Personal Finance Advice

My current house sitting job ends tomorrow, so a good part of the day was spent cleaning the place to make it look better on their return. Washing, vacuuming, cleaning and all that fun stuff. While doing all that, I began to reflect what I was able to do the first month. The only major [...]

I rarely get the consumer bug. Anyone that knows me well also know that if you want to take me shopping, chances are you’re going to have to drag me screaming and yelling the entire way. I rarely “lust” after any gadgets. Even my computer which I spend most days on is nothing more than [...]

We all have financial goals. Maybe you want to retire early, travel more, pay down debt, or save more money. Having goals is what drives us forward and keeps us from staying in the same place. Unfortunately, many of us haven’t really articulated our goals. We carry them around in our heads as vague notions. [...]

If you want to get ahead financially, one of the most important questions you can ask yourself is, “What do I need?” It seems like such a simple question, one where the answers should be immediately obvious. You need food, shelter, clothing, and maybe transportation. Everything else is really a want, in some form or [...]

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 [...]

Most of us have brands and products that we prefer over others. Maybe we prefer the taste or we’ve found that Product A works better than Product B. Sometimes our loyalty is rooted in the prestige a brand confers upon us or because it’s what we grew up with. Whatever the reason, we all have [...]

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks listening to the bitter complaints over the “loss” of the two percent Social Security tax holiday. In case you’ve missed it (or you aren’t from the U.S. and didn’t follow our “fiscal cliff” debacle), here’s the gist: Two years ago our politicians reduced the Social Security tax rate [...]

If you’re looking for a way to get a new perspective on how you spend money, one of the best ways to do this is to do some type of “no spend” challenge. While there are a number of things that a no spend challenge can help improve, probably the main benefit is that it’ll [...]

Not too long ago my neighbor needed a new water heater. After it was installed, we went on one of our daily walks and she moaned about the expense and hassle. “Well,” I said, “at least you covered it out of your emergency fund, right?” I’ve heard her speak about their emergency fund so I [...]

When many people think about becoming budget-conscious, they cringe because they associate living on a budget with being cheap. They don’t want to be known as, “That cheap SOB.”What they don’t understand is that the two terms are very different. You can live on/within a budget without being cheap. Living on or within a budget [...]

With the New Year, people are always looking for new ways to save money that isn’t difficult or complicated, and that can keep them motivated throughout the entire year. It seems like Facebook has provided a simple plan (courtesy of Kassondra Perry-Moreland) this year that anyone can follow and it’ll result in over $1300 worth [...]

We all have habits that we really need to take a hard look at to make sure the habit is helping us reach our financial goals. I know from personal experience that one of the most difficult aspects of personal finance is finding those habits (since they’re habits, we often do them without even being [...]

A friend and I were discussing New Year’s plans the other day. She is resolving to get her debt under control and start saving more for retirement and her kids’ college funds. “I’m cutting life down to the bare bones this year,” she said. “We’re not spending on anything extra until things are under control.” [...]

Well, I knew this day was bound to happen. I just wish that it would have been a little later into the year. Having it come so quickly into the new year only confirms that I will likely have to make a lot of these choices in the months to come. I had to make [...]

While some people think it’s better to avoid making New Year’s Resolutions, it’s important to get specific as possible if you do decide to do make them. If you’re they type where New Year’s resolutions help motivate you to achieve those goals, here are some that you should consider relating to your finances: Save More [...]

Apparently I am already cheating on the minimum wage challenge even though I haven’t even started it. At least, this is the argument my sister has decided to make. I recently sent out a “Christmas wish list” to friends and family for what I would like this Christmas. My sister didn’t like my choices of [...]

The fact that I really dislike driving would seem to make the choice here rather easy. If I had my choice, I would not drive at all (and quite frankly, it’s ironic the amount that I do drive with this attitude). I really miss the days when I lived in Japan where the public transportation [...]

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 [...]

I hate budgeting. I simply don’t like taking the time out of my day to run through the numbers when I could be doing so many more interesting things. One of the reasons that I think that I am relatively frugal is that by being so, I haven’t needed to budget for years. I don’t [...]

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 [...]