On today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, I’ll join Jim from Bargaineering to discuss financial rules of thumb. Rules of thumb are no substitute for proper analysis, but they can be an excellent way to make general plans.
Today we’ll talk about things like:

When should you repair an appliance and when should you buy new?
When should you refinance your house?
How much of your investments should be in stocks?

This show will air live at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern). It’s much more entertaining for everyone when you call in to participate. We’d love to hear your rules of thumb. When do you use them — and when don’t you? Call us at 1-347-327-9144 share (or join the rowdy crew in the chat room).
The Personal Finance Hour
There are a few ways you can catch The Personal Finance Hour. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can also listen through this widget:

We’re also [...]

It’s been a strange October for me. At the first of the month, I began the transition to working full time on my book, Your Money: The Missing Manual. It’s a much different challenge than blogging, and it’s taking all my time. In theory, the book writing will be done in a few months, and then I’ll be able to devote more attention to GRS again! Thank you for your patience while I pursue this life-long goal.
Meanwhile, I was pleased with the stuff I did write here during October, and the contributions from staff writers Adam and April, and from the guest authors. And, of course, I always appreciate your contributions to the discussion.
Here are some of the best Get Rich Slowly articles from the month of October:

October 1st: Happier
October 6th: How to stop buying clothes you never wear (by April)
October 10th: The guilt of wealth
October 14th: 9 ways to knock the socks off [...]

On today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, I’ll join Jim from Bargaineering to discuss personal budgets. What works and what doesn’t? And why are so many people scared of them? (Personal finance writers especially seem afraid to talk about budgets.)
This show will air live at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern). It’s much more entertaining for everyone when you call in to participate. If you have some thoughts on budgets — are they good or are they evil? — then join us on the show. (When the show is over, I’ll update this page to give a brief run-down of what we talked about.)
The Personal Finance Hour
There are a few ways you can catch The Personal Finance Hour. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can also listen through this widget:

We’re also on iTunes! You can subscribe to The Personal Finance Hour as a weekly podcast by following this link [...]

It’s National Save for Retirement Week!
All week, Get Rich Slowly will feature articles about retirement planning. This morning, I wrote about how important it is to pay yourself first. April and Adam will share their thoughts on the subject in the days ahead.
On today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, I joined my co-host Jim from Bargaineering to discuss saving for retirement. We spoke with Jeremy from Gen X Finance. Jeremy is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and the author of About.com’s financial planning section.
Jeremy addressed some specific situations, but he also talked about general principles. He said the biggest mistake that people make is not saving enough. At the bare minimum, he recommends saving enough to get the company match for your 401(k) (if you have one).
Jeremy noted that there’s no golden rule for how much you should save. It depends on what you plan to do when you retire. If you [...]

On today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, I joined Jim from Bargaineering to discuss the relationship between money and happiness. Will more money make you happier? Are we happy when we get the things we want? Does happiness have a genetic set-point? And just what can we do to make ourselves more fulfilled?
Our discussion — which included calls from Neal and Baker — covered some of the material from my review of Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar, but also delved deep into the things I’ve learned while conducting research for the first chapter of my upcoming book.
Though the show is over now, there are a few ways you hear it as a podcast. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can also listen through this widget:

We’re also on iTunes! You can subscribe to The Personal Finance Hour as a weekly podcast by following this link (which will open iTunes).
Jim [...]

September saw the arrival of the new status quo at Get Rich Slowly. To give me time to pursue other projects, I’ve been joined by two staff writers: April and Baker. Their unique voices provide some variety around here, while also taking the load off my shoulders so I can work on my book. I’ve been pleased with the results so far.
Here are some of the best Get Rich Slowly articles from the month of September:

September 2nd: On the road to financial independence
September 7th: Further adventures in my war on stuff
September 8th: Sweating the big stuff (a guest post from Sierra Black)
September 15th: Slash your grocery bill with store-brand products
September 17th: 11 ways to spice up your emergency fund (by Baker)
September 21st: 5 ways to rescue your rotten résumé (a guest post from Squawkfox)
September 23rd: Renters insurance: Peace of mind for ten bucks a month (by April)
September 26th: Furniture shopping secrets: How to tell [...]