Personal Finance Advice

Like most people, I love to find a bargain. A BOGO deal coupled with a great coupon is a cause for great pride. A 90%-off clearance sale where I can find things that I will actually use is a great thing. A 50th anniversary celebration at a restaurant that rolls back its prices to 1959 [...]

When is a deal a good deal? Unless something is absolutely free, we are necessarily paying for it, so how do we decide if something is worth buying? Even if something is absolutely free, there may still be costs associated with transporting it, storing it, using it or disposing of it. The costs may be [...]

It all started after my mother graduated from college in 1979. With a teaching degree in hand, a student loan to pay off, and a family to support, she began shopping at thrift stores. We had fun those Saturday mornings, going through our community’s small thrift stores. Over time we bought everything we needed: clothes, [...]

Now that it’s spring and the government rebate checks are starting to roll in, many people are sounding like that old Super Bowl commercial: “You’ve just received your rebate check! What are you going to do now?” “I’m going to Disney World!” If you decide to go to WDW this summer and you want to [...]

Since I first became interested in personal finance a few years ago, I have been dead set against buying a new car. As a person who likes to save money, the thought of buying something that would depreciate tremendously as soon as I drove it off the lot made me shutter. Plus there was the [...]

I am a sucker for sales. I’m the kind of person that will buy something that is deeply discounted even though I don’t really need it. I’ve come to realize that no matter how good of a deal it is, it’s not a deal for me if I don’t need it. However, that knowledge does [...]