Personal Finance Advice

My current house sitting job ends tomorrow, so a good part of the day was spent cleaning the place to make it look better on their return. Washing, vacuuming, cleaning and all that fun stuff. While doing all that, I began to reflect what I was able to do the first month. The only major [...]

I rarely get the consumer bug. Anyone that knows me well also know that if you want to take me shopping, chances are you’re going to have to drag me screaming and yelling the entire way. I rarely “lust” after any gadgets. Even my computer which I spend most days on is nothing more than [...]

We all have financial goals. Maybe you want to retire early, travel more, pay down debt, or save more money. Having goals is what drives us forward and keeps us from staying in the same place. Unfortunately, many of us haven’t really articulated our goals. We carry them around in our heads as vague notions. [...]

One of the risks which comes along with traveling from house to house to house is that sometimes I forget things. I have plenty of razors (TIP: I get them for free from drug stores — every time a razor company comes out with a new model razor, you can almost always get them for [...]

If you want to get ahead financially, one of the most important questions you can ask yourself is, “What do I need?” It seems like such a simple question, one where the answers should be immediately obvious. You need food, shelter, clothing, and maybe transportation. Everything else is really a want, in some form or [...]

Click image to enlarge or print here (pdf) If you’re looking for a great way to start saving money right now that will net you over $1300 in 1 year, we’ve put together an easy system which offers a good amount of flexibility to give you the greatest chance of success. This is a hybrid [...]

Most of us have brands and products that we prefer over others. Maybe we prefer the taste or we’ve found that Product A works better than Product B. Sometimes our loyalty is rooted in the prestige a brand confers upon us or because it’s what we grew up with. Whatever the reason, we all have [...]

If you’re looking for a way to get a new perspective on how you spend money, one of the best ways to do this is to do some type of “no spend” challenge. While there are a number of things that a no spend challenge can help improve, probably the main benefit is that it’ll [...]

Newspaper subscriptions seem to be dwindling with each year that passes. A lot of people get their news from online sources as it tends to be quicker and more convenient. However, there are still a lot of people who enjoy reading a newspaper. Some people also enjoy some of the financial benefits that come from [...]

When many people think about becoming budget-conscious, they cringe because they associate living on a budget with being cheap. They don’t want to be known as, “That cheap SOB.”What they don’t understand is that the two terms are very different. You can live on/within a budget without being cheap. Living on or within a budget [...]

With the New Year, people are always looking for new ways to save money that isn’t difficult or complicated, and that can keep them motivated throughout the entire year. It seems like Facebook has provided a simple plan (courtesy of Kassondra Perry-Moreland) this year that anyone can follow and it’ll result in over $1300 worth [...]

With New Year’s just past and most people still in the honeymoon phase of their resolutions, it’s worth a brief look at how many self-improvement activities benefit your finances, and how studying one area can have a positive impact on the other. I’ll confess to being something of a self-improvement junkie. Not because my life [...]

We all have habits that we really need to take a hard look at to make sure the habit is helping us reach our financial goals. I know from personal experience that one of the most difficult aspects of personal finance is finding those habits (since they’re habits, we often do them without even being [...]

There are many ways to save money on food, but it gets a little harder to do so when you go to a restaurant. Many people enjoy fast food restaurants because the service is quick and the food is relatively cheap (but not necessarily cheaper) while others drop in from time to time when they [...]

A friend and I were discussing New Year’s plans the other day. She is resolving to get her debt under control and start saving more for retirement and her kids’ college funds. “I’m cutting life down to the bare bones this year,” she said. “We’re not spending on anything extra until things are under control.” [...]

My desk in my home office looks out over the road in front of my house. It always amazes me how much traffic goes by my window on any given day, especially since I live on a cul-de-sac. People in this neighborhood are on the go all the time. They come home and then they [...]

Well, I knew this day was bound to happen. I just wish that it would have been a little later into the year. Having it come so quickly into the new year only confirms that I will likely have to make a lot of these choices in the months to come. I had to make [...]

While some people think it’s better to avoid making New Year’s Resolutions, it’s important to get specific as possible if you do decide to do make them. If you’re they type where New Year’s resolutions help motivate you to achieve those goals, here are some that you should consider relating to your finances: Save More [...]

I have a love-hate relationship with CVS. I love that I can get things there for free / nearly free (one of my goals for this minimum wage challenge is to try to get all of my personal care products for free this year, and using the CVS program will be a big part of [...]

It appears that the first week of the minimum wage challenge will begin on the right foot. I just got word from the parents of a friend that they would like me to house sit for them for a week beginning on December 30th. This isn’t a house sitting / pet sitting gig I would [...]