The Best Posts of 2011

Welcome, 2012. Our family had a fantastic time in Orlando this weekend bringing in the New Year, and I have to tell you that Disney really knows how to throw a party and make it memorable. The fireworks spectacular on New Year’s Eve was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. All this week, I’ll be [...]

The Best Video You Will Watch This Year

For the last two weeks, I’ve been looking for a proper way to end the year on a positive note and send the readers of this blog into 2012 with momentum. As if by chance this week, the way to do it dropped directly into my lap. Long-time readers know that I’m a huge fan [...]

How to Create a Minimalist Budget

One of my core goals is to lead a simpler, more focused life. This post explores some of my original ideas for simplifying money. Mention the word budget and you immediately lose half the audience. Some are “way too advanced” for it, some have tried and failed, and others are too scared to even look. [...]

Sorting Out Your Expenses

If you ever set out to clear your house of unwanted things, you probably used or at least heard of the “box” or “pile” method. In essence, you’re forced to review everything you touch in a particular area of the house and categorize it based on what should happen with the item. Typically, the piles [...]

Clearing Up Car Insurance Confusion

One of the most frustrating things about many insurance products is their complexity. Just when you think you’ve answered the question: “How much will I get if…” something else surprises you about how the benefits are structured. Over the past year, I’ve been knee-deep in research on health and car insurance products as a result [...]

Write Your Own Amazing Story

I sometimes wonder if I have what it takes to be an engaging personal finance blogger. In many respects, I’m just a “regular guy” with a dream: I haven’t traveled to 27 countries and become location-independent. I didn’t sell a business I created in my 20s for a million dollars. I’m not paying off mountains [...]

Living in the Moment vs. Future Goals

One of the toughest ideas to process mentally when you get introduced to the concept of “living in the moment” is how to accept the present condition and also seek to build a better future. The two ideas seem to be mutually exclusive–seek future goals and you accept that the present doesn’t live up to [...]

Thankfulness for 2011

Thumbnail image for Thankfulness for 2011

Every year around this time, I get in a self-reflective mood that lasts from Thanksgiving through the first week of January. It’s a nice time of year for reviewing accomplishments, thinking about goals, wrapping up loose ends, and making important life decisions. Of course, the first and most important step in all of that is [...]

Is Progressive Snapshot Worth It?

Nearly two years ago, I revisited my auto insurance premiums as I do every few years, and decided that switching to Progressive was the most logical and inexpensive choice among the providers I quoted (4-5 of them). Through two fender-benders (neither our fault), they have been nothing short of fantastic to work with. While the [...]

Perspectives from Poland

A few months ago, I spent two full weeks with my family in Poland. It was my longest stay in over 10 years, dating back to the long summers spent there as a kid, and my first time back in 3 years. I was particularly self-reflective on this trip, more so than in years past. [...]

iMania Makes Me Nauseous

Unless you consciously shun contact with the outside world, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the latest craze in the world of tech–the new Apple iPhone. The untimely death of Steve Jobs only amplified this effect, with a bright spotlight on Apple and their place in technological history. However, I reject the notion that iMania, the craze that surrounds [...]

8 Critical Mistakes in Envelope Budgeting

Envelope budgets are the best thing since sliced bread–if you’ve read this blog for any period of time, you know that I honestly believe that. An envelope budget can fix a big spender, heal money fights, and point you in the path of earlier and bigger financial success than you even dreamed. I knew that [...]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →