Personal Finance Advice

I was talking to a neighbor the other day and she expressed how frustrated she is with her current house and how much she’d like to move. As we talked, it became clear to me that it’s not the actual house, neighborhood, or lot she hates, it’s that the house is older and needs some [...]

I was listening to the radio the other day and the DJ was talking about how he had to call someone to come fix his garage door opener. No matter how much he pushed the button, it wouldn’t open. There was no sign of life from the thing; even the overhead light didn’t work. So [...]

This past Sunday, my wife and I awoke to the pitter patter of little feet in our home. It was not our children, because long ago they left gentle footsteps behind them in favor of the thundering stomp-stomp-stomp of teenage boys. It was not our grandchildren because we do not have any. It [...]

About ten years ago, a woman I know gave up a high paying job in Connecticut because she felt that she could not handle the stress. She moved to rural Florida for a few years, lived with a guy she had met in high school in a house that her parents bought and basically [...]

If you can’t afford the luxury of a professional crew of organizers and designers to organize your clutter and maximize your space, that doesn’t mean you have to keep living in chaos. Those of us on a budget still have plenty of options for getting organized. All you need to get started is some time [...]

I recently wrote about services that we never would have purchased forty years ago but which now are commonplace expenditures. Indeed, I suggested (or at least implied) that there was no real reason to ever use services such as a lawn service because most domestic services we could and should handle on our own. [...]

People frequently ask me why I’m so committed to living without debt. Am I debt phobic? Afraid of bankruptcy? Am I afraid that I’ll get in over my head? Am I just out of touch with “the way people do things these days?” I always answer no to all of these questions. The reason I [...]

A lot of people are realizing that a life without debt is both liberating and safe. It’s something that more and more people are striving for. The problem is, many people who would like to live a life without debt have no idea what that sort of life looks like. They have spent so many [...]

Do you ever stop to consider all of the papers that you receive in the course of your daily life, but which you do not stop to read? Do you read the warranties on every product you purchase and the terms and conditions on every website that you visit? Do you even bother [...]

Part of what has gotten the economy into such a mess is the belief that everyone should be a homeowner. Everyone from the government, to the mortgage brokers, to the banks, to the realtors and the homebuilders thinks that everyone in this country has the “right” and “duty” to own their own home. “It’s the [...]

When you move into a new apartment, you will undoubtedly need or want some items that you didn’t have in your previous apartment. Every apartment has a different layout, different windows, different amounts of storage space, and other subtleties that can invoke the desire to buy something that solves a problem—whether it’s a new couch [...]

The business section of the Denver Post included a bit about Fannie Mae signing interim rental contracts with tenants of properties their landlords couldn’t pay for. What does this tell me? A renter doesn’t know the financial position of their landlords. It used to be that was a just fine arrangement, but maybe it [...]

Generally, I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I tend to decide to do things throughout the year and then just get on with them. New Year’s resolutions come with to much pressure and they’ve always seemed forced to me. So I tend to avoid them. But this year is different. I have one New Year’s [...]

You’ve already heard that owning a home can be a great way to build wealth and financial security and that there’s this mysterious thing called “pride of ownership” that makes it enjoyable to mow your lawn even when it’s 100 degrees outside. But the seemingly small benefits of living in a house that’s all yours [...]

Whether your furnace is broken or you’re just looking to save a buck, you might be surprised at how well you can get along without heat. Here are some simple and inexpensive ways to make cold days and nights more comfortable without touching the thermostat.
Wear layers: I’m not just talking about wearing a long-sleeved [...]

In my neighborhood, all of the houses have two car garages. What amazes me is how few people use their garages for their intended purpose. When I go out for a run, I see so many garage doors open and the garages are full of stuff, not cars. There is barely room to walk in [...]

My father and I own a duplex. As the landlords for our small piece of property, we have seen plenty of tenants come and go in our college town. Most have been great. A few were not. In our experience, we’ve found that some behaviors can almost guarantee that your deposit will be history.
For [...]

I tend to be a bit bullheaded at times. Well, maybe more than a bit, but just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean it’s the best thing to do.
Take the advice that you hear everywhere about turning down your thermostat. Many people turn down the thermostat when they leave for work or are [...]

There is a famous quote that says that money is the root of all evil. I think that statement is wrong. I think that the envy of money is the root of all evil. How can money be evil? Money is an inanimate object, and as such, is incapable of any action at all, let [...]

I was chatting with a neighbor the other day and he mentioned that he is having the entry to his home renovated. I was surprised, since his home is relatively new and, I think, quite nice. He laughed and said that his house does not have “foyer appeal” and that he wants it [...]