September 2010

You CAN Use Your Credit Card for Emergencies

The commonly accepted thinking in the personal finance community is that you should leave your credit card at home when emergencies arise. In many cases, I beg to differ.

Mid-Week Links: Recession, Rental Taxes, and More!

I take a look a three recent posts on whether the recession is truly over, if renters should pay taxes, and investment options in your HSA account.

The Grocery Sale Challenge

I recently filled my grocery cart with 95% sale items. Do you think we can hit 100%? Are you willing to try it with me? Join the Grocery Challenge.

Needs, Wants and Crap for Babies: Part 2

The follow-up to my widely successful post covering baby gear. See what we’ve learned from eight months of experience and if our previous recommendations have held up.

Five Easy Ways to Save on Laundry

You don’t want to make your own detergent, but you still want to save some dough when it comes to laundry. Well, this post is just for you.

That Thing You Love

Everyone has something they love–and it’s rarely what someone else loves. Use this to your advantage when designing a business, and make sure you’re funding your own love!

What if Your Money Disappeared Tomorrow?

At any one time, I’m following 2 or 3 television shows. Three hours of weekly TV is plenty, so I try to stick to that limit. Right now, I happen to be watching Top Chef: Just Desserts (just finished with Top Chef: DC), the latest season of Flashpoint, and Discovery’s The Colony. A “Controlled Experiment” [...]

8 Reasons I Want a Home

Yesterday, I talked about the declining popularity of home ownership. Given all those reasons and the current economy, there are still many good reasons I want to own a home. Here is the list: Moving frequently is incredibly expensive if you consider the direct and indirect costs (you have to outfit your new home, reconnect [...]

When Home Ownership Went Downhill

Have you noticed how owning a home is getting a terrible reputation lately? We are a society that loves to challenge the status quo, and thanks to the spectacular collapse of the housing market, the long-time “American Dream” is the new target. “Isn’t this the best time to buy a home?,” you might ask. “Aren’t [...]

The Ideal Number of Credit Cards

Some advocate that the ideal number of credit cards is zero, and for many people, that’s just right. But if you believe that credit cards can be a helpful tool and want to use them, what’s the ideal number to have? I think it’s two, and they would preferably be different types (Visa, American Express, [...]

YNAB 3.0: Second Look

In January, I put up a long review of the newest version of YNAB, being fairly disappointed in how it stacked up to other alternatives I was using at the time, like Mvelopes. Knowing how to create a budget was a good start, but I needed the right tool to help me make my plan [...]

Weigh In: Is a 10% Tip Acceptable?

On last week’s tips for calculating your restaurant tip, Carol writes in the comments: Personally, I still think 10% is a good tip. A little more is nice if service is absolutely great. 20% may be a sign of the times when people wanted to look like big spenders for whatever reason. What an interesting [...]

← Previous Entries

September 2010

Selected Reading