Personal Finance Advice

I knew that there would be hiccups from time to time in the minimum wage challenge. It would be wonderful if spending was something that could always be prepared for and anticipated, but the reality is that unexpected costs will present themselves from time to time, and a decision what to do will have to [...]

It was a pretty uneventful day in regard to spending since most of the day was spent catching up on the things I had put off while on the three day trip. When it comes to the minimum wage challenge, uneventful spending days are days to be celebrated. It wasn’t a no spend day, however, [...]

After the recent house sitting gig and the amount of money I saved during that time, I decided that a short trip was in order even while on the minimum wage challenge. I opted to head to Redwood National Park to visit one of those places that is so special that I put it on [...]

As predicted, eight of the last nine days have been no-spend-days as I continue to house sit and work on my writing. This has been great news for the minimum wage challenge. As mentioned before, I had everything that I really needed which gave me the opportunity to save a bit of money, although it [...]

From a money spending perspective, the next week is going to be pretty boring for you to read about because unless something unexpected happens (which is always a possibility), I’m anticipating that it’ll be a no-spend-week. This is one of those Catch 22 situations when it comes to writing about being on a strict budget [...]

Well, it certainly has been awhile. If you can remember that far back, in late February I was diagnosed with extremely low vitamin D after going to visit my doctor because I had a fuzzy head. Over the last 2+ months I had good days and bad days, but things have progressively gotten better. I [...]

When it comes to putting in the time and effort to get personal finances in order, I have heard a lot of supposedly good reasons why people haven’t started. There is no doubt that there are a lot of sacrifices that need to be made and it’s not an easy process for many. That being [...]

It’s been a rough week where I have had minimal productivity. I realized after the low vitamin D diagnosis that I had been doing some things on my own to fight the effects which weren’t particularly healthy including eating a lot of junk food and gaining some weight. Upon understanding a bit more about what [...]

As I expected, I woke up quite sore from a the day of digging in the sand. I definitely used more than a few muscles that I don’t normally use, and my body decided to remind me of that the entire day. Even when sitting in front of the computer most of the day where [...]

It appears that we have found the culprit to my fuzzy head. All my blood tests came back within the normal range except for my vitamin D test which came in well below what it was supposed to be (for those familiar, it came in at 11). This actually surprised me quite a bit because [...]

If I keep my eyes open for coupons, I can get an oil change and tire rotation for $19.95 in my area without a problem. That’s less than it would cost me for the oil and filter, not to mention the time it saves me. But I don’t take advantage of these discounts most of [...]

I’m pretty sure that my doctors think I’m nuts. Since my head has been “fuzzy” for a few weeks (and has progressed to the point where it was getting difficult for me to get anything done during the day), I decided that I better try to find out what was going on. The fist stop [...]

I have grown to learn that many of my friends call me when they have a last-minute change of plans because they know that I have the flexibility to do things on the spur of the moment that many people don’t. The plan for today was to take the car in to have the clutch [...]

My team didn’t win on Super Bowl Sunday, but that wasn’t the biggest controversy. In hindsight, I guess I should have seen something like this coming when it comes to my sister. I spent the day with my dad at his house as he threw a Super Bowl party for a bunch of his friends. [...]

If there were ever a reward for people who somehow seem to embarrass themselves on an ongoing basis, I would certainly be in the running to receive it. I kept up that tradition with flying colors today. I usually take showers a bit late. My normal routine is to get up in the morning and [...]

One of the risks which comes along with traveling from house to house to house is that sometimes I forget things. I have plenty of razors (TIP: I get them for free from drug stores — every time a razor company comes out with a new model razor, you can almost always get them for [...]

Why is it that when there is something wrong with a car, whatever seems to be wrong with it miraculously resolves itself the minute that you bring the car in to get repaired? Today was the last day I had before I needed to head back up north to house sit, so I thought I [...]

With the end of the current house sitting job, I have three days before the next one begins. Since I’ve managed to not have to pay anything for lodging so far this month, I figured that I should try to make that the case for the entire month. The plan was to go to visit [...]

This might sound a little strange, but I’m finding that if I want to save money and reduce my costs as part of this minimum wage challenge, one of the best ways to do that is to do more than people expect (it’s also a great way to get more business and earn more money). [...]

Click image to enlarge or print here (pdf) If you’re looking for a great way to start saving money right now that will net you over $1300 in 1 year, we’ve put together an easy system which offers a good amount of flexibility to give you the greatest chance of success. This is a hybrid [...]