Charting a Course to Go Back to College
Saturday, September 6th, 2008Amanda writes:
After taking a serious re-evaluation of my life over the last year, I finally realized what I should be doing with it. I want to be a nurse. I attended college several years ago, but I majored in English Lit and didn’t finish my degree. How can I plan for this […]
Creation versus Consumption
Friday, September 5th, 2008On page 52 of his book Debt Is Slavery, Michael Mihalik makes a point that has been running through my head for several days.
Be a creator, not a consumer.
Anyone can buy a $2,000 vintage Fender Stratocaster guitar, but can they play it?
Which is better, owning the most expensive tennis racket money can buy or winning […]
Why One-Budget-Fits-All Doesn’t Work - And Why It’s Difficult to Compare Spending Between People and Families
Friday, September 5th, 2008Whenever I leaf through a personal finance “workbook,” I usually wind up getting frustrated. Such workbooks provide “example budgets” and “recommended percentages” that completely miss the boat on the financial realities of most families. Why? Because almost every family has a different allocation of money within their personal budget.
Take food, for example. […]
Opportunity
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Let me tell you a pair of stories about opportunity.
When I was fifteen years old, I had a long heart-to-heart discussion with my parents. All throughout my childhood, my parents had told me that the door to college was open for me and that if my grades were good enough, they would help me […]
Twelve Tactics to Prepare For and Minimize Winter Heating Bills (Besides Woodstoves)
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Liz writes in with an interesting question:
wonder if you have weighed the pros and cons of switching to pellet/wood stoves for heat this winter? I live in Montana and our heating bills are slated to rise 50%, yes 50% this winter, partially due to the sale of Montana Power to Northwest Energy. […]
Some Thoughts on Plasma Donation
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008One of the most frequent “quick money” tips I see bandied about is plasma donation. Go to a plasma donation center, complete a questionnaire, get your pulse and blood pressure taken, and have some blood taken, and you receive a payment for $25 or so.
My wife actually did this while we were […]
The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: More Truck Troubles Edition
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008A few days ago, my truck acted up yet again, with the truck chugging badly before shifting gears (with the chugs vanishing quickly after the shift). Before long, the ol’ “Check Engine” light came on.
Since I don’t need it for much of anything for a while, my wife and I are currently […]
It’s Never As Hard As It Seems
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Yesterday, I had a long IM conversation with a reader (that I’ll call Joel) who was asking for advice on how to invest some extra money for retirement. I suggested that they open a Roth IRA with Vanguard, pointed to some of my articles on Roth IRAs and Vanguard, and then helped them walk […]
The Inspiration and the Motivation
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Virtually every time I accomplish something significant in my life, it’s been guided by two separate forces, one pushing from behind and one pulling me ahead. The inspiration and the motivation.
The inspiration is the big vision you see in front of you. What is it that fills your heart with passion? What […]
What’s An Appropriate Home Food Budget for a Family of Four?
Monday, September 1st, 2008In my recent article about having a weekly cheap supper night, I made the following fairly innocuous statement:
I looked into this question for my own family recently when calculating our estimated food costs for a month. Over the period of a month - and this includes the prorated costs of bulk food purchased earlier - […]
Reader Mailbag #26
Monday, September 1st, 2008Each Monday, The Simple Dollar opens up the reader mailbags and answers ten to twenty simple questions offered up by the readers on personal finance topics and many other things. Got a question? Ask it in the comments. You might also enjoy the archive of earlier reader mailbags.
As usual, we’ll start things off with a […]
Review: After the Darkest Hour
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Each Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity, personal development, or business/entrepreneurship book of interest.
When I was a young boy, my grandmother passed away very suddenly, on Mother’s Day, actually. While I don’t remember her passing away very distinctly, I do remember my grandfather living alone afterwards, and I remember that he just […]
Ten Methods I Use to Keep Productive Wherever I’m At
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Over the past month, I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling - family-related trips, vacations, and so on. That basically means that I’ve been managing my writing and other professional obligations out of my travel bag for the most part.
How do I do that? How do I manage to keep up with […]
The Personal Finance Secrets “They” Don’t Want You to Know About
Saturday, August 30th, 2008I get asked to review all sorts of crazy personal finance books, plans, programs, and schemes all the time, ranging from the reasonable to the completely outlandish.
For the most part, all of these programs share more or less the same content. Get your spending under control, call up your creditors and negotiate […]
How to Avoid the Trap of Splurging as a Reward for “Being Good”
Friday, August 29th, 2008Before I got control over my spending, I used to splurge all the time on small things that I wanted.
I’d buy a new book (or three) every Friday in order to “reward” myself for getting through another work week.
I’d often buy a new CD or DVD whenever I received a paycheck.
Whenever I’d hit […]
