Personal Finance Advice

Ok, I admit it. I have a serious addiction. Two of them in fact. Everyday, I allow myself one soda and a pack of cigarettes. On Saturday, I have two sodas. My elixir of choice is Diet Mountain Dew. I’ve been downing them daily for over 20 years.
My other addiction, smoking, I know I shouldn’t, [...]

Going out to eat can be an expensive endeavor and even though it’s generally cheaper to eat fast food, even that can get expensive if you are feeding more than one person. While it seems that the days of getting a complete fast food meal (sandwich, side and drink) for under $4 are gone, [...]

There was a time when I thought a weeklong vacation to Hilton Head would be outrageously expensive — either that or I’d have to stay at a less-than-desirable hotel 15 miles from the beach to make it affordable. In my seemingly never-ending quest to find the best deal on everything, I serendipitously stumbled upon [...]

I grew up hearing my dad say “Most people don’t know how money works.” He is a Certified Financial Planner, and while there were a few drawbacks growing up the son of a financial planner (no Gameboy or frivolous purchases unless we had saved up for them in advance), it also had huge advantages. [...]

I generally try to save money on everything I buy, especially groceries since they take up a large chunk of our budget each month. We usually try to shop at our military commissary or at a certain national chain that is known for their low prices on groceries and everything else you can [...]

Christmas and Chanukah and Kwanzaa are coming! That means that if you are a prudent shopper, you have been doing your holiday shopping for many months now. I am sure that all are doing a fine job of controlling their spending while they shop for holiday gifts but I wonder whether we are [...]

If you are reading this, I can safely assume that you are concerned about saving money and maximizing your financial resources. Unless you have unlimited wealth (which I can also safely assume is not the case), then you must be financially wise to take full advantage of the money you have.
The following list [...]

When I was a younger man, I used to spend most of my free time at night hopping from concerts to films to theatrical productions. It was easy then. I needed only to purchase tickets for myself and I could often find a way to get myself added to guest lists. As [...]

Technology has made it much simpler to compare rates and find the cheapest prices for services and products. Why pull out the phone book to call several insurance agents to find the best price when you can visit one website to instantly get the most competitive price quotes? Why settle for paltry interest rates at [...]

My family has long had a love hate relationship with zucchini. My grandparents, mom and I have planted one plant each and every year for as long as I can remember. Until about mid-August every loaf of fresh-baked zucchini bread tastes like it came straight from heaven. But then it happens. At the end [...]

My home improvement project list never seems to get any shorter. Unfortunately, my budget doesn’t get any bigger. I’ve had to be pretty creative and really look for ways to save money while personalizing and renovating my house. Fortunately there are a lot of resources available to renovators with grand plans but tiny budgets. [...]

Getting my finances in order sucks. It sucks even more when I have idiots teaching me how to do it.
Since I am now writing for a personal finance blog, I decided that I should actually try and get my finances in order. Usually I would call my sister and ask her for help in such [...]

After years of struggling to justify the cost of dog ownership, I have compiled a list of chores for my dogs to do that save me money and time. Training was simple, since most duties are derived from their natural instincts. I find myself with more time, more money and less stress. Most dogs would [...]

People have gotten into debt for a variety of reasons. Some is due to their own fault while others aquired the debt from circumstances beyond their control. While it’s important to understand why you got into debt so that you can take the necessary steps so that it doesn’t happen again, the fact is that [...]

I went to my share of birthday parties as a child and without exception they were of singular focus – to celebrate the birthday of a friend or relative. All attention was placed on the “person of the day” or persons in the case of twins or triplets. Getting to play games with [...]

If you have a pet or are thinking about getting one, you know that they can be expensive. Lovable, but expensive. In addition to food and supplies, the biggest expense of owning a pet is likely to be vet bills. When they’re little they need lots of vaccinations and spay/neuter surgery. When they get older [...]

One reason that people have trouble with their finances is that they tend to be lazy about managing them. That is not to say that one should spend 24 hours a day making sure every little financial detail is in order, but when you begin to lose money in ways that could be solved with [...]

By Joseph Ganem
Just about every financial decision we make involves comparing numbers. But, often the numbers shown are not the ones you should compare. The sellers of automobiles and related products are masters at leading people down the wrong financial road with misleading numbers. Whether buying a car or a tank of gas, it is [...]

Summer is already half way over, but you still have at least one more month of fun in the sun to enjoy (depending on where you live). So whether you’ve already maxed out your summer budget, or are simply looking for some inexpensive activities to fill the rest of your summer with, here are [...]

It was recently announced in the news that Starbucks (SBUX) will be closing over 600 stores due to a phenomenon nicknamed “The Latte Effect.” This basically describes the actions people often take when economic times are tough and money is tight, which includes cutting back on extra expenses like coffee, manicures and hair treatments. [...]