Personal Finance Advice

I hate waste. I hate that sometimes I have to throw something away without having gotten maximum use out of it. I hate the waste of money and the waste of resources. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that there are instances where I end up wasting things. For example, I cannot use up an entire head of [...]

When I first started on my frugal journey I had to get past quite a few fears and stereotypes that were holding me back, especially after I moved to a new area. You wouldn’t think that frugality would be a scary thing, but sometimes it can be a little frightening, especially if you’ve never had [...]

We’re slam in the middle of the Christmas nuttiness. Spend, spend, spend is the current motto and I don’t know whether it’s the coming full moon or simply the Christmas insanity, but people are acting crazy. I’ve seen far more people this year yelling at other people, pushing and shoving, flipping others off in parking [...]

If you’ve ever read the book by John Grisham or seen the movie, “The Firm,” then you are familiar with the tale of corporate and personal greed that leads one man to almost lose his life and all of the things he values. In the movie/book, Mitchell McDeree takes a job at a law firm [...]

In the not too distant future I’m going to have to have surgery on my foot and ankle. This is going to mean six to eight weeks of essentially being off my feet except for limited excursions to the bathroom and from the couch to the bed. I’ll be able to do some things, but [...]

In the last six months or so I’ve discovered a new hobby: Board games. I’m not talking about games like Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, LIFE and the like that are available at the big box stores. I’ve discovered what are commonly called “Euro-games” because they are designed in Europe by European designers. They aren’t generally available [...]

Home and personal security is a big part of personal finance. After all, you don’t want to work hard for what you have only to have it taken away by thieves. Neither do you want to be physically injured by someone who is after your stuff. While security is a very serious subject, the movie [...]

The Tightwad Gazette was a newsletter, published in the early 90′s, by Amy Dacyczyn. It was published in the days before email and the Internet. If you wanted to subscribe, you received your copies through the Postal Service. Eventually those newsletters were compiled into three books and, finally, into The Complete Tightwad Gazette which contains [...]

Two weeks ago I had to make an emergency trip to the home improvement store to buy a replacement part for my toilet. The home improvement store shares a strip mall with another big box store and several smaller stores. I parked between the big box store and the home improvement place since that seemed [...]

Many years ago I worked in a municipal permits and inspections department. Builders came in and applied for permits, we issued them and then took care of the inspections to make sure that homes and business were being built according to the current building codes. You wouldn’t think there would be too many money lessons [...]

Many people have large contractual or recurring monthly expenses in their budget. Cell phones, gym memberships, club memberships, cable/satellite TV, and data plans for tablets are just a few of the ongoing expenses you may face. These can really add up and you often end up paying even when no one is using the service [...]

If you followed any of the Black Friday news this year, you know that many stores including Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy pushed their opening times to midnight on Black Friday. Some stores, like Toys R Us and my local outlet center pushed the opening even further back by opening at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving [...]

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite vacation destination is Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida. Some would say I have an unhealthy addiction to the place whereas I would simply call myself a fan. Either way, my travels to Disney World have taught me quite a bit about money. I know what you’re [...]

Retirement can be a scary thing. You wouldn’t think so, since so many people look forward to the day when they can stop working and take it easy. However, the financial and emotional adjustments can cause problems if you aren’t prepared for them. Most of us just blindly save money toward retirement thinking that the [...]

Years ago I made the choice to leave the full time corporate world and go out on my own. I did it for many reasons, not the least of which was because I just couldn’t stand the toxic office games and politics. For the sake of my mental health I knew I had to do [...]

I subscribe to quite a few magazines. Some I got for free, but I’ve paid for many of them. Up until recently I’d been guilty of giving my magazines a quick read and then tossing them into the recycling bin. Then one day I asked myself, “Why am I subscribing to these if I’m not [...]

You might not think that your ability to concentrate for long periods of time would have much to do with money and finance. I thought that, too, until my concentration began suffering and eventually seemed to become non-existent. In recent months I’ve learned that concentration actually has a lot to do with money and finance. [...]

Some non-frugal people have a perception that all frugal people are stupid, dumb, backwards, hillbilly housewives, and generally uneducated. I think this stereotype must come from the feeling that the really “smart” people are also very successful and thus don’t need to be frugal. It’s only the uneducated people who aren’t “smart enough” to get [...]

The daughter of a friend of mine is getting married in a few weeks. While the guy seems very nice, I’m worried about the match. The daughter isn’t, in any way, prepared for financial independence. She just finished college and hasn’t had a “real” job yet. She only makes a few hundred dollars per month [...]

In the last year, quite a few houses have gone up for sale in my neighborhood. Several have sold and several have languished. While price plays a big role in what sells and how quickly, most of the houses that languished in my neighborhood were priced competitively. So what made them unappealing to buyers? One [...]