Personal Finance Advice

The sounds coming from our eighteen year old refrigerator have recently changed. There’s more moaning and banging now instead of the smooth hum that has always been there. I’ve taken this as the cue to begin the search for a replacement, after attempting to solve the problem myself. The search has been depressing in more [...]

I have always been one who believes that it’s important to get all the big personal finance issues in order before you start looking at the small stuff. If you are losing several hundred dollars a month paying too high of an interest rate on your house payment and decide to spend your time trying [...]

This summer in our area has been a terrible one for rabies. At least three dogs have had to be put down because their owners didn’t get them a rabies shot and the dogs later came into contact with rabid wildlife. While I won’t argue about what constitutes responsible pet ownership, I will argue about [...]

Sitting is the new smoking, it seems. While the medical establishment has long been trying to get people to become more active, various studies have been focusing on the negative effects of sitting too long rather than simply looking at the positives of exercise. A recent study showed that sitting less than three hours per [...]

The Rafflecopter Cash Giveaway Project is a free, ongoing, bi-monthly giveaway that is open to all personal finance and money bloggers. Each giveaway has a different personal finance theme. The goal of the giveaway is to encourage blog readers to find ways to improve their finances to help them reach their financial goal as quickly [...]

If you’ve ever eaten at a fast food or casual restaurant, you’ve probably ended up with extra napkins. You know how it goes. You go to the dispenser and grab a few but don’t use them all. Or the dispenser is jammed up so you dig at it and end up getting a huge handful [...]

More and more parents are deciding that homeschooling is the correct choice for their kids. Those that do decide to homeschool soon discover that it can be an expensive endeavor. It doesn’t have to be that way. There are a number of simple steps that can be taken to reduce the cost of homeschooling. Here [...]

One of the best ways to save money is to Do It Yourself. Whether it’s home or car maintenance, repairs, cleaning, or crafting usable items out of trash, the more you can do yourself, the more money you can save. It is almost always cheaper to buy materials and do the labor yourself than to [...]

September 29, 2012 is National Public Lands Day which celebrates the many unique and beautiful public lands across the US. There is a huge effort for volunteers to help improve the public lands around them through clean-up and improvement, and this volunteerism comes with a host of benefits. From getting outdoors and improving the environment [...]

We all have our faults (real or perceived), blind spots, biases, prejudices, and things we’d rather die than do. These affect every area of our lives from the food we eat (“I’d rather die than eat broccoli!”) to the jobs we do (“I can’t do math, so I chose to be an English major.”). Sometimes [...]

By Bob Hock If you walk into a meeting with any financial adviser, there’s a very good chance that the adviser will present an annuity for your nest egg. Annuities have turned into the Mr. Fix-It for all age groups. An annuity is a tax-deferred savings vehicle bought mostly by seniors, and is designed to [...]

Over the years, I’ve made many purchases that I wouldn’t have made if I’d just tired the item before I bought it. Sometimes the item hasn’t lived up to my expectations (video games that turn out not to be fun or challenging, for example) or it’s had unexpected downsides (the refrigerator that was incredibly loud). [...]

Flu season is just around the corner, and not only does getting sick feel terrible, it can cost you a lot of money. Cold medicine, lost wages and lack of productivity are just a few ways that getting sick can lighten your wallet. it doesn’t have to be that way. There are a number of [...]

As an advertiser, there’s a great opportunity to build your social media platforms, build your email lists or get sign ups for your site as part of the SavingAdvice Giveaway Project. This is a project where a number of personal finance bloggers work together to increase the social media platforms of all. By participating in [...]

I see many people give up on careers and activities that they love (or might love) because they don’t believe they have enough talent to succeed. Whether it’s acting, writing, designing, athletics, or even something more practical like computer programming or teaching, they just don’t feel like they have that magical ability that will make [...]

I think that most people have either a love-hate or hate-hate relationship with their hair. It’s certainly one of personal hygiene habit that most people take extremely seriously (and there are a lot of hair myths that cost us all a fortune and hair can teach us a lot about personal finance). A hairstyle is [...]

I stupidly volunteered to help a friend move this month. While I’m out of the heavy lifting business, I did offer to help her pack. In the process of getting her stuff together, we needed to excavate a coffee table. My friend is a “piler.” She has piles of stuff everywhere. In the kitchen, in [...]

This is a list of former giveaways and the participants in them Finished Giveaways January 17 – January 31 (Theme: “No Spending Challenge” Prize: One $100 cash prize) a Rafflecopter giveaway Frugal Portland Rather Be Shopping Gen Y Finance Journey Debt Roundup Money Bulldog Reach Financial Independence Eyes On The Dollar Making Sense of Cents [...]

Most people who are trying to get their personal finances in order are well aware of the debt snowball. This is basically a way to pay down your debt in a quick and efficient way. What less people are aware of is the debt snowflake. The debt snowflake is basically finding small income opportunities and [...]

A lot of websites now offer “Subscribe and Save” programs. If you agree to have an item delivered on a set schedule (such as every week, month, every other month, etc.), you are given a slight discount over the single purchase price. These deals are typically found on health/beauty products, pet products, paper products, and [...]