Personal Finance Advice

I have a friend who is a foodie. She loves to cook and is always making new things. I was at her house the other day and I noticed the (literally) hundreds of cookbooks she has in the house. When I commented how many she had, she said, “Yeah, and it’s cost me a fortune. [...]

Each time that I sit down to write an article, I never really know how it will turn out or whether it will be published. That sense of unknowing always takes me back to junior high school when I was always convinced that my papers just wouldn’t measure up to expectation. So far, I have [...]

Sitting here at my computer, late on a Saturday night, I am thinking about one thing — frozen treats, whether ice cream or gelato or frozen yogurt. About fifteen hours ago, I told my wife that if we did nothing else today, we needed to go out for a frozen treat. If I had to [...]

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. When the woman in line behind me noticed my stack of coupons, she jokingly suggested to her husband that they might want to move to a different line. I laughed and exchanged pleasantries with the couple while the cashier rang up my purchases. When everything had been rung up, my [...]

I’m often puzzled when, in an effort to help someone else save money, I’m looked at like some sort of criminal or crazy person. Here’s an example. This week I had a coupon for $5 off at TGI Friday’s. The coupon explicitly stated that it could be used multiple times or given away to friends. [...]

I recently read an article where the author gave 8 Reasons Not To Coupon. I understand that it was probably an assignment given to a “journalist,” but overall the article kind of annoyed me. I do not coupon directly, but I do save a ton of money using the coupons that my wife prepares for [...]

In even the most organized of kitchens, there will be waste. Spills, failed recipes and other mishaps will add to food costs. It cannot be helped because accidents do happen. At the same time, a lot of waste can be avoided and a lot of unnecessary costs do not have to be suffered. It just [...]

An insurance company has recently been running a television commercial in which it notes that saving money is now a very popular topic of conversation. One incidental character in the commercial tells a friend that since he stopped buying lunch each day and started bringing lunch from home, he is putting fifty dollars each week [...]

Plastic bags of all descriptions make up more of our budgets than we would like. Sandwich bags, storage bags, trash bags, and yard waste bags all contribute to our monthly spending. However, I have a friend who claims to have spent nothing on storage or trash bags for over two years. How does she do [...]

The mercury has reached about 96 degrees each of the past two days. With the beginning of July on us, we move deeper into hurricane season and that will have a very clear effect on my household buying patterns for the next few months. Peak hurricane season is July and August, but the season, which [...]

Summer is coming to the Northern hemisphere so, for most of us, we are going to be feeling the heat very soon. If you live in a climate that is already hot, as I do, the heat will be even more intense. No matter where you live, you will need to drink more, and more [...]

If you live in a small town, you probably know all of the good places to eat. Indeed, you might know all of the places to eat. The McDonald’s just off the highway. Maybe a locally owned restaurant or two. In small towns, there just are not a lot of options and that makes choosing [...]

Frugal living does not need to be Spartan and cost efficiency does not require huge sacrifice. Rather, in seeking to stretch our dollars we are attempting to get more, have more and, at least for many us, share more, than we would if we did not pay attention to our spending habits. Warren Buffet, for [...]

When it comes to saving money, one of the best things you can do is to use less of the products you do buy. Using less means the product lasts longer, which means you buy replacements and refills less often. We can use less of many products and still achieve the same (or better) results. [...]

Eating out is often an indulgence, sometimes a necessity, and usually costly. It can also be a lot of fun. Where we choose to dine out is a personal decision but most of us can be helped in our decision making if we can find good food in a good venue that offers good value. [...]

A couple of years ago, I bought two cases of drinking straws. When they arrived, I had something like three thousand straws taking up space in the back of my utility closet. My wife raised an eyebrow and wondered aloud whether I might be anticipating a great and imminent straw shortage. I explained that they [...]

This month, I have the pleasure of bringing you the wisdom of Stephan Iscoe, the visionary behind Big City Coffee. Stephan is a Renaissance man — musician, author, business consultant, serial entrepreneur and CEO. His story is fascinating and his advice well worth learning. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Stephan about his [...]

Most ice cream stores shops will allow customers to sample flavors before making a purchase. It makes perfect sense for ice cream stores to do that because it lets the ice cream sell itself. The same is true in cheese shops and many other specialty stores. Free samples are great, but they are just that [...]

If you spend more than a token amount of time either grocery shopping or cooking, you have probably noticed the Box Tops for Education and Campbell’s Labels for Education labels on certain grocery products. Box Tops for Education is a program sponsored by General Mills and it has returned over $300 million dollars to schools [...]

You’ve arrived at the grocery store with no plan. You didn’t review the sales flyer and you don’t have any coupons. Maybe you’re on vacation in a strange place, or maybe you’re just in a hurry and you didn’t have time to prepare. You may not even have a well thought out list. Is this [...]