Personal Finance Advice

I’ve noticed that some respondents to my previous articles seem to think that I’m living a life of deprivation because I choose to save money aggressively and live debt free. I want to set the record straight: A debt free life is not a poor life; it’s not a life of deprivation and suffering. It’s [...]

In the process of making out my Christmas card list for the year, I was struck by how many of our close friends are also debt free. I’ve never given it much thought, but there it was. We didn’t plan it this way, it just sort of evolved over the years. Like any sort of [...]

“More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level – far below the level needed to earn a living wage.” – National Institute for Literacy “Nearly half of America’s adults are poor readers, or ‘functionally illiterate.’ They can’t carry out simple tasks like balancing check books, reading drug labels or writing [...]

I’m a big reader and some of my reading materials are magazines. Yet over the last few years I’ve been noticing something: Magazines aren’t always good for my wallet. It’s not the subscription costs, but the advertising that’s the problem. Magazines are full of ads; it’s how they pay for their publication. I get it. [...]

I like to sip iced coffee when I drive. I am not sure that I like the coffee as much as I like crunching on the coffee-flavored ice, but for whatever reason, I like to have an iced coffee in the car. Of course, as a responsible frugalista, I would never admit to stopping at [...]

I love October, as it starts my favorite three months of the year: autumn weather, the beautiful transition from the final days of summer weather to the first days of winter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! There is not a better ninety days in the calendar. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, the consumerism that infected [...]

I have a bad habit of having to complete things. Normally you’d think of this as a virtue. The willingness to see something through to the end is usually considered a good thing. But I’ve learned that my obsession with completion is sometimes costly and often disappointing. Some things are meant to be finished. Others [...]

As I write this, the final days of summer are winding down in the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn is upon us and most of us are looking forward to cooler weather, football and Halloween. It will be December before we know it and Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve will occupy our thoughts and our [...]

Today I rode Atlantis another seven times. That brings my total up to twenty-two rides in the past three weeks. Atlantis, for those of you who are not familiar with SeaWorld Orlando, is a flume ride that my son and I rather enjoy — so much so that we have decided to ride it at [...]

I know, I know. I said I’d never buy a Wii. Funny how never comes around sooner than you think. A few weeks ago I stayed with some family members who have a Wii and I realized just how much fun one could be. I was used to the passive gaming experience where you sit [...]

If you are reading this, I am fairly certain that I know at least two things about you. First, you are likely sitting at a computer terminal that has Internet access. Second, you are neither of my parents nor my brother. I believe you are at a computer because this site is a web publisher [...]

There are certain luxuries that seem to have become necessities in the USA. Forty years ago, my mother would hang the laundry out to dry on a clothes line — even during the winter. Today, just about everyone has access to a clothes dryer. Thirty years ago, video games were very basic and had not [...]

When money gets tight, lessons and coaching for the kids often end up on the chopping block. Whether it’s sports, music, or dance, these extracurricular activities are often costly and expendable in hard times. If your child is already in training to be an Olympic athlete or halfway to Julliard these strategies may not work, [...]

Most of us who like to save money will, at some point, find ourselves faced with a chance to save money that is ethically questionable. Especially in a down economy when people are trying to save on everything, it is easy to fall into frugal ideas that stretch the bounds of legality. I see this [...]

Last week my colleague here at SavingAdvice, David, wrote about the financial benefits of Facebook. His piece contained some valuable information for those looking to join Facebook. However, I’m of a different opinion with regards to Facebook and social networking in general. So, with apologies and respectful disagreement to David, and in the interest of [...]

A few months ago, I wrote about the death of the DVD as a major delivery platform for movies. At the time, my local video store was charging $5 for five-day movie rentals and its stores were generally not very busy (based on my observations). By contrast, the local library was increasingly busy and even [...]

Are you a Facebook user? If not, why not? I would like to think that everyone already has some familiarity with Facebook. Nevertheless, for the three of four readers who have not yet encountered Facebook, it is a social networking site that enjoys more monthly visitors than any of its competitors. In essence, Facebook allows [...]

Television has given us a lot of relationships with characters who we can never meet. I remember characters from a lot of TV shows better than I am able to recall certain childhood friends and classmates and I am pretty sure that I still know the TV characters better than I have known a lot [...]

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie in the 70′s. Each episode had a moral to it, but it wasn’t until I staged a marathon viewing session courtesy of Netflix that I realized how many of those episodes dealt with the subject of money in some form. Maybe some of my money habits [...]

I just enjoyed a delightful lunch with an old friend. I drove to her office and we walked to a nearby seafood restaurant where we were able to relax and catch up. It was quite a pleasure and I had a completely and thoroughly entertaining meal with her. After we had finished our lunch, the [...]