Personal Finance Advice

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 [...]

When I first started on my frugal journey I had to get past quite a few fears and stereotypes that were holding me back, especially after I moved to a new area. You wouldn’t think that frugality would be a scary thing, but sometimes it can be a little frightening, especially if you’ve never had [...]

Some non-frugal people have a perception that all frugal people are stupid, dumb, backwards, hillbilly housewives, and generally uneducated. I think this stereotype must come from the feeling that the really “smart” people are also very successful and thus don’t need to be frugal. It’s only the uneducated people who aren’t “smart enough” to get [...]

No matter how little money you earn, there is almost always someone, somewhere (likely in your own area), who is managing to live well on less than what you make. Now, by living “well” I don’t necessarily mean having a three thousand square foot house, a Mercedes, a cruise every year, and a housekeeper. I’m [...]

I’ve reached one of those milestone birthdays where you stop and take stock of your life. I’ve been looking at where I’ve been and where I’m going professionally, personally, and financially. In looking at my finances, I’ve realized that there are eleven actions that have contributed directly to my success. These actions have all been [...]

We all know that time is our most finite resource. We all have a set number of days on this planet and we’re not getting any more. We can’t make or buy more time. Since we can’t make more time, it’s important to make the most of the time we do have. I’ve found that, [...]

Here’s the great thing about frugality and saving money. It’s almost foolproof. When you make a commitment to getting your finances on track, living more simply, and putting money away for the future you really can’t fail at it, as long as you keep trying. Some people tell me, “Oh, I tried frugality but I [...]

Recently my all-in-one printer/scanner/copier experienced a malfunction. During the initialization process, the print head moves around a bit, dancing a noisy little jig, and then the light on the scanner head illuminates, and the head moves out a few inches from its “home.” After a moment or two, the scanner head does its own jig [...]

As some of my more regular readers may recall, I also write a literary criticism column for Bibliobuffet. I have a long standing love of books and I would gladly give up my television before I would give up my library. Admittedly, I would miss the Jack Benny Show, Fringe and Survivor but if something [...]

On my last trip to a used car lot, I was able to get exactly what I wanted out of the transaction. The salesman, of course, tried to talk me into getting more car than I needed, and more importantly, more car than I could afford. I wanted to trade my car outright and not [...]

Last fall we had new neighbors move in next door. They seemed nice enough until spring came and I started hanging my laundry out on the line again. One day the lady of the house came over and said, “Can you not hang your laundry on the line? It’s not nice to look at.” I [...]

Last week some long lost relatives came to visit (well, not long lost but definitely not close relatives). Frankly, I wish they’d stayed lost. We let ourselves get talked into hosting these people by another relative who, knowing that these long lost people were coming to our town for a convention, so kindly recommended that [...]

The more I embrace frugality, the more I wonder if a frugal life equals a life detached from society. And then I ask myself: Is that a bad thing? I find myself less and less interested in “mainstream” society as the years go by. I don’t watch TV much, so I couldn’t tell you anything [...]

When I discuss frugality and money saving strategies with those who are just starting down the frugal road, one of the things they always want to know is, “What can I buy that will help me become more frugal?” I always have to swallow a chuckle because buying things to become frugal is oxymoronic. You [...]

There is an image that the US has become an nation of shopaholics driven primarily by consumerism. Lee Eisenberg, the author of Shoptimism, believes that this is not truly the case. He sees that the average person still retains some of the frugality on which the US was founded and believes that most people that [...]

I need to buy new sneakers today. I know this because when I took my dog for a walk this morning, the plastic heel guard in my right sneaker tore through the fabric cover and scratched my heel. More specifically, the abrasion continued for the full mile that I walked so that I was bleeding [...]

While I’ve never been one to keep up with the Jones’, I’ve noticed a palpable sense of relief amongst many friends, acquaintances, and message board posters that the pressure to keep up, show off, and compete is off. At least for the moment. In the heyday of the 1990′s and early 2000′s, everything was about [...]

Most of us who like to save money will, at some point, find ourselves faced with a chance to save money that is ethically questionable. Especially in a down economy when people are trying to save on everything, it is easy to fall into frugal ideas that stretch the bounds of legality. I see this [...]

I got a rude surprise when I recently asked for some CorningWare as a gift. You probably know the bakeware that I’m talking about. CorningWare was famous for their bakeware with the blue cornflowers on it. It came in other patterns, but that blue cornflower was an icon. My grandmother had it, my mother and [...]

I’ve mentioned before that I really like saving money. To me it’s like a game to find new ways to reduce my spending. Constantly finding new ways to lower spending keeps me on my toes and protects me from slipping into careless patterns that could lead to debt. It also frees up more cash that [...]