Personal Finance Advice

My desk in my home office looks out over the road in front of my house. It always amazes me how much traffic goes by my window on any given day, especially since I live on a cul-de-sac. People in this neighborhood are on the go all the time. They come home and then they [...]

An acquaintance was recently fired from her job. The reason? She needed too much time away from her job to deal with “family obligations.” I don’t know all the details, but she was missing a lot of work to deal with some issues with her kids and extended family. This was not a case of [...]

My newspaper carrier puts a card in our paper every holiday season thanking us for subscribing, wishing us a Merry Christmas, and asking for a tip. At the bottom it reads, “Please tip your carrier. Checks for tips should be made out to, “Mr. Smith.” (Not his real name.) This appalls me because I was [...]

I’ve written before about my issues with concentration and productivity. One of my biggest problems is with the Internet. It’s a fabulous resource, but it’s also a huge time suck. If you’re a very disciplined person you may not find it to be a problem, but if you’re easily distracted it’s hard to “quickly” check [...]

A news story caught my eye last week. This sad story made me realize that many people have no idea what they’re getting into when they agree to cosign on a loan for someone else. In this case, a mother cosigned her sons’ student loans and he died unexpectedly, leaving her to repay the debt. [...]

I don’t like to spend money. There, I’ve admitted it. Even when it’s for something that I know I’ll love and can easily afford, something inside me clenches up and I don’t want to spend. (I blame genetics. My father and grandfather were the same way.) That’s good from the standpoint of saving for retirement [...]

We all worry about our finances to some degree. Even if everything seems to be going great in your financial world, uncertainties over world events, “fiscal cliffs,” and issues like healthcare and retirement can make you worry. If you have other stressors like an uncertain job or no emergency fund, your worry meter can go [...]

Making your own things, sewing your own clothes, or making gifts are often touted as ways to save money. After all, the thought goes, you can make something for less than it would cost to buy the item. Unfortunately, while making your own items can bring you many rewards, saving money isn’t always (or even [...]

So we’re in the thick of the holiday season right now. You’re busy and harried, so it’s too early to think about next Christmas, right? Wrong. Some common advice to prepare for next year is to hit the after-Christmas sales to get gifts for next year, to buy craft kits for next Christmas, or to [...]

Recently I was invited to a lunch at a very pricey, exclusive restaurant in town. I accepted because it was a professional thing and I felt like the contacts I would make would justify the price tag. I was right, to an extent. I did meet a lot of people that will probably be helpful [...]

When people start throwing around financial advice (and when you’re deciding which advice to take), one of the considerations that often gets ignored is the significance of income level. Advice gets thrown around about what to cut and how to save without realizing that how much money you’re bringing in is the biggest factor in [...]

Financial gurus often talk about spending on experiences rather than stuff. The idea is that stuff will break, become obsolete, or never get used in the first place, whereas experiences will stay with you for a lifetime. Experiences are said to be more valuable than stuff. To hear some people talk, you should be able [...]

The retail sector and the media love to sell us “stuff” to solve our every problem. They even try to manufacture “problems” just so they can sell us stuff. (I tend to think the no-touch hand wash system falls into this category. It dispenses soap without you having to touch the dispenser so you don’t [...]

When we were first married and broke, I remember one of my mothers’ friends gave us Christmas ornaments for a wedding present. She said, “It’s the one thing no one thinks to give you when you’re just starting out, but it’s something you’ll really want and won’t have any money to buy for yourself.” Given [...]

Most people know that they need to actively manage their money. That means reconciling statements, reviewing investment choices, paying bills or making sure that auto-payments are happening, periodically checking for deals or better plan options on services, and learning about money topics so they can be informed consumers. Unfortunately, many people don’t do this. It’s [...]

We all want to be able to put more money away for the future, rainy days, or those special goals that are dear to our hearts. Unfortunately, sometimes in our zeal to save money, we devise some strategies that end up backfiring. This usually happens when we feel like we have a discipline problem with [...]

On one of the board gaming forums I frequent the term, “Cult of the new” is frequently tossed about by posters. What they’re referring to are all the new games that come out each year. They’re new, hot, and hyped to the max. People pay exorbitant amounts of money to get their hands on the [...]

One of my favorite restaurants in town isn’t the swanky chain restaurant, the fine dining establishment, or the fast food place. It’s the simple cafeteria. You know the drill: You push your tray down the line past the steam tables laden with everything from salad to dessert. Many people think that the cafeteria isn’t good, [...]

In this day and age of factoids, time saving gadgets, news that’s more infotainment than real news, and our harried pace of life, most of us find ourselves just skimming the surface of information, hobbies, and work skills. We absorb what we need to get by and then move on to the next thing. What [...]

One of the keys to financial success is learning how to separate wants from needs. It sounds easy. A refrigerator is a need. A car (in most cases) is a need. Housing is a need. Utility usage is a need. This is all true, to a point. However, these things can easily bleed into the [...]