May 2007


Last night while cleaning the house, I found some old papers. Among the many memories, I found a document entitled “J.D.’s Ten Commandments”. I can’t tell exactly when I wrote this, but I’d guess it was back in 1992 or 1993, just after I’d graduated from college.
My ten commandments were:

Be physically fit.
Be attractive.
Don’t waste [...]

[read all of Commandment #4: Be Frugal]

When I first left home, my diet was awful. I mostly ate pizza and ramen, with a lot of hamburgers added to the mix. I didn’t prepare much food myself because I didn’t know how. Besides, I didn’t think I could afford it. Student Cook is a site designed to help young adults get started [...]

[read all of Student Cook: Eat Healthily on a Student Budget]

In our discussion about socio-economic class on Tuesday, Angie mentioned a series of articles from Liz Pulliam Weston (my favorite personal finance guru). Each of these describes what the average financial situation is like for a particular age group.

Your 20s: See how your wealth measures up — “You’re poorer than you’ll ever be again, [...]

[read all of links for 2007-05-31]

digg_url = ‘http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/05/30/how-to-improve-your-gas-mileage-23-top-tips-for-better-fuel-economy/’;

Fuel prices have been hovering at record levels around the United States for the past few weeks. Now is a good time to review of the best ways to improve your gas mileage and save money at the tank. I scoured dozens of web sites and read hundreds of tips — these are [...]

[read all of How to Improve Your Fuel Economy: 23 Top Tips for Better Gas Mileage]

>> Curbly: Salvage and season cast-iron cookware <<
“Cast iron is incredible. It’s like nature’s non-stick surface. I have a 12” skillet, a round griddle for tortillas, and a large, rectangular griddle/grill pan, all of which I absolutely baby, adding flavor layer by layer, and avoiding soap, and many times water, at all cost. So, I [...]

[read all of links for 2007-05-30]

Are you upper-class or lower-class? Someplace in between? The New York Times has an interactive graphic that explains how class works.
While there are many characteristics that could be used to describe a person’s class, among the most influential are the person’s occupation, education, income, and wealth. Below are different ways of looking at class using [...]

[read all of How Class Works]

An anonymous poster at AskMetafilter wonders should parents finance grad school?
Should parents help their children pay for grad school if they can afford it? My parents are divorced, but both are in households considered in the top 1% of the US in terms of income and net worth. After limited financial assistance from them during [...]

[read all of The Problem with the Bank of Mom and Dad]

>> Prosper personal lending update <<
Many of you enjoyed Frykitty’s post on investing with Prosper, the person-to-person microloan service. Here’s an article at PF Blog that describes the author’s experience underwriting 163 loans for a total of $14,880 over the past year. Based on the average interest rate (17.6%), I’m guessing that most of these [...]

[read all of links for 2007-05-29]

Your credit score is like a pet monster under the bed. Feed it and care for it, and it will do your bidding. But if you neglect it, it will turn against you. But beware! Taking good care of it can bring you dangerously close to its sharp teeth.
Your credit score determines the types of [...]

[read all of Proper Care and Feeding of Your Credit Score]

>> Commitments Unlimited <<
Commitments Unlimited is a new wedding blog from GRS reader Sally. (Sally contributed the guest post on how to eat vegetarian on the cheap.) Her site is devoted to “having the wedding you want at a price you can afford”. She’s been publishing a great budgeting basics series describing how to plan [...]

[read all of links for 2007-05-25]

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