Personal Finance Advice

Last week some long lost relatives came to visit (well, not long lost but definitely not close relatives). Frankly, I wish they’d stayed lost. We let ourselves get talked into hosting these people by another relative who, knowing that these long lost people were coming to our town for a convention, so kindly recommended that [...]

The more I embrace frugality, the more I wonder if a frugal life equals a life detached from society. And then I ask myself: Is that a bad thing? I find myself less and less interested in “mainstream” society as the years go by. I don’t watch TV much, so I couldn’t tell you anything [...]

Have you ever thought about how much control over your financial life you give to companies when you sign up for things like cable, cell phone contracts, Internet access, loans, or credit cards? When you engage in most financial transactions, you are letting someone else have a little bit of control over your financial life. [...]

A shopping list sounds like such a simple thing to do, but how many times have you arrived at the store with no list and no idea what you really need? It leads to frustration and overspending, doesn’t it? I hear you now: “A list takes too long to get together. When I need to [...]

I remember when I was a kid, my parents would take the time to show me how money worked. (This was in the days before ATM’s and online banking.) My mom would show me how to write a check out to “cash,” hand it to the teller, and get cash in return. She showed me [...]

When people set out to make a budget or adhere to a financial plan, they sometimes make things so complicated that they have no chance of success. They set up accounts at many institutions, they open ten credit cards to maximize the rewards, they make too many rules about what can and cannot be bought, [...]

I’ve written before about how we’ve cut out cable TV, preferring instead to use Netflix and over the air channels for our entertainment needs. Recently, however, we allowed cable back into the house. I’m a huge Olympics and tennis junkie and my husband is a big NASCAR fan. And March Madness is coming. Between the [...]

One of the things that makes it hard when you’re trying to save money is the feeling that you’re not getting anywhere. You make some changes in your lifestyle or you stop spending on unnecessary things and you know you’re saving money, but you just don’t feel like it’s adding up. When people start feeling [...]

Several years ago I started looking for alternatives to commercial laundry products. I had two main reasons for doing this. First, commercial products were becoming more and more expensive and I was having trouble finding ones that worked well, or at least well enough to justify their price tags. Second, I wanted products that were [...]

I think I’m getting old. I’m starting to hit that phase of life where I’m looking at the choices I’ve made and ruminating over the roads less traveled. I find myself wondering about the career I chose, the jobs I’ve taken along the way, even the relationships I’ve had. Along with all the general “What [...]

When the talk turns to weekend plans, usually ideas that involve spending come to mind. Dinner out. A movie. A night out at the clubs. A sports event. These things are fun and fine to do in moderation. However, they can get expensive if you do them every weekend or if you are on a [...]

This week we had a snowstorm. To many areas of the country this is no big deal. However, where I live we don’t “do” snow. We don’t have bi snow removal operations, most of us natives don’t know how or care to drive in it, and everything pretty much shuts down until the melting happens. [...]

My state, like so many others, is awfully short on money these days. There have been budget cuts and tax increases in an effort to make up the shortfall. However, some of these cuts have threatened my bottom line more than others and forced me to become politically active to save my money.
Most recently, [...]

We all know (or should) that living above your means for the long term is a recipe for financial disaster. Living above your means is spending more than you earn on a consistent basis. When you do it occasionally, as in the case of an emergency or a planned splurge, it’s not detrimental. However, it [...]

A while back I wrote about twelve things you could do with an old shower curtain liner. In the same spirit of saving money and cutting down on waste, I now offer you fourteen things you can do with an empty jar. Of course, what you’re able to do with a jar will depend on [...]

Despite the fact that it’s the middle of winter here, my dog has fleas. I got this great news at the vet’s office when she went in for her checkup. He said that the weather conditions here have been perfect for growing a huge flea population and now that it’s cold, all those fleas are [...]

When a foot injury (and bitterly cold weather) recently sidelined me from my regular running routine, the doctor suggested that I find some low impact exercise to see me through my recovery time. Biking was out, at least for a while, because biking in sub-zero temperatures holds no appeal for me. I was already doing [...]

I know quite a few people who have tried to use coupons but ended up quitting because they got discouraged. They felt like they weren’t saving enough, or that somehow they weren’t doing it “right.” One woman put it simply when she explained, “I see these people on TV who get $600 worth of food [...]

One of the best ways to control your spending is to force yourself to use a mandatory waiting period before making any unnecessary purchases. Tell yourself that you will buy nothing until that waiting period is up. A waiting period gives you time to cool off, get away from the temptation, review your finances, and [...]

When we get bored or stressed, some of us tend to head for the stores to look for something to do. Maybe we want a new book, a new CD, or a new movie. Maybe we want new clothes so we can jazz up our wardrobe. Maybe a new board or video game will do [...]