Personal Finance Advice

I write a lot about things that I can eliminate in order to save money, but I am actually to the point where I really have nothing else that I particularly want to eliminate from my life or my household. There are some things that are just too important to my daily pleasure and, although [...]

What’s in a name? Sometimes a lot. And sometimes not a lot. It all depends on what name is at issue and what associations you have with that name. If someone calls you by your name, you will recognize it. If someone calls you by a friendly nickname or pet name, you will similarly recognize [...]

Like most people, I used to factor groceries, toiletries, and household items into my regular budget. The cost of those items had to be deducted from my cash flow. That was before I discovered how to pay for most of my household needs without ever dipping into my regular income. Thanks to online surveys and [...]

There are a lot of reasons to spend money and each of us has his or her own. Our attitudes and perspectives are forged over lifetimes spent earning and spending and enjoying and regretting. I can look at any number of purchases and feel that I have made a good buying decision. I can look [...]

I’ve written before about how we’ve cut out cable TV, preferring instead to use Netflix and over the air channels for our entertainment needs. Recently, however, we allowed cable back into the house. I’m a huge Olympics and tennis junkie and my husband is a big NASCAR fan. And March Madness is coming. Between the [...]

I’m a huge Star Wars nerd and many of my favorite quotes come from the Jedi Master, Yoda. My personal favorite is the following: “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not.” When I think about my debt free life, I often change [...]

Have you ever wondered why the look of fast food is always so much different in the ads than it is in reality? It’s because they hire professional food make-up artists to make the food look better than it ever could in real life. This is how the commercials and print ads fool you into [...]

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 [...]

My family and I have lived in the same house for close to a decade. When we moved here, there were six palm trees on our rather small lot, and I could trim all of them on my own. A few years ago, several of the trees had grown to a height that was just [...]

I, like a lot of people, have a list of things that I would like to own. There can be a lot of fun in fantasizing about all the things you’d like to have and the fun you’d have owning them. However, the smart consumer understands that reality is somewhat different. The things that we [...]

If you’re trying to scale back your spending and live within your means or just save a little more each month, how do you determine reasonable spending amounts for each category of spending in your life like food, clothes, and transportation? Well, there are several government standards that you can use as a guideline. The [...]

In 2008 you worried and logged every cent you made. You made out a budget and tried to stick to it. Every month you failed. Something came up and you overspent. It caused a great deal of tension and maybe even some arguments between you and your beloved spouse. It even made the kids feel [...]

While at a networking event the other day, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two guys. The first guy was complaining about how much he hated his job. He said he couldn’t stand the job, the people, the commute, the stress, the hours, or any of it. The only thing he liked was [...]

Al Gore offsets his carbon footprint. Volunteering for your community is offset for minor crimes. If you can offset those, you can definitely offset luxurious spending. The opportunity or the cost of that opportunity is a perceived value. Sometimes you even have to make a case to yourself for something you know isn’t the most [...]

The question to get your morning rolling today is, What tricks help you from spending money? I was talking with a friend who is super frugal except when it comes to traveling. It seems that he spends virtually all his extra money on traveling either to new countries or to visit friends. I asked him [...]

It’s no secret that changing your habits can lead to monetary savings. But in the rush to reduce the daily splurges like coffee and meals out, and the big ticket items like clothes and vacations, many of us overlook what I call “Every Other” savings. These are things that you do or pay for on [...]

“Here, let me show you these great glasses — I want to make sure you get the full value of your insurance coverage,” enthused the salesman trying to get me to upgrade my purchase. I had already carefully chosen my favorite pair from the rack of frames my insurance would cover completely, using up enough [...]

I find that usually the weekends are the only time I have to do any sort of shopping, whether it be for groceries, clothes, stuff for the house, or pretty much anything we need (or sometimes don’t need). But the majority of our most recent Saturday was spend lying around the house and watching tv, [...]

What I am about to say may be shocking to some in financially responsible circles: I use my credit cards more and more each year. Now, to make a disclaimer, I have never been tempted to rack up credit card debt and have only once failed to pay off the balance in full (a mistake [...]

The most expensive day of your week completely depends on your individual circumstances and spending habits, but I think for a lot of people, that day is Friday. There are many different factors that can influence why your spending would be more on Friday than on any other day of the week and here are [...]