Personal Finance Advice

A lot of people put off thinking and worrying about their financial picture. They figure they’ll think about it when they get their next raise, get a tax refund, have kids, want a house, have more time, or need to save for something specific. There’s always a “someday” around the corner when money issues will [...]

I’ve reached one of those milestone birthdays where you stop and take stock of your life. I’ve been looking at where I’ve been and where I’m going professionally, personally, and financially. In looking at my finances, I’ve realized that there are eleven actions that have contributed directly to my success. These actions have all been [...]

If you have aspirations to be an entrepreneur or inventor, you know that one of the hardest things to do is to get enough capital to make your invention or business a reality. The traditional path has been to get a loan (or several) from a traditional bank, find a benefactor willing to back you, [...]

When people find out that I’m an image consultant and personal shopper, they are always eager to hear what the latest hot trends are. While I can surely list them, I also forewarn people that just because something is “in” it doesn’t mean that it’s right for them. The savvy shopper will be aware of [...]

Several ladies in my neighborhood have recently gotten involved with direct selling organizations like Pampered Chef, Tupperware, and Usborne Books. As a result, my mailbox overflows with invitations to all of their “parties.” While I’m happy that they’ve found something to bring in some extra money, these invitations are tricky because I’m just not interested [...]

I had a roommate in college whose mantra in life was, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” She applied this to everything from dating (Just because you can date that drunk frat guy doesn’t mean that you should) to academics (Just because you can graduate with a D average doesn’t mean that you [...]

When I’m at a restaurant with a group of people, often times there is a discussion on the best way to split the bill. It always seems that the person who had the most expensive meal suggests that we simply split the bill evenly to make it easy. This makes perfect sense from his perspective. [...]

At various times in my life I’ve lived in apartments with few appliances, dormitories with no amenities at all, and homes with HOA’s that restricted what I could do on my own property. I’ve also worked in offices that had no free parking. Living and working in these places greatly increased my expenses because I [...]

In these waning days of summer you may be desperately searching for something to entertain the kids. They may be tired of the pool, the family vacation was a month ago, they’ve exhausted all their toys and games (and those of their friends), and it’s just too hot to go outside or hit the local [...]

Someone asked me the other day whether every purchase and financial transaction has to have deep meaning. “To hear you talk sometimes,” this person said, “no one should ever buy anything unless they’ve carefully researched it, dissected it, and tallied the impact on the budget. Doesn’t anyone get to have any fun with their money?” [...]

Do you have a funny saying that you’re known for? Are you an artist? Or maybe you can draw some funny little character that people seem to love. If you’ve got an artistic bent and you want to see your work on t-shirts, hats, mugs, electronics skins, water bottles, bags, posters, and hundreds of other [...]

I was recently in San Diego for a conference when I heard a commercial on the radio discouraging people for signing petitions to try and place measures on upcoming ballots because doing so would leave signers open to identity theft. The commercial used the following scare tactics (you can listen to the entire commercial here) [...]

A friend of mine (who has been unemployed for over a year) was recently offered a job in her field with a good company. She didn’t take it. I was floored that someone who has been out of work for over a year would not snap up a job like this. “I didn’t like the [...]

I know several people who claim not to be able to save money for travel. “If the money is in a bank account, even if it’s set aside for something else, I’ll spend it. I have no discipline,” is a constant refrain. Many of these people have discovered some savings “tricks” that they use to [...]

When a cashier hands you your receipt, you probably just think of it as one more annoying piece of paper. Many people toss their receipts in the nearest garbage can on their way out of the store. It’s particularly tempting to toss it when you paid cash and you don’t even have to enter it [...]

My neighbor’s refrigerator died a couple of weeks ago. It was running, but hardly putting out any cold air. Since it was in the middle of a heat wave, she felt that she had little choice but to just go get a new one. So she went out and spent $2,000 on a new fridge. [...]

You may have seen commercials on TV advertising a “vanishing deductible” (also commonly called a disappearing deductible) and thought it was a great idea. The concept is pretty straight forward and seems easy to understand: If you are accident and moving violation free for a year, your car insurance deductible is reduced by a certain [...]

It’s widely known that many employers Google prospective employees in addition to the standard criminal background and credit checks. Most usually check out your social networking pages and any obvious name-mentions in the press. But what may not be as widely known is that some employers are going further. Whether they’re doing it themselves or [...]