stretch as far as it might, and I started to learn the hard lessons of personal finance all over again. My parents shared their financial experience with me, [...]

Although I am frugal, I like to at least think that I am neither stingy nor greedy. I am quick to spend if it will make my family happy and I have always been quick to donate to a good cause. When I go through the checkout line at my grocery store, I always try [...]

Last week I wrote about reframing the economic crisis. The point of that piece was to bring a little positivity into what is becoming a pretty gloomy economic time. I hoped to challenge you to think of the positive things that may come from disaster. So, in the interest of continuing that bit of positivity, [...]

There are a lot of discretionary expenses that we incur every day. Whether we spend more for a brand name product or save money on a generic product is entirely up to each individual buyer. Whether we should buy a new car or a used car or go without a car is also an individual [...]