Personal Finance Advice

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about how to master haggling to save money. This week I’m giving tips on how to barter successfully. Like haggling, bartering isn’t often done in the U.S. I think part of it is because, as with haggling, people are embarrassed to barter. Some people feel uncomfortable [...]

Are you a news junkie? If you are, hopefully you’re not making investment decisions based solely on the financial news or stock market analysis that the media provides all day and every day. When the stock market goes down, they say ask the question, “Has the next recession finally arrived” and when the market goes [...]

Eating out is a budget leak for a lot of people. It’s just so easy to grab something and it’s nice not to have to clean up. The problem is, though, that eating out is expensive compared to eating at home. By the time you pay for overpriced drinks and then tip, you’ve spent three, [...]

We all feel the need to indulge sometimes. Even the most disciplined budgeters occasionally feel the need to spend on something that’s not in the budget, just for the heck of it. The occasional indulgence is fine as long as you can absorb the loss. Even so, some people still feel guilty about spending on [...]

There are few ways to save on TV viewing in your own home. You can cut back your cable service to the minimum, or use a service like Netflix to supplement or replace your cable. You can buy DVD’s of TV shows and movies cheap on the used or clearance shelves. But short of going [...]

The savings account is about as in style as 90′s rock sensation Pearl Jam (Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of them) but much like some of those same 90s fads, the savings account is making a reemergence. Everybody is happy when interest rates fall and they can refinance their homes, but they forget [...]

I like adventure and trying new things. Sometimes. I also find comfort in the tried, true and familiar. I tend do do a lot of the same things over and over. I suspect many people are like this. We all have our favorite things to do, places to go, and people we hang out with. [...]

I read a lot of different financial message boards. I’m always amused when someone in a thread gets incredibly defensive over something that was posted. The latest example was a thread about luxury handbags. The original poster inquired about the quality of a certain brand of handbag and wanted to know if it was worth [...]

I may be late to the party, but I discovered the Tiny House Blog the other day. The author features all kinds of tiny houses, including homes made from storage sheds, campers, freight cars, and other unconventional materials. At first glance, you probably think, as I did, “How can anyone live in a space that [...]

In an earlier article, I talked about the pros and cons of signing up for a coupon class. While there are some plusses to such classes, much of what you will learn can be found online for free. Even better, it can be found right here at Saving Advice. Below I’ve compiled a list of [...]

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” is what you’re thinking. Here come all of the obesity facts. You think I’m going to talk about all of the money you spend on fast food, junk food, and those other sinful pleasures, or at least sinful as defined by the health nuts with six pack abs. No more guilt trips. [...]

My local library is dying and, with it, my best source of free books. Thanks to the crummy economy, the library’s budget has been cut to almost nothing. They have no money for new acquisitions. Old books are being sold to raise money and not replaced with new titles. Shelves are emptying and though they [...]

Classes run by “coupon experts” that promise to teach you how to maximize your coupon savings have been around for a while. With the recent popularity of couponing thanks to the TLC show, “Extreme Couponing,” I’ve noticed a surge in the number of these classes being offered in my area. Always curious about things like [...]

Haggling isn’t widely practiced in the United States. Sure, sometimes you haggle at the car dealer or maybe with some local craftsperson at the craft fair, but it’s not a big part of our culture. Most people are too embarrassed or unsure to even try it. However, many more places than you might think are [...]

Financial responsibility is a crucial part of the college experience, yet some personal finance skills remain foreign to students as they prepare for college. Parents have the task of preparing their children for a new financial world and they can do that by discussing the pitfalls that come with being on their own. Do you [...]

It seems like daily deals are everywhere these days. Amazon has it’s Gold Box, there are plenty of sites like Woot.com that offer one-day deals on specific items, and the group coupon deal sites like Groupon are proliferating like mad. Even many “regular” retailers have daily specials on their websites. While it is possible to [...]

A couple of years ago, I wrote about some simple recipes for natural homemade cleansers. These are some very simple concoctions that you can make with ingredients like baking soda, white vinegar, and essential oils that will clean and disinfect your home for a fraction of the cost of commercial preparations. I started using these [...]

Furniture is expensive. Even “cheap” furniture is expensive, and if you want high quality furniture prepare for sticker shock. While many people have an ultimate goal of having a nicely furnished home, some people don’t share that desire or have the means to pay for expensive furniture. Those just starting out likely don’t have the [...]