March was an introspective month at Get Rich Slowly. I spent time examining my relationship with money, most notably in my series of posts about the “stages” of personal finance:

Fumbling in the dark, which described my bad money habits
A candle in the dark, which described my quest to pay off debt
The light at the end of the tunnel, which described how I began to save and invest
Lighting the way, which described my current financial situation
Financial independence: The final stage of money management, for which I could not find a “light” metaphor

With the introspection out of the way, however, it’s time to tackle Financial Literacy Month in April. Over the next few weeks, Get Rich Slowly will feature articles on the essentials of personal finance, as well as discussions about financial education.
Before we move on, here are some of my favorite articles from March:

March 2nd Current CD rates at online banks
March 6th: Starting seeds indoors: [...]

My wife and I have begun to explore the idea of taking a trip later this year. We’re in the preliminary stages of our research and budgeting. Though we aren’t ready to book anything yet, it’s fun to look at what’s available, and to dream of where we might go.
Over the weekend, I polled my followers on Twitter to ask their advice for finding great travel deals. Here are some of the tips and websites they recommended. I’m sure I’ll refer to this list often in the coming months.

Kayak is a travel site that allows users to find deals on flights, hotels, cruises, and more. More people suggested this site to me than any other. @k3n85 reports that he’s had good luck with Kayak’s deals section. And I have to say: a $649 6-night trip to London, Paris, and Rome (including airfare and lodging!) sounds like a bargain. I love Kayak’s bare-bones user-interface. It’s refreshing.
If [...]

A reporter from The Washington Post contacted me earlier today, writing: “I’m looking for folks whose salaries or wages have not been growing much in recent years, and how they have adjusted over the years. Have they had to make lifestyle adjustments? If so, what have they cut back on? Has it affected long term savings goals?” If you can help and would be willing to share your story, contact Annys Shin: [shina AT washpost.com]
Meanwhile, are a few of my favorite personal finance stories from around the web:
First up, Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has eight tips for living through a recession. He hits on a few of my favorite suggestions: go back to school, turn your hobby into a business, and sell your extra stuff. I think these are three things that folks often overlook when wrestling with their finances.
Have I mentioned GovGab before? This is the official U.S. government blog (no joke!), and it [...]

When you make a major purchase, how do you choose between competing products? Do you buy solely on price? Or do you consider features, quality, and brand reputation?
A new study in the April 2009 issue of Journal of Consumer Research reveals that our purchasing decisions are susceptible to the influence of external descriptions. When we shop, we may spend too much when we base our decisions on product specifications.
The researchers found that “even when consumers can directly experience the relevant products, and the specifications carry little or no new information, their preference is still influenced by specifications”. In other words, even when we can compare products first-hand, we don’t trust our own judgment. We let specifications influence our decisions.
First-hand experience
I’ve experienced this first-hand many times. I might, for example, be shopping for a new blender and find a model that I really like. It does what I need and is easy to use. It [...]

I’m a huge advocate of calling your utilities to ask for rate reductions. But some people are uncomfortable making these sorts of calls. It would be helpful if these folks had a way of using the internet to find better deals. WhiteFence is a web-based service that allows users to do just that. From the about page:
WhiteFence is a free service that helps people who are moving or looking to find the best deals on phone, internet, television, electricity, natural gas and other home services. By simply entering a street address into the secure site, people looking to save money or start new service can find the most comprehensive list of plans available for their specific address from over 400 nationally recognized partners.
WhiteFence targets two types of users:

Those who are moving from one address to another. WhiteFence bills itself as a one-stop source for connecting utilities. (And even promises that you can keep your existing [...]

Last Monday I teamed up with Jim from Bargaineering to bring you the first episode of The Personal Finance Hour, our weekly BlogTalkRadio program all about money management. We had fun with this live podcast, and it was great to interact with listeners via chat and on the phone.
Tune in Monday, March 30th, at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern) for another rousing edition of The Personal Finance Hour. Our topic this week is emergency funds: how we’ve built them, and how we use them.
There are two ways to hear the show. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can dial the call-in number at (347) 327-9144. The online feed will be slightly delayed, but the telephone audio will be live. (If I can figure out how, I’ll post the show “widget” here so that you can listen to it at GRS.)
Added fun! The show page will feature a live [...]