This is a guest post from Alexandra Levit. Alexandra writes Water Cooler Wisdom, a career advice blog.
First things first — when is a good time to ask for a raise?  Coming off a strong performance review in which your boss acknowledged your accomplishments is a good bet, because he will probably be expecting you to broach the subject of money.  If you’ve just taken on a new role, or your management has raised the bar for your performance, it is perfectly legitimate to ask for an appointment to discuss “compensation commensurate with new responsibilities”.
Before you sit down with your manager, you’ll want to be prepared with a list of contributions that have enhanced the bottom line.  As you’re putting together your case, be hard on yourself.  Look at the situation from your company’s point of view.  Have you honestly acquired such valuable skills, performed at such a high level, and exceeded expectations to such a [...]

I read a lot of personal finance books. I do this because I learn best by reading, and because I like to review the available literature for readers of this site. When I recommend a book, it’s because I think there’s something valuable there, maybe not for everybody, but for most people. Books are only valuable, though, if you are willing to do your part.
Be an active reader
You, as the reader, must be an active participant. You must question what you read. You must try to discern the author’s motives, and decide how those might cloud the advice she gives. You must analyze the advice and decide how it applies to your life. Most of all, you must act upon what you read. Books are not magic bullets; they won’t automatically eliminate your debt. You eliminate your debt by incorporating the lessons you learn into your own life.
It does no good to read Dave [...]

When I picked up The 4-Hour Workweek, I was worried it was some sort of “get rich quick” book. The first few pages didn’t do much to change my mind. The author, Timothy Ferriss, makes a lot of bold claims, such as: “How do you create a hands-off business that generates $80,000 per month with no management? It’s all here.”
But something happened during the first few chapters. When I read a book, I use small sticky notes to mark interesting passages. After the first 100 pages of The 4-Hour Workweek, the book was thick with stickies. By the time I was finished, I had used an entire pad!
Ferriss does make a lot of bold promises, and some of the details along the way do read like the confessions of a get-rich-quick scammer. But I believe that an intelligent reader can easily extract a wealth of useful ideas from the book. For me, it’s a keeper. [...]

I’m swamped with paper. This is partly because I’m a packrat, but mostly it’s due to the never-ending bills, statements, receipts, policies, and special offers that flood my desk. The paperless office once seemed like a silly goal to me, but lately it’s become a holy grail. Spurred by Leo’s adventures in minimalism and my own desire to get rid of clutter, I’ve begun to explore ways to move my money into the 21st century.
Here are eight ways to begin moving toward paperless personal finance:

Reclaim your mailbox. Use OptOutPrescreen.com to stop credit card and insurance offers. Stem the tide of junk mail with the Direct Marketing Association’s mail preference service. Cancel unwanted magazine subscriptions.
Consolidate accounts and close those you no longer use. Reduce the number of credit cards you carry. If you have bank accounts at multiple locations, combine them at a single bank. The fewer accounts you have to track, the less paper you [...]

How often can you hear advice from the world’s greatest investor? In 1998, at the beginning of the tech bubble, Warren Buffett spoke to a group of MBA students at the University of Florida. He spent ninety minutes answering questions about his investment philosophy. Though this presentation was made almost nine years ago, his advice is just as valid today.
For example, at the 1:15 mark of the following clip Buffett explains why he believes index funds are the best choice for most investors. (Be warned: the first 1:15 might be a little boring!)

If you are not a professional investor, if your goal is not to manage money in such a way that you get a significantly better return than world, then I believe in extreme diversification. I believe that 98 or 99 percent — maybe more than 99 percent — of people who invest should extensively diversify and not trade. That leads them to [...]

Here’s another frugal recipe from my wife.
This easy and delicious recipe for bread & butter pickles is perfect for a beginner. Regardless of your skill level, you’ll produce canned pickles that you’ll be proud to serve. Because of the high acid level in pickled foods, you can process them in a pot of boiling water, rather than a pressure canner. And packing slices into jars is much simpler than organizing whole pickles like dills or sweet gherkins to fit neatly into a jar. These pickle slices are nice in sandwiches, chopped in tuna and pasta salads, or eaten on their own.

Look for cucumbers that are meant for pickling or that have been picked when they are no bigger around than 1-1/2 inches. If you are doing large-scale canning, ask your produce vendor if you can buy in bulk. This year, I found a 25-pound box of organic pickling cucumbers for [...]