September was a sort of unofficial “credit card education month” around here. I tried to share information about how to use credit responsibly. (Now maybe it’s time to move on to debt reduction themes!) Most of all, there were some great conversations at GRS in September. Here are a few of my favorites:

September 4th: Five [...]

This is a guest post from Katrina Ramser, a freelance writer who contributes to various websites, newspapers and magazines. She also writes about swimming at SquidKid.
Did you know an average of six credit card offers are sent to each American household in typical month? That’s five billion advertisements a year. If you had a company [...]

I spent a couple hours this morning performing what ought to have been a simple home-maintenance task. The light fixture on our front porch had gone faulty, and I needed to replace it. I’ve done enough wiring projects now that the electrical aspect of the job didn’t bother me. But the woodworking? That was frustrating.
As [...]

Some GRS readers have noted that some of my tips are geared toward country folk, or at least those with a little bit of land. They’d like more information for urban dwellers. I’ll try to offer more such content in the future. For today, here are a couple of recent articles from around the web [...]

Last week, USA Today featured an article on Christians who continue to tithe even as they face foreclosure.
Tithing is the practice of donating 10% of your gross income to your church. It’s not a common practice (only 5% of American adults tithe), but it’s important to those who choose to do so. It’s a component [...]

I was pleased recently to discover another handful of short films about financial topics from the 1940s and 1950s. I’ll share them over the next few months, starting with this timely piece from 1947. With the recent economic turmoil in the U.S., it’s worthwhile to answer the question: What is money?

This ten-minute film takes its [...]

Thanks for all the comments in the $22 movie thread. At first I felt picked on (though I deserved it — I’m the bonehead who spent $14.75 on snacks), but enough repetition has finally beat a point into my head: I don’t need to buy snacks at the movies. Who cares if I’ve done it [...]

Shopping for expensive items can be a tense, frustrating experience. You’re never sure you’re choosing the best product or getting the best deal. Jason recently wrote looking for help:

After reading some Consumer Reports blogs, particularly about vacuum cleaners, I came across a comment about “staying within your budget” when you’re trying to decide what vacuum [...]

I’m going to sound like a crotchety old man for a minute here — but it’s my blog and I can write what I want. Movies are too damn expensive.
One of the luxuries of working from home is that when a friend calls me at 2 o’clock to go see a movie, I can do [...]

How much do you know about millionaires?
Kris recently had dinner with her friend Linda, who is a high school social studies teacher. As they ate, Linda bemoaned the lack of personal finance and economics education in the United States. She mentioned that every year she gives her economics students a short “Millionaire Quiz” to [...]