Personal Finance Advice

How many times have you just dumped detergent in the washing machine, or grabbed a swig of cough medicine without measuring? This may be quick and convenient, but likely you are wasting money and product by not measuring. Some products make it easy to measure the correct amount. Detergents, for example, come with measuring cups [...]

I’m frequently asked about the best ways to save on food. There are many ways, including coupons, shopping the sales, buying store brands, and buying in bulk. But if you want to know the easiest way to save on food, here it is: Stop wasting it. According to WastedFood.com, Americans waste more than forty percent [...]

Sitting here at my computer, late on a Saturday night, I am thinking about one thing — frozen treats, whether ice cream or gelato or frozen yogurt. About fifteen hours ago, I told my wife that if we did nothing else today, we needed to go out for a frozen treat. If I had to [...]

In even the most organized of kitchens, there will be waste. Spills, failed recipes and other mishaps will add to food costs. It cannot be helped because accidents do happen. At the same time, a lot of waste can be avoided and a lot of unnecessary costs do not have to be suffered. It just [...]

Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint.com, thinks that for 20 and 30 year olds, the major savings problem is the cost of socially going out — dinners at restaurants, drinks with friends and the daily coffee at the local coffee shop. As we get older, the savings problem becomes one of trying to impress others [...]

When thoughts turn to getting more cash every month, many people assume that they’ll have to take a second job. That may be true. If your financial situation is dire or if you have your heart set on some big ticket item, a second job may be the only way to get to the necessary [...]

I went grocery shopping today. I went to Publix, where I do all of my shopping. The store was well stocked. The produce was fresh. The employees were helpful and friendly. As I walked the aisles, I thought to myself, “this is fun.” Upon checking out, I was pleased with my savings (about 20%, despite [...]

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 something [...]

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 of [...]

Today’s question to get your morning rolling is, Should you eat food after the expiration date? This is an argument that my wife and I often get into when the food in the refrigerator goes past the date marked on the package. My wife’s automatic reaction is to look at the date and throw out [...]

Most of the people I know are convinced that the current high fuel and food prices are temporary. “Surely the bubble will burst soon,” they say. “It won’t be long before we can resume living the way we were before,” they proclaim. “A new president will fix things,” they believe. They continue spending and living [...]

I frequently encounter people who don’t use coupons because they feel like it isn’t worth their time. If you’ve run the numbers and found this to be the case, I respect that. Coupon use, like all areas of personal finance, is a personal choice and not everyone will find it beneficial or to their liking. [...]

I’ve recently discovered the joy of belonging to a special club that gives you discounts at restaurants of half off (and sometimes more). I want to share this saving opportunity with those who are not yet aware so they can save money at restaurants too. It doesn’t cost anything to join and it’s not a [...]

The boxes were gone. My three-year-old was crestfallen. He had looked forward to his regular job of returning the plastic bags from last week’s grocery shopping trip to the recycling boxes just inside the store. But the boxes are no longer there; an employee told us that the store had discontinued its recycling. “You know [...]

This weekend I was reading “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be: How to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead” by Larry Winget. (A pretty good read, by the way. The advice is nothing groundbreaking, but his straight talk and no excuses approach is entertaining.) Anyway, in the book he states that most people [...]