Personal Finance Advice

Taking care of another person, even someone you love, can be stressful on your emotions, your body, and your (or the other person’s) pocketbook. Even if you have great insurance for medicine, the cost of incidentals – everything from blood pressure monitors to incontinence products – adds up. Drugstores and grocery stores sometimes offer one-check [...]

Advertising sells products. Yet, for all the time advertisers spend trying to make their products stand out, many ads don’t seem to be very well thought out. In fact, many of them have the opposite of the intended effect on me. More often than I would expect, I see an advertisement that either insults my [...]

It’s a catch-22 for many young people: to get the job, you need experience, but to get experience, you need the job. Many schools are aware of this problem and encourage students to get as much practical experience as possible during their academic careers. Their quests to gain experience sometimes benefit the general public by [...]

One basic fundraising rule is to tell potential donors what’s in it for them. It sounds strange that charities would appeal to donors’ sense of self-interest rather than to their sense of charity, but that’s what they do, albeit subtly, so as not to suggest that donors are selfish. While I believe that people can [...]

Usually at Thanksgiving, I make a point to give thanks for non-material things. I need that reminder not to overlook the things that really matter when I’m so busy thinking about earning, saving, and spending money. However, this year, I decided to make a list of money-related things for which I give thanks. I share [...]

I used to love Christmas shopping. I truly enjoyed searching for just the perfect gift for each person on my list – something that fit each one’s personality and interests, something that no one else would buy, and yet something still within my budget. But as the years wear on and the people on my [...]

I enjoy doing most kinds of puzzles. My favorites are logic puzzles (the type that usually come with a grid in the Penny Press Logic Puzzles magazine), kakuro, and crosswords. My local newspaper carries kakuro only on Sundays and doesn’t have logic puzzles at all, so I’m often fighting temptation to buy a logic puzzle [...]

Alcoholics Anonymous, Weight Watchers, local faith communities, service organizations, and even mommy groups all acknowledge the power of positive peer pressure. When you want to accomplish a goal or live your life a certain way, it is a bit easier when you meet with others working toward the same end. Whether or not you consider [...]

My Dad loves to save money and to tell stories. One way he combines these loves is to reminisce about the low prices in “the good old days.” He is realistic, however. When he talks about buying ice cream cones for ten cents each, he rarely fails to add, “But I made a $1.00 a [...]

In James Grippando’s novel, Lying with Strangers, a nurse tells a doctor, “We are the last repairmen on earth.” He goes on to explain that people rarely take the time to fix things anymore; soon the only thing left that’s worth fixing will be the human body. Though I had trouble suspending disbelief for much [...]

When my mom started her first job around 1950 or so, she didn’t have a 401(k), but she did have a Christmas club. Every paycheck showed a deduction for her Christmas club savings account, an account she emptied each December to buy gifts for her family and friends. She tells the story about her Christmas [...]

My family is unusual. We love to go to the mall, but we rarely buy anything. While I don’t recommend this form of recreation for a compulsive spender, those who have strong self-control (or who simply don’t want many of the things for sale) will find quite a few free ways to pass the time [...]

EBay and its competitors have renewed the popularity of auction-style sales, but many online auction devotees have been too busy or too intimidated to try the real thing – a live auction. They are the equivalent of football fans who have never seen their team play in the stadium. Even if you have never used [...]

Last week, eBay sent me a message urging me to contact my state representatives in support of a bill that would exempt eBay sellers in Pennsylvania from having to get auctioneer licenses. “You may have heard the Pennsylvania State Board of Auctioneer Examiners is lobbying for eBay sellers to be licensed under the state’s outdated [...]

“You must follow the simple instructions exactly, and in less than three months, you will receive $800,000. GUARANTEED,” promise the two identical, unsigned letters I received in the past month. That statement alone should make anyone skeptical – not only the promise of a return far beyond what even Warren Buffet can generate, but also [...]

Romantics will tell you that fresh flowers are perfect objects of condolence because they symbolize the beauty and brevity of life; allergics will tell you that they would prefer their sniffles and tears at a funeral to be from grief. Whichever position you hold, I hope you’ll agree with me that fresh flowers can cost [...]

“You’re causing me social stress!” was a common complaint of my college roommate, who liked solitude. I, on the other hand, loved the social life of the dorms and the wide activities college offered. I knew what she meant by “social stress,” though, and I still occasionally experience it today, often due to what I [...]

One definition of frugality is making the best use of the resources available. I have an abundance of junk mail, so I thought, How can I make junk mail useful? Here are some ideas from my brainstorming session: 1. Sign up for opt-out lists. (warning: if you do this, then you can’t do any of [...]

I may have discovered the perfect crime. I can’t tell you who exactly is committing it, how exactly he’s doing, or who exactly it hurts, but I know someone, somewhere could be getting rich from it. Last month, a charge for a hotel stay was $0.75 higher on our credit card bill than on the [...]

It’s easy to get so caught up in looking for new ways to make or save money that we neglect our regular financial chores. But taking care of the money you already have can prevent some losses and can help you form good habits so that it’s not so hard to reduce spending when necessary. [...]