Personal Finance Advice

For the first time in years, gas here went under three dollars a gallon. It was cause for a minor celebration. There’s just something nice about seeing that $2.98 on the marquee. It’s only psychological, but it was comforting. Of course, after my minor celebration I realized that there was no point in getting overly [...]

At various times in my life I’ve lived in apartments with few appliances, dormitories with no amenities at all, and homes with HOA’s that restricted what I could do on my own property. I’ve also worked in offices that had no free parking. Living and working in these places greatly increased my expenses because I [...]

You may have seen commercials on TV advertising a “vanishing deductible” (also commonly called a disappearing deductible) and thought it was a great idea. The concept is pretty straight forward and seems easy to understand: If you are accident and moving violation free for a year, your car insurance deductible is reduced by a certain [...]

I saw a small sign on the corner outside my neighborhood advertising “We buy junk cars” the other day. I started wondering why anyone would want to do this and I soon discovered that it can be a way to make some extra money. If you have access to a truck and trailer that can [...]

While most people are surprised to find out that I don’t have a cell phone, they are even more surprised when they also find out that I also don’t have a car. As with the cell phone, the reason I don’t have a car has nothing to do with lack of money. I can afford [...]

I have been car free for several years now, but there are times when I do need to rent a car. I have found that there is one way to consistently get rock bottom prices on a rental car that exceeds coupon specials and all the other advertised deals out there almost every time. Most [...]

I have recently read a number of articles about the businesses which are being hit the hardest by the current downturn in US and well as the global economy. This got me thinking about the businesses that should be affected, even though apparently some of them aren’t. Giant Gas Guzzling SUVs: Not only are they [...]

Unless you live in Germany with access to the Autobahn or own a private race track, chances are good that you will never have a legitimate reason to travel at speeds faster than the law allows. You may want to travel faster than the speed limit and you may do so regularly, but you probably [...]

On my last trip to a used car lot, I was able to get exactly what I wanted out of the transaction. The salesman, of course, tried to talk me into getting more car than I needed, and more importantly, more car than I could afford. I wanted to trade my car outright and not [...]

Ah the frustrations of automobile ownership. My wife and I have two vehicles. She drives a 2003 GMC Envoy. From a cosmetic perspective, it is still in good condition and has only 60,000 miles on it. I drive a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero Sport. It is not in the best physical condition, but it is not [...]

Health care costs continue to skyrocket. You’ve probably noticed your health insurance premiums jumping up every year. That’s bad news, but unfortunately the hit to your wallet doesn’t stop there. If you drive a car and have auto insurance, you can expect your auto insurance premium to jump every time your health insurance goes up. [...]

These days you have to be really wise, especially when it comes to your finances. Spending on your car and its insurance coverage is no exception to this. Wouldn’t it be great if you can get the cheapest auto insurance possible? To do this, you must shop around. You can ask for help from people [...]

If you know that you are going to have your car for a long time, buying parts with a lifetime warranty can make a lot of sense, even if those parts are more expensive than others that are available. That is a lesson that can be learned from Rachel and her car named Chariot. She [...]

When people find out that I’m debt free, the thing they most want to know is how it’s possible and how they can achieve it, too. Quickly. They want the crash course or the quick fix to debt free living. I tell them that there really is no quick fix. There’s no magic pill that [...]

I drive an SUV that I purchased new in 2002. It has relatively low mileage but, after nearly eight years of hauling sports equipment for my kids and mulch for my garden, and after assorted spills while my kids negotiated who got to sit where, my car is not as pristine as it once was. [...]

A friend recently got a bit of a shock when his auto insurance came up for renewal. He discovered that his new rate was $400 higher than his old rate. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong until he remembered: He filed a minor, one person accident on his insurance. The total claim was for [...]

By M Butler It comes as a shock to most people I meet, but I don’t own a car. Three years ago I was thousands of dollars in debt and something had to give. I decided that it would be my car. When I made the decision my friends and family thought that I was [...]

Summer’s coming and that means vacation time! With gas prices lower than they have been in the last few years and with airlines gouging you for everything from extra bags to nuts, many people are hitting the highways this year. While road trips are typically less expensive than other forms of travel, there are some [...]

One of the items that people most frequently go into debt to purchase is a car. That’s not surprising given that even the most basic brand new car begins around $12,000. And that’s for four wheels and a seat; no extras or room for many passengers. Most people don’t have that kind of money lying [...]

I went for a drive today. I did not go very far – just the distance of two subdivisions so that I could drop my son off at a friend’s house. I must have seen at least ten or twelve kids riding bicycles, roller blading and skateboarding. It was a beautiful day so that is [...]