Choices


If you’re new here, you may want to learn what this site is about. I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Last night, Kris and I had dinner with Craig and Lisa. Craig is an architect. Lisa is a technical writer who has spent the past few years as a [...]

[read all of Some Thoughts on Goals and Adult Education]

I write a lot about frugality, about saving for the future. But what about enjoying life today? My friend Matt recently asked, “Amid all the saving and sacrifices you make to keep your financial life in order, what is your one extravagance that you deem worth spending money on? I know with you it’s that [...]

[read all of Ask the Readers: What Do You Splurge On?]

“Saving is the key to wealth,” I wrote last week while trumpeting the extraordinary power of compound interest. “If you do not spend less than you earn, and if you do not save the difference, you cannot build the wealth you desire.” The younger you are when you begin saving, the more time compounding has [...]

[read all of What If You Didn’t Start Saving Early? Advice for Late Bloomers]

When we arrived in San Francisco on Thursday, I rented a car. It was the first time I’d ever done so — we’ve never used one on vacation, and this was my first business trip. The whole car rental thing was a mystery to me.
When the man at the rental counter asked me what sort [...]

[read all of Drama in Real Life: Wrecked Rental]

Earlier this week, the always-interesting kottke.org pointed to a couple of pieces on 99-cent fine dining. First, from the March 21st episode of National Public Radio’s Day to Day, comes a story about cooking gourmet with 99¢ food.

These days, the idea of making a three-course meal for a family of four for less than $20 [...]

[read all of Gourmet Cooking with 99-Cent Food?]

In Wednesday’s discussion about how to live on less and love it, Steve left an interesting comment:

One topic I never see covered is “extreme finances” or even simple frugality in relationship to being single. I’m not talking about being a cheapskate during dinner, but maintaining a low-powered lifestyle while seeking a mate. Like it or [...]

[read all of Ask the Readers: How Do You Live Frugally Without Seeming Like a Loser?]

“Switching to organic is tough for many families who don’t want to pay higher prices or give up their favorite foods,” writes Tara Parker-Pope at The New York Times. “But by choosing organic versions of just a few foods that you eat often, you can increase the percentage of organic food in your diet without [...]

[read all of An Easy Way to Go Organic]

Lauren recently wrote with the sort of technical question I usually route to the Get Rich Slowly forums. (The forums are a great place to get help with your specific financial situation.) She’s looking to ditch her landline for VOIP (voice over IP) telephone service. I’ve had several friends ask me about this subject, so [...]

[read all of Ask the Readers: How to Choose VOIP Telephone Service?]

Lately, I’ve been making rumblings about getting in shape again. I want to get fit slowly. The trick is figuring out how to do it. It took a lot of reading and a lot of trial and error to take control of my finances, but I’ve finally achieved a healthy attitude toward money. Now I [...]

[read all of Frugality in Practice: Home-Based Physical Fitness]

This is a Guest Post from Kevin at No Debt Plan, a blog about living debt-free. This is part of Kevin’s Dumb Money series.
I was recently thinking about my first real job — doorman at the movie theater. Ah, the days of minimum wage. I thought movies were expensive back then, but nowadays they [...]

[read all of Dumb Money: The Movie Theater]

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