Personal Finance Advice

Food is one of the biggest line items in a budget, usually behind only rent or a mortgage and maybe the utilities. It’s also a necessity so you can’t just give it up. Many people want to know how to cut their food budget yet still eat something other than Ramen noodles and Hamburger Helper [...]

I’ve been helping a neighbor attack her New Year’s resolution to get her finances in order. She’s been writing down all of her spending for a couple of weeks and I’m helping her identify things that can be cut back. Like a lot of people, she spends a lot on things like coffee from Starbucks, [...]

I love the Super Bowl, but probably not why you think. For me, the Super Bowl is a great time to do activities on a weekend without the crowds. It is a great day to go skiing as you have the slopes basically to yourself and none of the long lift lines for a winter [...]

One of the most important life lessons that we can all learn is to seriously listen to and consider the advice from those who have more experience than we do. When it comes to the end of our life, most of us are going to have some regrets. A nurse, Bronnie Ware, who spent years [...]

When I first started embracing frugality, I wasn’t thrilled with the process. It all seemed so limiting, somehow. I didn’t enjoy combing sales flyers and planting my own gardens. I wasn’t thrilled about hanging my clothes out on the line or trying to find yet another way to re-purpose a glass jar. It seemed that [...]

Several months ago I wrote a post about what traveling while broke taught me about finance. Now, while I certainly don’t travel five-star, first-class all of the time, I’ve reached a point in my life where I can travel comfortably. I no longer have to sleep in a hostel and wait tables in a bar [...]

We often think of hobbies as expensive, and some are. If you want to raise horses, collect antique cars, take up drag racing, or own your own plane to indulge your passion for flying, you’re going to pay a lot of money. However, there are plenty of hobbies available that are free or inexpensive. With [...]

I spent last week in Las Vegas visiting with an old friend. Besides catching up, I also planned to visit a number of timeshare presentations to write a series about what you can expect if you attend the timeshare presentations to get the freebies and the type of manipulation that occurs (and in the process [...]

You are using far too much of far too many things and you probably don’t even realize it. Most of it is simply out of habit although a good portion of it has it’s roots in commercials. No matter what the cause, becoming aware that you may be needlessly wasting money by using too much [...]

Whenever I read or post an article that suggests that someone cut down spending on their kids, I’m always amused (and amazed) by the outraged comments. If you dare to suggest to someone that is struggling that they cut down on the sports or extra curricular activities, take the kids out of private school, cancel [...]

Some of you may not even know what an image consultant is, but that’s what I am. Basically, I’m a certified image professional who helps people with their wardrobes and closets. (Have you ever seen the TV show “What not to Wear?” I’m Stacey…just nicer.) My clients range from stay at home moms to very [...]

As a kid you probably grew up hearing Aesop’s Fables. These little stories all have a moral designed to teach kids (and adults) to live better lives and to be better people. Many of these stories deal indirectly with financial topics. As an adult it’s fun to go back and re-read some of these tales. [...]

If you’ve lived in your house for any length of time, you may find yourself bored by your home. If you watch too many shows on HGTV your own home can start to look unappealing by contrast. Maybe you’re tired of the carpet or paint colors, you hate the yard, or you’re frustrated by the [...]

This Week’s Money Tip: Visiting Las Vegas for a few days to see a friend made it readily apparent that hotels here have found a wonderful way to make their hotel prices seem much less expensive than they really are. Hidden fees come in all shapes in sizes. Most people are aware of the hidden [...]

This is the time of year when many people launch their weight loss efforts. Weight loss is hard work and it’s easy to fall for those products that purport to make it easier. We so want to believe that it doesn’t have to take so long, or require so much sacrifice from us. We want [...]

My first job was terrible. The boss was a bully and a sexual harasser. The work was brain numbingly boring, and the office politics were bloody and cruel. It was a lot like a game of Survivor without the eating of bugs. On top of it all, the company scammed its clients and lied to [...]

One of the things that makes getting ones finances in order difficult is the assumption that pleasure costs money. The truth is that it really doesn’t have to. The more that you enjoy the simple pleasures in life that don’t cost anything, the easier it is to get yourself out of the consumer mindset that [...]

I used to have a bad TV habit. A really bad TV habit. There were the daily prime-time shows during the week that I began watching as soon as I got home, and then sports the entire weekend. It never occurred to me that there could be a life without TV. It was just the [...]

We all remember fondly the games we played when we were children. There is a simple game that kept me entertained when I was young. It was called Barrel of Monkeys. My Barrel of Monkeys came in a bright yellow plastic barrel with twelve monkeys inside. The monkeys’ arms were sort of S curved and [...]

If you do much shopping, banking, and investing online, then no doubt you are drowning in a sea of passwords. That doesn’t even include the passwords you have to remember for your network, your router, and all the other technological solutions you use. While most sites and devices will help you recover a password or [...]