Real-Life

Archived Posts from this Category

Lessons from a widow: The real value of money (67 comments)
Last year, one of my friends lost her husband. After decades of marriage, they said their final goodbyes. Since I work in a mortuary, I often witness some of the worst days of people's lives. And th...Read more »
The time I was sent to collections over $4 (31 comments)
There is an old nursery rhyme about tiny things having major consequences. It's about a horseback rider who was charged with carrying orders to battle during a war, but the horse's shoe comes off an...Read more »
Knowing when to be a squeaky wheel (100 comments)
A few months ago, I decided that I needed new furniture. I didn't want new furniture. My 3-year-old couch and loveseat were in great condition. On the other hand, I began to realize that I had once ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How much rent should I charge my in-laws? (121 comments)
Money issues among family members are difficult, to say the least. A reader named The Lessor wrote to us recently about his sticky family situation: I have a brother-in-law who decided to pursue mini...Read more »
My New Year’s resolution: lowering the bar for happiness (67 comments)
A blog to which I contribute recently won a contest, and upon finding out, my boyfriend suggested that we celebrate. "Oh, no, it's not a huge deal," I told him. "It was just a small contest." He...Read more »
The morality of personal finance (80 comments)
I was running last Sunday night. I had waited too long to start my run, and it was dark. I've taken to using my iPhone to track my runs, because I'm very motivated by the additive nature of all my r...Read more »
Take a deep breath: Letting go of financial stress (30 comments)
I've been reading through some of my old posts and thinking about what I wanted for this, my very-end-of-the-year statement on money. And what I saw was a lot (a lot) of angst and worry and stress. ...Read more »
The ‘cost’ of gun ownership (213 comments)
As some of you might know or remember, I have been considering the purchase of a firearm for some time. Two posts ago I mentioned it while talking about being victim of a robbery, and reader Tyler Ka...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Do you lend money to friends? (108 comments)
"What's a little money between friends?" That common question has wrecked more than a few friendships. Reader Alexa (who blogs at Single Moms Income) is in that situation now. She recently sent us a s...Read more »
Adopting strategies to pay for big expenses (82 comments)
I like the idea of financial independence, and if I'd had my way, we would have started our family once we had college fully funded for each child. Plus, a healthy emergency fund, a do-I-want-to-be-a-...Read more »
Be thankful for the present amid planning the future (18 comments)
In 2008, I decided to travel to Europe. I'd never been, and I was just about to make a big change in my career, so the opportunity might not present itself for a while. Thanksgiving fell near the...Read more »
Jiro Ono to all newbs: Be tough (49 comments)
I was planning to wrap my review of the documentary about Jiro Ono with a nice, nearly clinical summary of all the extra “lessons” I had managed to extract from the film (one was “surround yours...Read more »
When you just can’t get the important stuff done (38 comments)
This is a post from staff writer Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the adviser for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new...Read more »
Financial enlightenment does not come from charts (52 comments)
I've always looked at websites and apps that purport to solve your financial woes and set you on the path to fiscal happiness with skepticism. It's not that I think they're not useful; but I think tha...Read more »
Mutual mooching: How my community saves me money, part one (40 comments)
One of the greatest assets in my life is a priceless community made up of my friends, family, and other community members. My community is greater than the sum of its parts. Saving me money is just ...Read more »
Reader Story: I’m Retiring from Get Rich Slowly (69 comments)
This post from J.D. Roth is part of the reader stories feature at Get Rich Slowly. J.D. founded this site and acted as editor for six-and-a-half years. He now writes at More Than Money. Want to submit...Read more »
Reader Story: Go online to raise money-savvy kids (12 comments)
This post from Doug Lebda is part of the reader stories series. Doug is a personal finance expert, father of three, founder and chairman of Lending Tree, the Lending Tree Foundation and co-founder of ...Read more »
Reader Story: Finding Hope In The Bleakest Of Situations (99 comments)
This guest post from Sam is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Sam writes at Financial Samurai and is one of the esteemed colleagues with whom I'm exchanging ideas this weekend a...Read more »
Friendships and Financial Inequality (166 comments)
This article is from staff writer Kristin Wong. A few years ago, I started spending time with a coworker outside of work. She was cool, fun to hang out with, and we had a lot in common. Except in...Read more »
Earning More vs. Spending Less, Round 2: It Takes Money to Make Money (121 comments)
This is the second installment of a series. The first article can be found here. Last week I spent a thousand bucks on a phone. I paid full price for it, in cash, no contract. It's not the pho...Read more »
Earning More vs. Spending Less, Round 1: Housing (210 comments)
Spending less than you earn can be accomplished by earning more, spending less, or both. Yet most people in the personal finance world tend to support one strategy over the other with greater fervor. ...Read more »
Student Loan Debt: How I Got in Deep (329 comments)
This article is from new staff writer Honey Smith. My mother was quadriplegic by the time I was in high school. My dad was a real estate agent who worked on commission, so he worked long hours to ma...Read more »
Keeping Your Head During Estate Settlement (29 comments)
This is a guest post from Jennifer Rose Hale. Hale first shared what to expect when settling an estate, then explained reading the will is not what you expect. Emotions will probably run high durin...Read more »
When One Partner Won’t Budget (330 comments)
This article is from new staff writer Honey Smith. In my last article at Get Rich Slowly, I gave the background on my income and expenses. My husband's income and expenses are a little more difficu...Read more »
Where I’m Starting From: Honey’s Story (383 comments)
This article is from new staff writer Honey Smith. Hello. I'm Honey Smith. I'm thrilled to be a part of the GRS community, though of course a little embarrassed that it's essentially as an object l...Read more »
The Power of Personal Tranformation: Change Your Self, Change the World (115 comments)
Note: On July 8th, I gave the closing keynote at World Domination Summit 2012. After listening to Brené Brown talk about vulnerability, Susan Cain talk about introversion, Scott Harrison talk about b...Read more »
Signs of Financial Relationship Trouble? (178 comments)
This post is by staff writer Sarah Gilbert. With my husband across the planet in Kuwait for most of the past two years, we don't fight a lot. When we do fight, it's about three things: what I'm ...Read more »
Straying Off the Path or Changing Direction? (77 comments)
This post is from GRS staff writer Donna Freedman. Donna writes the Frugal Cool blog for MSN Money, and writes about frugality and intentional living at Surviving And Thriving. The delightful Rita ...Read more »
Lost on the Career Path (89 comments)
For the next week (or two), we'll be sharing "audition" pieces from folks interested in being new staff writers at Get Rich Slowly. Your job is to let us know what you think of each of these writers. ...Read more »
The Benihana Effect: Lifestyle Inflation in Action (60 comments)
Although it seems strange to be noting this in a header, this article is from J.D. Roth, founder and editor of Get Rich Slowly. There are still plenty of staff writer auditions remaining, but I wanted...Read more »
Estate Settlement: Reading the Will Is Not What You Expect (24 comments)
For the next week (or two), we'll be sharing "audition" pieces from folks interested in being new staff writers at Get Rich Slowly. Your job is to let us know what you think of each of these writers. ...Read more »
How Saving Money Cost Me Money (86 comments)
For the next week (or two), we'll be sharing "audition" pieces from folks interested in being new staff writers at Get Rich Slowly. Your job is to let us know what you think of each of these writers. ...Read more »
Changing Focus from Stuff to Substance (64 comments)
For the next week (or two), we'll be sharing "audition" pieces from folks interested in being new staff writers at Get Rich Slowly. Your job is to let us know what you think of each of these writers. ...Read more »
Wills, Trusts and Drama: What to Expect When Settling an Estate (51 comments)
This is a guest post by Jennifer Rose Hale, one of the candidates for a new staff writer position here at Get Rich Slowly. We all face times when we suddenly, necessarily have to become experts on ...Read more »
The Statute of Limitations on Regret (122 comments)
This post is from GRS staff writer Donna Freedman. Donna writes the Frugal Cool blog for MSN Money, and writes about frugality and intentional living at Surviving And Thriving. Recently I read a bl...Read more »
My Financial Evolution: Discovering What’s Right for Me (71 comments)
This post is from staff writer Tim Sullivan. “I don’t know what they want from me. It’s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.” — Notorious B.I.G. For a wh...Read more »
Trading Time for Money (70 comments)
Last week, I was complaining to my Spanish tutor (who, by the way, thinks I always complain). "Ideally, I'd be writing less," I told her. "I want to have more time to learn Spanish and to focus on oth...Read more »
From the Trenches: An Update on My War on Stuff (105 comments)
Though our divorce is final, Kris and I continue to see each other about once a week. We have lunch or dinner together, and sometimes we do chores around the house. One big chore is approaching: We...Read more »
How I Got Rich Quickly, Then Failed…Miserably (62 comments)
This is a guest post from Belinda James. Belinda is currently attending Trident Online University and earning her master's degree in business administration. In her spare time she writes automotive ...Read more »
Hunting for Health Insurance (223 comments)
I am sick. For the past ten days, I've been wrestling with a high fever, a cough, a persistent sore throat, and a general malaise that's kicking my ass. Basically, I'm the sickest I've been in over a ...Read more »
I Run My Errands, Too! (And Other Ways to Spend Less) (51 comments)
This post is by staff writer Sarah Gilbert. I was cleaning the kitchen and listening to NPR (my default state) when A.J. Jacobs came on, discussing the various diets he'd committed to for Drop Dead...Read more »
A Philosophy of Failure (80 comments)
Though I've been reading and writing about money for six years now, I still do stupid things sometimes. Most of these errors are un-interesting — it's the compulsive spending that's interesting,...Read more »
Shopping for the Sake of Shopping (85 comments)
When I was a boy, my family had a series of dogs: a Saint Bernard, a Shih Tzu, a Golden Retriever and a whole host of mutts. Because dogs will be dogs, and because we lived in the country far from any...Read more »
A Magician of Time (92 comments)
It's strange sometimes to see yourself through other people's eyes. Others see things — both good and bad — that you don't see in yourself. "I see you as outdoorsy," a new friend told m...Read more »
Q&A: My Current Financial State (144 comments)
Fridays are typically "Ask the Readers" days at Get Rich Slowly, but today I'm doing something a little different. I've made a couple of big revelations lately, and those have generated a lot of quest...Read more »
How and Why I Sold Get Rich Slowly (327 comments)
When I started Get Rich Slowly — on 15 April 2006 — it made very little money. It earned a few pennies per day. Slowly, the income grew. A few pennies per day turned into a few dollars per...Read more »
The Calculus of Convenience (232 comments)
For several years now, I've lived in a sort of financial sweet spot. After paying off my debt, I realized that Kris and I had everything we really wanted or needed, so we never had to buy much for the...Read more »
How We Paid Cash for Our First Home (242 comments)
This is a guest post from Crystal Paine, the Money Saving Mom. Paine is a wife, homeschool mom to three, self-proclaimed minimalist, and wannabe runner. For practical help and inspiration to get your ...Read more »
A Place of My Own (577 comments)
Two months ago today, I asked my wife for a divorce. I won't be writing about the personal aspects of the divorce at Get Rich Slowly. In fact, other than some brief background at my personal site, ...Read more »
Planning for My Financial Future (64 comments)
I've been fortunate over the past few years. I've managed to get out of debt, quit my day job to write full time, build substantial savings, and am now able to do what I want when I want. I still work...Read more »
The Night That Mama Cried While Angels Sang (25 comments)
This is a guest-post from my cousin, Tammy. I first posted this in 2006. Tammy has also shared information on how to raise a family on one income (part two). This story is set ten years after my aunt'...Read more »
Reader Story: Recovering from Divorce (70 comments)
This guest post from Gina is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or...Read more »
Saving and Spending in South America (77 comments)
¡Hola, todos! For the past month, I've been on the road — first at a conference of financial bloggers in Chicago, and then trekking through the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. For most of this tim...Read more »
Seven Years of Fiscal Responsibility (77 comments)
It's mid-September as I write this, and I've been spending the past few days scrambling to prepare for my trip to Peru. I've been packing, of course, but I've also been editing reader stories and writ...Read more »
Our Roof Repair: A Typical Tale of Working with Contractors (95 comments)
My wife and I have been homeowners for nearly twenty years. In that time, we've done a lot of home improvement ourselves. But we've also learned when it's best to hand projects to the pros. (To be hon...Read more »
How Did My Phone Bill Get So High?!? Why You Should Pay Attention to Your Bills (45 comments)
This is a guest-post from Tim Ellis, author of Seattle Bubble, a blog and forum dedicated to real-estate market conditions in the Seattle area. Tim is a long-time GRS reader. Previously on GRS, Tim ha...Read more »
A Minor Mistake: Shopping While Hungry (87 comments)
I often write that I still make financial mistakes, but it occurs to me that I don't share them here as much as I once did. After April's story earlier this week about the cost of healthy food, now se...Read more »
Logic and Emotion: Why Smart Money Management Isn’t Just About Math (86 comments)
This is a guest post by former GRS staff writer Adam Baker of Man Vs. Debt. This week, registration opens for You vs. Debt, Baker’s six-week online class with daily videos, challenges, and accountab...Read more »
Old Friends: Scenes from a Class Reunion (52 comments)
I am getting old, my friends. I am getting old. It's no longer just a feeling, either. More and more, there are objective real-world reminders that I'm not the young man I once was. Kris and I spent l...Read more »
How Much Do We Owe Others? (And When Should We Walk Away?) (239 comments)
This post is from GRS staff writer Donna Freedman. Donna writes a personal finance column for MSN Money, and writes about frugality and intentional living at Surviving And Thriving. Last January I ...Read more »
On the Road to Nowhere: The True Story of My First (and Worst) Job (67 comments)
It's Labor Day in the United States, the holiday that traditionally marks the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year. Officially, it's intended as "a day off for the working citizens"....Read more »
Social Capital and the Neighborhood Exchange (75 comments)
It's been a while since I've raved about the joys of social capital. For those who haven't been exposed to the concept, social capital is the mutual goodwill generated whenever you volunteer at a soup...Read more »
Managing Mom’s Money: An Update from Happy Acres (149 comments)
I'm sitting in the lobby of Happy Acres waiting for the business manager to return from lunch. I just spent half an hour talking with Mom, who's doing much better than she was a month ago. She still s...Read more »
Sunk Costs and Smart Decisions (147 comments)
As I write this, I'm on a flight back to Portland. I've spent the weekend with former GRS staff writer Adam Baker and his wife Courtney in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ostensibly, we were there to take part...Read more »
How to Save on Your Cell Phone Plan with Secret No-Contract Deals (126 comments)
This is a guest post from social-media maven Laura Roeder. Laura first told me this story in January, and I used it as the basis for one of my columns for Entrepreneur magazine. Over lunch recently, s...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Financial Success Stories? (324 comments)
It's been a long, dark week for me. My mother is now safely ensconced in the "memory care" unit at a managed-care facility, but she's confused and scared. The staff says this is normal, and that she'l...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: A Place for Mom (254 comments)
In my ideal world, you'd now be reading an article about the freelancing or entrepreneurship or extreme couponing or one of the half dozen other topics I've started to write about. In my ideal world, ...Read more »
Crammed! A Shocking Utility Tale (79 comments)
This post is from GRS staff writer Donna Freedman. Donna writes a personal finance column for MSN Money. She also writes about frugality, intentional living, and life in general at her own blog, Survi...Read more »
The Next Step: Preparing for Change (104 comments)
For years, I wallowed in debt. I had no fiscal discipline. I used credit to buy what I wanted, when I wanted. My money skills were abysmal, and my life was in financial ruin. In 2004, I decided to ...Read more »
Reader Story: The Product of Frugal Parents (99 comments)
This guest post from Simon Cunningham is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial succes...Read more »
How My Generosity Got Me $8,000 in Debt (105 comments)
This is a guest post from Logan Sachon. Her piece originally appeared at Bundle.com. I am in debt: $8,000 on two credit cards, to be precise. The debt occurred over several years, and includes a...Read more »
Big House, Little House (271 comments)
I am constantly changing. While many people are much the same today as they were yesterday (or last week or twenty years ago), I'm always evolving. This isn't necessarily good or bad — it's just...Read more »
A Small Splurge: $8.25 Worth Of Fun (98 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and raising children at Childwild.com. The other day I went to a vintage clothing shop with a friend....Read more »
Reader Story (and Question): Financial Health vs. Mental Health? (191 comments)
This guest post from "NotPollyanna" is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial s...Read more »
My Financial Roadmap and Making Course Corrections (58 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and raising children at Childwild.com. One of the hazards of blogging is that you can't always be rig...Read more »
Learning to Give (221 comments)
For years, Get Rich Slowly readers have given me grief over my charitable giving. Or, more precisely, my lack of it. I was raised in a home that gave neither money nor time to help others. As I struck...Read more »
Reader Story: How I Built My Own House — Without a Mortgage (144 comments)
This guest post from Ian is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. It's the extended version of the story he shared in his prize-winning entry to this year's GRS video contest. Some ...Read more »
Follow-Up: Mason Shoe Company (13 comments)
I get a lot of requests for follow-ups to reader stories and reader questions. People want to hear how things turned out. Because I want to know how things turned out, too, I've started a semi-regular...Read more »
How I Invest My Money (58 comments)
Earlier this month, I shared a new financial framework I've been developing, one that stresses earning, spending, and saving as the building blocks of personal finance. Two weeks ago, I elaborated...Read more »
Rebalancing in Real Life, Part II: Reading and Research (57 comments)
Last week, I mentioned that I've begun the process of rebalancing my investment portfolio. When I opened my accounts with Fidelity Investments in 2009, I chose an asset allocation (though I can't reme...Read more »
How I Spend My Money (117 comments)
Earlier this month, I shared a new financial framework I've been developing, one that stresses earning, spending, and saving as the building blocks of personal finance. Last week, I elaborated by shar...Read more »
Rebalancing in Real Life (54 comments)
Earlier today, Robert Brokamp wrote about the importance of rebalancing your investment portfolio. Over time, as your various investments rise and fall, your actual asset allocation drifts from your i...Read more »
How I Earn My Money (73 comments)
A lot of what we write here at Get Rich Slowly is theoretical. "This is how you should do things," we say. Or, sometimes, the articles are meant for inspiration: "Here are some great ideas for taking ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: A Fool and His Money… (138 comments)
It's April Fool's Day, one of my favorite days of the year at Get Rich Slowly. It's the day I get to share the story of some foolish thing I've done with money in the past. This year, though, April...Read more »
Outsmarting Myself (116 comments)
Every spring for the past decade or so, I've turned from a normal, healthy adult into a sniffling, dripping fountain of whine in just a matter of days. Something in the air doesn't agree with me. Last...Read more »
Calling the Shots: How to Be the CEO of Your Own Life (31 comments)
This is a guest post from Flexo, creator of Consumerism Commentary, one of the first independent blogs to focus on personal finance. During the 1990s, my financial life was like a Caribbean cruise ...Read more »
An 11-Year-Old’s First Budget (74 comments)
This is a guest post from Andrea Deckard, who publishes Savings Lifestyle, a website that helps people save on what they need so they can spend on what they want. Growing up, my parents taught me v...Read more »
How to Lend Money to Friends (Without Ruining the Relationship) (172 comments)
This post is from staff writer April Dykman. Lending money to friends and family is a generous act — one that could easily backfire and even ruin your relationship. Most of the time when some...Read more »
The Laundry Agreement (102 comments)
Yesterday, I made a passing reference to The Laundry Agreement. A couple of eagle-eyed readers noticed a further reference in the screenshot I posted to illustrate the article. Kevin and Samantha both...Read more »
Old Habits for a New Year (114 comments)
When I was younger, I didn't track my spending. I kept a checkbook register, but that was out of necessity; I constantly flirted with a zero balance, and I had to know precisely how much was left in t...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: When Emergencies Pile Up (76 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. Last week, I mentioned that my cat just died. Not ...Read more »
All I Want for Christmas (34 comments)
This has been the most Christmas-y Christmas season I can remember in a long time. Usually Kris and I downplay the holiday. I know that Christmas is important for many people, but there are other holi...Read more »
In Praise of Work-Life Balance (47 comments)
I went running with my friend Dan the other day. As we ran, we chatted. "You know, J.D.," he said. "It seems like you have the perfect life." I laughed. I think that Dan seems to have the perfect l...Read more »
Reader Story: My Debt-Free Marriage (64 comments)
This guest post from Mike C. is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success —...Read more »
Fantasy vs. Reality: Paving a Path to a Promising Future (45 comments)
On Saturday night, I had dinner with Wendy and Dennis, two Get Rich Slowly readers who recently moved from Phoenix to Portland. We talked about a lot of things — most of them nerdy. We also chat...Read more »
Back to Basics (84 comments)
"You know, you've been spending a lot of money lately," Kris told me the other day. I'd just returned from yet another shopping trip to REI. "I have?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "Can't you tell?"...Read more »
Budgeting For Mistakes (75 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. How carefully do you budget? Do you account for ev...Read more »
On the Value of Networking (56 comments)
It's hard to believe, but Kris and I graduated from Willamette University nearly twenty years ago. We enjoyed our time in college, and remain close to many of our classmates. It's always fun when we g...Read more »
Reader Story: Since My Divorce (196 comments)
This guest post from Mandy Walker is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success &m...Read more »
Dinner with the Diehards: A Chat About Investing (37 comments)
It's been a long time since I wrote about investing at Get Rich Slowly. I haven't abandoned the subject, but my mind has been on other things. Besides, I've been practicing what I preach. I've investe...Read more »
Help! My Debt Snowball Is Melting! (74 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. The summer heat has taken a toll on my debt snowba...Read more »
How Would Panhandlers Use Free Credit Cards? (44 comments)
Have you ever wondered what the panhandlers you see on the street would do if you actually gave them a bunch of money to spend? Like many people, I generally give my pocket change to anyone who asks. ...Read more »
Life After Debt: What It’s Like in the Third Stage of Personal Finance (245 comments)
I paid off the last of my debt in 2007, quit my day job in 2008, and have been working to build wealth ever since. As I wrote early last year, I'm in the Third Stage of personal finance: I've paid off...Read more »
What is Retirement? (76 comments)
I just returned from my annual weekend trip to Oregon's Opal Creek Wilderness area. Every year, I join five other friends to hike into the forest, pitch our tents on the banks of the creek, and sit ar...Read more »
Reader Story: Widowed Young (64 comments)
This guest post from Heather is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success —...Read more »
Ask the Readers: “Help! I Co-Signed on a Loan and Now I Wish I Hadn’t!” (143 comments)
Ah, relationships. Without other people, money management would be easy! Easy-er, anyhow. But love, family, and business relationships tend to make people do things they know they really oughtn't. ...Read more »
Downshifting: The First Day of the Rest of My Life (75 comments)
"This is it," I told my wife last Monday. "This is what?" Kris asked. "This is the first day of the rest of my life," I said. She knew what I meant. For the past few years, I've been living in a...Read more »
Worth More Than Money: Taking A Detour on the Road to Riches (105 comments)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. Hola! My family is spending the month of July vaca...Read more »
The Rewards of Frugality and Thrift (or, Why We Scrimp and Save) (138 comments)
Over the past couple of weeks, more than a few GRS readers have complained about the site's tone. These folks are afraid that Get Rich Slowly is turning into a column that's only about frugality and s...Read more »
Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Remembering to Appreciate What I Already Have (196 comments)
Walking home from work today, I decided to take the long way. Most of the time, I choose the easy quarter-mile stroll downhill from the office to our happy half acre (or happy .62 acre, if you'd like ...Read more »
The Rewards of Routine Maintenance (69 comments)
I had a great weekend. In fact, it was probably one of the best weekends I've had in years. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday doing chores. (Well, I watched the World Cup a little, too.) I spent nea...Read more »
Reader Story: Surviving and Thriving (36 comments)
This guest post from Donna Freedman is part of the "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others are examples of how a GRS read...Read more »
Casting Stones: When Is It Okay to Judge? (236 comments)
I've been stewing over something for the past few days, and I'm finally ready to write about it. I'm not a fan of judging others and their actions. Like Atticus Finch, I believe you never really k...Read more »
How Quickly Wants Can Turn to Needs (42 comments)
This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently featured a post on his own blog entitled, Are You Eating Yourself Into Debt? As some of you know, Courtney and I recently spent just under...Read more »
How I Survived the Computer Castrophe of 2010 (115 comments)
Sometimes I feel like I'm cursed. Computers hate me. I don't think I'm particularly rough on them — I don't toss them around or poke at the screen or douse them in water (though, on occasion, I ...Read more »
Don’t Wait for a Discount — Ask for One (67 comments)
This post is short and sweet and to the point. Folks, I cannot stress how important it is to check all of your accounts for possible savings at least once a year. This includes your bank accounts, ...Read more »
Reader Story: I’m Done with Debt (112 comments)
This guest post from Andrew J. is part of the "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others are examples of how a GRS reader ac...Read more »
Reader Story: Our Financial Turnaround (102 comments)
This guest post from William is part of the "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others are examples of how a GRS reader achi...Read more »
The Perils and Pangs of a Pricey Purchase (95 comments)
This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the adviser for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new articl...Read more »
How I Generate Extra Income by Letting Strangers Pay My Rent (77 comments)
This is a guest post from Rebecca Rosenfelt, the founder of RealSavvyRealEstate.com, a website devoted to demystifying the home buying process for first-time home buyers. I almost never pay the ent...Read more »
Confessions of a Gadget Junkie (100 comments)
Ah, April Fool's Day. Such a special day at Get Rich Slowly. Every year, I share a story of my own foolishness with money. And there are so many stories to choose from! Stories like The $1500 Frisbee ...Read more »
Reader Story: How I Learned to Save LESS — and Loved It (62 comments)
This guest post from Avistew is part of the new "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others will be examples of how a GRS rea...Read more »
Art and Entrepreneurship (28 comments)
My pal Chris Guillebeau has a great interview up over at his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. He recently profiled artist Tsilli Pines (who also happens to be a loyal GRS reader and a customer of my f...Read more »
Reader Story: A Cautionary Tale (165 comments)
This guest post from Maria is part of the new "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others will be examples of how a GRS reade...Read more »
From Whole Foods to Food Stamps (101 comments)
This post is from new staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. The recession has hit families where they live...Read more »
How My Real Estate Investing Adventure Came to an End (53 comments)
This article is by staff writer Adam Baker, whose own blog previously featured a comparison of money gurus in Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman. This is final article of a three-part series on how he stumble...Read more »
Mastering the Art of Haggling (53 comments)
Last weekend, The Washington Post published an article from Mike Rosenwald about the recent resurgence of haggling. To get a feel for the art of the deal, Rosenwald spent a week putting haggling to wo...Read more »
My Discretionary Spending for January 2010 (61 comments)
For a personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly hasn't been very personal in recent months. That's partly because of the book project, but also partly because I've moved to a stage in my financial life w...Read more »
Lessons Learned from Rushing Into Real-Estate Investing (40 comments)
This article is by staff writer Adam Baker, whose own blog recently featured a must-see graphic on credit card transactions around the world. This is part two of a three-part series on how he stumbled...Read more »
Learning to Use Money as a Tool (82 comments)
It's pretty clear by now that I have a different relationship with money than when I started Get Rich Slowly. I'm by no means perfect with the stuff, but I've become firmly entrenched in the camp that...Read more »
How I Bought an 8-Unit Apartment Building with No Money Down and Walked Away with $1000 Cash at Closing (86 comments)
This article is by staff writer Adam Baker. Baker recently outlined his ambitious 2010 goals for his blogging, business, and life. When I was 23, I bought an eight-unit apartment building with no m...Read more »
Reader Story: How I Got Married on the Cheap — And Loved It! (122 comments)
This guest post from Lars is part of a new feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Every Sunday will include a reader story (in the new "reader stories" category). Some will be general "how I did X" stories,...Read more »
My 2009 Discretionary Spending: Bits and Pieces (160 comments)
Every January since I started Get Rich Slowly, I've done an annual round-up of my discretionary spending. That's not going to happen this year. The numbers are hopelessly muddled by events that create...Read more »
Happy New Year! My One Goal for 2010 (73 comments)
As an amazing 2009 fades into the sunset, it's time to review my progress and look forward to the year to come. Am I a better person than I was a year ago? (I believe so.) How can I be even better at ...Read more »
How I Cut my Comcast Cable Bill by 33% (Without Losing Any Service) (231 comments)
Last week, I wrote that you can negotiate anything. This guest post by G.E. Miller gives a real-life example of using negotiation to save money. For more from G.E., check out his personal finance blog...Read more »
Comics and Cons: Adventures on eBay (58 comments)
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that between writing chapters for Your Money: The Missing Manual I've been wrestling with eBay "customer service". Note the quotes. It's difficult to tell the ful...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How Do You Handle Peer Pressure? (207 comments)
Your friends and family influence you. They affect the way you view life. If your friends are frugal, it's easier to be frugal yourself. But if they're wrapped up in consumerism and materialism, and c...Read more »
Reader Story: A Very, Very Fine House (59 comments)
This morning, April wrote about trying to figure out how much house you need. In the comments, Tyler K. shared a photo of the house he and his wife live in. It has 450 square feet: "Last year o...Read more »
Is There a Generation Gap in Saving? (122 comments)
I'm old-school: I went to the bank to make a deposit today. (I make most of my deposits in person, inside the branch.) While I waited, I chatted with the teller, whom I know from many previous visits....Read more »
Dumb Money: J.D. the Junk-Food King (73 comments)
It's been a long time since I shared a good self-deprecating story about my own financial foolishness. Let me remedy that today. For the past month or so, I've been buried deep in writing my book. ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: What Do You Do for Frugal Fun? (144 comments)
I used to wonder why my colleagues' blogs became strangely silent when they were working on their books. Haha. I don't wonder anymore. Writing a book is an all-consuming process that's difficult to de...Read more »
Are Pre-Nuptial Agreements For Everyone? (137 comments)
This is a guest post from Andy Jolls, founder of VideoCreditScore.com. Andy ran the myFICO.com business for a number of years and now educates consumers with free credit videos. You can follow him on ...Read more »
Which Comes First: The House or the Nest Egg? (85 comments)
This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman. It's also a part of National Save for Retirement Week A few weeks ago, J.D. asked me to consider writing a post on retirement for National Save for ...Read more »
The Guilt of Wealth (165 comments)
Yesterday I shared a guest post from Leo of Zen Habits. His guide to minimalist money was a sort of overview of good financial skills, useful information for those in the first stage of personal finan...Read more »
Born in a Small Town (44 comments)
My wife just returned from a long weekend touring eastern Oregon with two of her co-workers. They drove from small town to small town, shopping for antiques and visiting museums. On Saturday &mdas...Read more »
What Made You Care About Money? (49 comments)
This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the advisor for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new articl...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How to Face a Family Financial Crisis? (91 comments)
With the arrival of the GRS staff writers, the semi-regular "ask the readers" column has a new home. Look for this feature most weekends. "Ask the readers" is your chance to get (and give) advice abou...Read more »
Gone Phishing: How To Avoid Being Caught By Scammers (44 comments)
This article is by Adam Baker, a new GRS Staff Writer. In addition to writing for Get Rich Slowly, Baker blogs over at Man Vs. Debt, where you can find his personal background story and read more of h...Read more »
My Debt Story: An Introduction (80 comments)
This post is from April Dykman, a new GRS Staff Writer. April was a typical GRS reader who used the things we talk about to improve her financial situation. Now that she'll be writing for the site, sh...Read more »
On the Road to Financial Independence (107 comments)
It's been a long time since I wrote about the general state of my financial affairs. A few readers have written to express concern that I've lost my way. I haven't. If anything, I'm more devoted to th...Read more »
Personal Finance on Film: The Up Series (28 comments)
"Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man." — attributed to Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order Though there are many fine books about money available for the...Read more »
Mr. Market’s Wild Ride (171 comments)
The U.S. stock markets have provided a wild ride over the past year. The S&P 500 stock market index recently posted its best five-month gain since 1938. Yet many people missed out on this. And no wond...Read more »
A Call from Capital One (79 comments)
I don't often post follow-ups to previous articles, especially after just a few days. But following Tuesday's post on two-cycle billing, a couple of things happened that deserve mention. Understand...Read more »
What Got You to Get Better? Reasons for Change (86 comments)
This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the advisor for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new articl...Read more »
A Small Mistake (129 comments)
Important note: Despite what the credit card company told me, and despite my own mis-information, this story below apparently does NOT relate to two-cycle billing. Instead, my frustration stems from t...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Alternate Modes of Transportation (118 comments)
I've always been a car guy. It's not that I'm mechanically inclined or that I get into the latest makes and models — neither of these is anywhere close to the truth — but that a car has al...Read more »
Discovering (and Challenging) Your Financial Values (48 comments)
This is a guest post from Karawynn, who writes about personal finance at Pocketmint. Karawynn is a potential Staff Writer for Get Rich Slowly. In her first article, she visited the Island of Misfit Fo...Read more »
Reader Success Story: Debt Free on $2,000 a Month (76 comments)
We interrupt this series of Staff Writer auditions to bring you a brief success story from a Get Rich Slowly reader. I receive several of these a month (often several a week), and sometimes wish that ...Read more »
Beyond Frugality: What I Learned from Failure (63 comments)
This is a guest post from Jason Barr, who writes about personal development at Start Being Your Best. Jason is a potential Staff Writer for Get Rich Slowly. He's 32 years old, has been married for sev...Read more »
What We Wish We Knew When We Were Younger (124 comments)
Kris called me at seven o'clock last night, just as I was sitting down to write the Friday "Ask the Readers" post. I was sorting through this week's questions when the phone rang. "Are you busy?" s...Read more »
Impulse Spending: The Present and the Past (56 comments)
I had a wave of nostalgia on Friday. My brother called to tell me that there was a problem with the computer network at the box factory. Though I no longer work for the family business, I'm still the ...Read more »
Our Frugal Weekend (77 comments)
I haven't written much about frugality here lately. Because of that, you might think it's become less of a priority for me. That's simply not the case, although sometimes it feels that way — eve...Read more »
A Day at the Community Garage Sale (32 comments)
Kris and I had a l-o-n-g day today. We rose early and drove to one of Portland's nicest neighborhoods for the 24th annual Eastmoreland Garage Sale. Officially, there were 141 families hawking their St...Read more »
How My Parents Saved $14,000 on Home Repairs (35 comments)
This is a guest post from MLR at My Life ROI. If you like this post, check out his website or subscribe to his feed. One thing I love about reading Get Rich Slowly is that J.D. is always willing to...Read more »
The Problem With Market Timing (76 comments)
I'm in the process of consolidating all of my investment accounts at Fidelity. This isn't because I think Fidelity is "the best", but because I think they're good and they're certainly convenient. The...Read more »
My Sister’s Keeper: Sharing Financial Goals with an Accountability Partner (28 comments)
"Don't you have any tips for single folks?" I'm often asked. Like any writer, I tend to write from my own experience — that of a married man. Fortunately, there are plenty of single people in th...Read more »
The Wisdom of My Father (50 comments)
This is a guest post from Ann Zerkle, a Get Rich Slowly lurker, and the founder of Heroes of Capitalism. As the daughter of a truck driver and stay-at-home mom, my family lived very frugally (and...Read more »
Reader Story: The Secret Millionaire and the Mathmobile (43 comments)
I keep telling myself I'll share reader e-mail more often. You folks send me great stuff. For example, here's Ruth's story about her own millionaire next door. I loved reading about J.D.'s "secret ...Read more »
Turning Garage Sale Junk Into eBay Gold (47 comments)
On Saturday night, I attended a party with some of my former high-school classmates. Many of the other guests were artists. I don't know many artists, so it was fascinating to listen to their stories,...Read more »
My Great Disney World Adventure (108 comments)
Yesterday I wrote about my recent business trip to Orlando. This is the "rest of the story", a behind-the-scenes look at how I spent way too much money for a one-day vacation. When Kris and I agree...Read more »
Office Space: Why I Rented a Place to Write (74 comments)
I recently leased office space for Get Rich Slowly. For about a year, I'd been working out of an office I'd created in one of our spare bedrooms. This seemed like an ideal solution: I was able to ...Read more »
The Boat Experience: The Means Justify the Ends (42 comments)
This is a guest post from Michael H. It's the story I alluded to when I first wrote about the third stage of personal finance. I was afraid to run this story when Michael submitted it last year. I tho...Read more »
Should Repaying Debt Be an Obsession? (75 comments)
Some people never take control of their finances because they're afraid that doing so would require them to give up everything they enjoy. I don't believe that's true. Getting out of debt requires har...Read more »
A First-Hand Account of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis (54 comments)
Sunday's issue of The New York Times Magazine was all about "the dilemmas of debt", and featured stories like: "Suze Orman is having a moment", a profile of the popular personal-finance guru "W...Read more »
Coping with Life’s Little Setbacks (52 comments)
I had a lousy weekend. It was one of those weekends where anything that could go wrong did go wrong. The individual problems were minor enough, but taken as a whole, it was all rather overwhelming. So...Read more »
The Secrets of Financial Freedom: An Interview with the Millionaire Next Door (141 comments)
Today is the last day of Financial Literacy Month. To tie everything together, I thought it would be fun to share an interview my real millionaire next door, a man we'll call John. He used the basic t...Read more »
A Very Small Adventure: Riding the Bus (119 comments)
I had a big day today, though I'm sure many of you will laugh: I rode the bus for the first time. Actually, I've been on buses many times before. I rode a school bus as a child, and I've used publi...Read more »
The Turning Point (44 comments)
I had lunch with my friend Bo recently. Over our enchiladas, we talked about how dumb we were when we younger, and how we'd do things differently if we could. To what point would we return if we wante...Read more »
84-Year-Old Social Worker Saves $1.4 Million (78 comments)
Over the weekend, Kevin and Nathaniel both sent me an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that tells the story of Jane M. Buri, an 84-year-old social worker who quietly amassed a $1.4 million for...Read more »
My Mini and the Power of Saving (225 comments)
For the past two years, one of my top financial goals has been to save for a Mini Cooper. Just like a child with a toy catalog, I've spent hours on the Mini website playing with colors and options pac...Read more »
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression (31 comments)
We've heard a lot of rhetoric lately about how this is the worst economy since the Great Depression. Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't, but even if it were, what would it mean? I have no frame of r...Read more »
Why Our Heating Bill Ballooned This Winter (63 comments)
Kris and I own an old house. During the winter, the cold air seeps in through cracks in the windows and beneath gaps in the doors. We've done what we can to keep our heating costs low, and we make a h...Read more »
Finding Balance Between Time and Money (102 comments)
Lately my personal focus has been on finding balance in my life. I'm trying to discover the proper place for money — and for time. Over the past few years, I've allowed money to become too impor...Read more »
A Frugal Dinner with Friends (67 comments)
Kris and I had dinner last night with our new acquaintances friends, Chris and Jolie. Dinner was fun. This was in part because our hosts made a point of preparing a frugal meal. "If you bring wine," C...Read more »
The $1500 Frisbee (52 comments)
It's April Fools' Day! In 2007, I regaled you with lifestyles of the rich and stupid. Last year, I explained how to turn $500 into $7 the hard way. And this year I offer you yet another tale of my own...Read more »
My Financial Infrastructure (80 comments)
While preparing for the first episode of The Personal Finance Hour yesterday, I was browsing Jim's archives over at Bargaineering. I stumbled upon an old post about creating a financial network map: ...Read more »
Reader Comment: A Lifetime of Doing the Right Thing (60 comments)
It's been a while since I highlighted an individual reader comment, but I wanted to draw attention to some advice that Kenny left for Sara in Friday's "ask the readers". You'll recall that 24-year-old...Read more »
Lighting the Way (38 comments)
This is the fourth of a five-part series about the "stages" of personal finance. First, I described the zeroth stage of money management, in which I was fumbling in the dark, spending compulsively and...Read more »
Continuous Service? Dumb Moves from Smart Money (313 comments)
As part of my ongoing effort to bring you interesting and informative personal-finance information, I subscribe to several magazines, including Smart Money. Smart Money isn't my favorite money magazin...Read more »
Ask the Readers: What Do You Do When Frugality Gets You Nowhere? (166 comments)
In general, the frugal person who saves and invests will slowly build wealth, and will find herself far ahead of her peers. But sometimes the progress is slow — or even non-existent. When this h...Read more »
The Light at the End of the Tunnel (25 comments)
This is the third of a five-part series about the "stages" of personal finance. In the first part I described the zeroth stage of money management, in which I was fumbling in the dark, spending compul...Read more »
Mission Accomplished: Our Shiny New Mortgage (71 comments)
We did it! After two months of hemming and hawing, Kris and I finally closed on our mortgage refinance, dropping our rate from 6.25% to 4.96%. Bright and early yesterday morning, we made a trip to the...Read more »
A Candle in the Dark (46 comments)
This is the second of a five-part series about the "stages" of personal finance. Last Sunday, I shared part one: "Fumbling in the Dark". In June of 2004, Kris and I bought a new house. On paper, we...Read more »
The Ongoing Battle with Lifestyle Inflation (60 comments)
This is a guest post from Mike Young, who runs The Secure Student, a program that teaches high school students how to manage their money. In high school, I had a small allowance from my parents eve...Read more »
Fumbling in the Dark (77 comments)
I've had good control of my saving and spending for nearly two years now. I still make poor choices now and then, but they don't have the consequences they would have a decade ago. A decade ago, I was...Read more »
Outside Looking In: How Others View Our Spending (80 comments)
Last week, I went running with my friend Mac. As we ran, we talked. Mac asked me how it felt to be out of debt, to actually be saving money. Like many of my friends, he's watched my financial turnarou...Read more »
How I Cut My Television Bill in Half (144 comments)
I've had several requests lately to update my two-year quest to find cheap alternatives to cable television. In March of 2007, Kris and I were paying $65.82 for a deluxe digital cable package that we ...Read more »
Money Hack: The Monthly Checkbook Sweep (70 comments)
At dinner the other night, T.S. told me about a new trick she's developed to force herself to save money. It used to be that she'd just spend whatever she had in her checkbook. She didn't spend more t...Read more »
Refinancing Made Easy: Our Story (93 comments)
I recently had lunch with Winston, the Get Rich Slowly intern. We talked about our families, our finances, and our plans for this site. Winston mentioned that, at my prompting, he and his wife were re...Read more »
The Razor’s Edge: Lessons in True Wealth (159 comments)
Our friends have a profound effect on our personal finance habits. Some friends can lead us to spending and to debt. Others offer insight into the virtues of thrift. For me, my friend Sparky has been ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: When Is It Okay to Spend Your Savings? (84 comments)
Amanda wrote with a question this week that I think many GRS readers can relate to: When is it okay to spend your savings? My husband is currently unemployed so we're just living on my salary, b...Read more »
My 2008 Discretionary Spending: Progress and Challenges (75 comments)
For nearly three years, I've chronicled my adventures as I learn about money management. I've dug myself out of debt, quit my job to write full time, and begun to build wealth. But how well do I pract...Read more »
Follow-Up on the 63-Page Credit Card Agreement (34 comments)
Several months ago, I took my own advice about how to choose a credit card and signed up for an American Express card from Costco. This is a business card and not a personal card. (I carry only one pe...Read more »
Credit Cards Can Pay You Money? (56 comments)
This is a guest post from Sonia Coleman. It originally appeared in slightly different form at her blog, Coleman Unlimited. Last night I had to call my bank to follow up on a rebate check for my new...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How Much Money Would it Take For You to Compromise Your Principles? (207 comments)
An Allegory There was once a man who became a vegetarian. Because he believed that all living creatures have souls, he swore he would never again consume animal flesh. For three years, he ate only ...Read more »
How to Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick (77 comments)
Yesterday a GRS reader named "P" pointed me to a New York Times article from Alex Williams, who writes that change isn't easy. Williams notes that about 80% of those who make resolutions on New Year's...Read more »
One Year Later: Checking My Goals for 2008 (55 comments)
Last year, I didn't make any New Year's resolutions. Instead, I set goals. "I don’t like long lists of resolutions," I wrote. "You need focus to achieve a goal. If you set too many goals, it’s dif...Read more »
Coldplay and the Cost of Fun (71 comments)
J.D. is on vacation. This is a guest post from Mandy Hering. How can people afford fun these days? I ask this question because my husband and I recently attended a Coldplay concert. We bought ...Read more »
Why 2009 Will Be a Fantastic Financial Year For Me (30 comments)
J.D. is on vacation. 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 and about ca...Read more »
December 24, 1958: A Six-Dollar Christmas (21 comments)
I'm on vacation. This is a guest post from my aunt. It's sort of a real-life "Gift of the Magi". My aunt and uncle (who is called "Pop" in this story) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this pa...Read more »
In Praise of the Adult Allowance (193 comments)
In the past, many Get Rich Slowly readers have sung the praises of the "adult allowance". Though I've read enthusiastic comments supporting this idea, I've never paid it much heed. To be honest, it's ...Read more »
You Can’t Always Get What You Want: The Dark Side of Personal Finance (126 comments)
I drove down to clean the moss of the roof of my mother's house last week. I spent several hours on top of the house with my cousin Nick, scraping and hosing and blowing away years of green growth. We...Read more »
My Family Financial History (As Told by My Mother) (28 comments)
I'm giving a presentation at 1 p.m. this afternoon at the main downtown branch of Portland's Multnomah County Library. I plan to cover a bit of my personal history, share some of the things I learned ...Read more »
The Irritation Threshold and Lifestyle Inflation (59 comments)
This is a guest post by Scott L. from The Circular Ruins. Last weekend I went camping with my wife and our children. Because I was the one who accidentally left the camp stove at home, I was the on...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: Burgled Again (203 comments)
Four years ago — soon after we moved into this house — somebody broke into my car. We only have room for one vehicle in the garage, so I park on the street. One foggy February morning, ...Read more »
Creating a Will: It’s Not as Scary as You Might Think (42 comments)
My friend Sparky called the other day. We chatted about work, we chatted about the economy, and we chatted about investing. We also chatted about our families. We talked about my mother and her health...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Twenty-Something Needs Help! (191 comments)
In general, when I share reader questions, I try to keep them as broad as possible. I get a lot of requests for advice about specific situations, but I try to steer those to the Get Rich Slowly discus...Read more »
Meeting the Diehards: Profiting from Shared Wisdom (22 comments)
A GRS reader dropped a line last weekend. "I want to invite you to the Diehard Organizational Meeting on Wednesday," he said. "I'm new to the group but obviously we're all believers of value of index ...Read more »
Success Sunday: GRS Readers Share Their Stories (16 comments)
One of the best parts about writing Get Rich Slowly is interacting with you, the readers. I especially love to read your success stories. For some reason, the past month has been huge for success stor...Read more »
Back Up Your Computer to Save Time and Money (112 comments)
Here's a public service message: Back up your computer regularly. This has more to do with your pocketbook than you might think. Not only was I sick this week, but the hard drive on my laptop crash...Read more »
When Is It Okay to Give? (30 comments)
This is a guest post from my friend Kris, an American writer living in India. She and her husband recently arrived in New Delhi to participate in an educational exchange program. The juxtaposition of ...Read more »
What Does it Mean to Be Rich? (151 comments)
I had lunch with my accountant the other day. Sabino is more than a financial advisor to me — foremost, he's a close friend. I told him about my current circumstances, about how I'm now making m...Read more »
Setting and Achieving Family Financial Goals (38 comments)
When I finally paid off my consumer debt last fall, I set a new goal: build an emergency fund to cover several months of my expenses. Never before had I managed to accumulate more than $1000 in saving...Read more »
The 63-Page Credit Card Agreement (48 comments)
Taking my own advice about how to choose a credit card, I recently signed up for an TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express card because I can earn cash back virtually everywhere I go —...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: Foreclosure! (128 comments)
Most of the time, the talk about the housing bubble and the credit crisis and the faltering U.S. economy seem rather abstract to me, as if people were discussing a problem in Canada or Mexico. Or Norw...Read more »
Burn After Reading: The $22 Movie (157 comments)
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 w...Read more »
The Never-Ending War Against Advertising (90 comments)
I spoke with a reporter the other day. She was looking for ways to fight the urge to shop. "My top tip is to avoid advertising," I told her. "That sounds nice," she said, "but how do you actually ...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Home Canning (58 comments)
"What do you do with all that produce?" one reader asked recently about our garden. "Do you really eat it all, or does it go to waste?" We eat it, but not at once. Though we enjoy a lot of the food...Read more »
Why I Don’t Track My Net Worth (59 comments)
Earlier today I described net worth, and asked if it were the most important number in personal finance. Many people believe that it is. For them, it acts as a motivator, a sort of "life scorecard". F...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How to Cope with Spending Addiction? (94 comments)
Nicki wants to get out of debt, but she can't — she has a spending addiction. She's hoping that other Get Rich Slowly readers can give her advice. Here's an abridged version of her story: I...Read more »
The Idea of Having (104 comments)
My mother has been out of the hospital for two weeks now. She's home and recovering well. The past two Sundays, Kris and I have driven down to see her, and the three of us have spent part of the after...Read more »
This American Life: Something for Nothing (20 comments)
Kris called me down to the kitchen this morning to listen to This American Life. While she baked a molasses cake and canned applesauce, I sat at the table and took notes on the show, which featured fo...Read more »
A Momentary Lapse of Reason (69 comments)
I used to have two responses when faced with stress: spend more or eat more. I still sometimes struggle with stress-eating, but stress-spending hasn't been an issue since I started this blog. My mo...Read more »
Reader Success Story: How I Gave Myself a Raise (20 comments)
Jon wrote yesterday to share a success story of personal finance principles in action. Here's a slightly modified version of his e-mail. I've been a reading personal finance blogs for some time now...Read more »
Cleaning House: When Little Messes Become Big Problems (129 comments)
Kris and I drove down to clean Mom's house last night. Over the past decade, her place has gradually been overtaken by Stuff and clutter. Since Mom is still in the hospital, we figured this was a grea...Read more »
Do-It-Yourself Landscaping Can Save Thousands (28 comments)
This is the first post from Winston, the new GRS editorial assistant. My wife and I have saved thousands of dollars by landscaping our own yard. Four years ago, we were feeling overwhelmed by ou...Read more »
Energy Conservation in Alaska: What Worked? What Did Not? (30 comments)
Last April, Dan wrote to ask GRS readers for help with a sudden energy crisis. Because of a natural disaster, electricity costs in Juneau, Alaska jumped from $0.11 per kilowatt-hour to $0.53 per kilow...Read more »
Missing the Target: Lousy Store Policies Can Thwart Frugal Intentions (81 comments)
This is a guest post from The Tim at the Seattle Bubble blog, a site about the housing bubble. He also writes The Naked Loon, a Seattle-centric satirical publication. One way our family keeps the e...Read more »
Why I Fought to Save Three Bucks (and Why You Should Too) (201 comments)
This guest post comes from Donna Freedman, a blogger at MSN Money's Smart Spending blog. Donna is one of my favorite personal finance writers. This is a reprint (with permission) of one of her recent ...Read more »
Enough is Enough: Wealth is What You Make It (44 comments)
This is a guest post from Steve Ross, a pastor at a church in rural Oregon. I learned something about how wealthy I am recently. I am a pastor in a congregation that is in a financial crisis. W...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: Caring for a Parent in Crisis (79 comments)
My mother is in the hospital. Her health, which had been deteriorating lately, took a turn for the worse over the weekend. On Tuesday, she was admitted to a local hospital, where she's likely to remai...Read more »
The Dirty Secrets of Debt Reduction (and What to Do About Them) (73 comments)
When I was a sophomore in college, I got my first credit card. I thought it was awesome — it was like free money. Soon I got another credit card, and before long I'd maxed them both out. I enter...Read more »
We’re All Going to Die Someday: Making Informed Insurance Choices (26 comments)
This is a guest post from Amanda, a Colorado tech writer and an activist for children with congenital heart disease. This article is about Amanda's personal experience with insurance. It's not a presc...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: Cancer Scare (42 comments)
My sister-in-law has cancer. Last week, a biopsy revealed that Stephanie has a cancerous lump on her thyroid. She'll likely have her thyroid removed, meaning she'll need to take medication for the...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How to Cope with Socially Obligated Spending? (147 comments)
Allen recently attended a family wedding that put a hole in his budget. He wonders how to cope with societal pressure to spend: How do you deal with social situations where you have to spend? I j...Read more »
My Mid-Year Financial Checkup: I Am Spending Too Much on Food (126 comments)
"Want to go out to dinner?" I asked Kris last Monday night. "No," she said. "Want to go out to dinner?" I asked Kris last Tuesday night. "No," she said. I asked her again on Wednesday and...Read more »
The Art of Frugal Living (43 comments)
Christine just sent me a National Public Radio story about the frugal artists of New York City. Columbia University recently released a study of 213 visual artists over the age of 61. Their average in...Read more »
A Small Bite: The Sensible Way to Splurge (41 comments)
This is a guest post from my wife. I need dessert. After a fine meal — home-cooked or dining out — I simply don't feel satisfied without a bit of something sweet. The slowing metab...Read more »
Financial Advice from My Father (When I Was Nineteen) (44 comments)
Today is Father's Day in many countries, including the United States. While sorting some old letters and photos recently, I stumbled across a letter my dad wrote to me during my sophomore year of coll...Read more »
Talking With Friends About Money (47 comments)
We had dinner last weekend with our friends Pierre and Marcela. The food was fabulous. The conversation was good, too. Much of the time, we talked about money. If I were a rich man "If we were ric...Read more »
Elvis Talks About Money at the Gym (18 comments)
I go to the gym every morning at about eight. There's a guy who shows up every morning at about nine. He's huge: big, buff, and tanned. But the thing is, while I'm lifting little tiny weights because ...Read more »
Saving with Albert: Teaching a Four-Year-Old the Value of Money (33 comments)
My friend Albert — age four — loves electricity. Ever since he was young (ha!) he's been fascinated by the stuff. His parents have carefully nurtured his hobby. Now that Albert's older, th...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Buy a Car or Pay Off Debt? (124 comments)
Earlier this week, April wrote with a personal finance predicament. She and her husband need to buy a car, but it's not something they'd budgeted to do any time soon. Fate intervened: My husband ...Read more »
Now and Then: How My Current Financial Situation Compares with a Decade Ago (64 comments)
I spent the 1990s addicted to credit cards. I was mired in debt. Recently while cleaning the garage, I unearthed a box full of old receipts and bank statements. I spent a couple hours sifting thro...Read more »
My Paperless Personal Finance System: A Work in Progress (128 comments)
Last summer, as a part of my quest to get rid of clutter, I began to move toward paperless personal finance. I had planned to share my system only once I'd perfected it, but yesterday Daniel e-mailed ...Read more »
Extreme Personal Finance: Crissy Thompson, the Coupon Queen (56 comments)
Changed the title and URL, everyone. Sorry. I hadn't planned to post anything this afternoon, but about a million people (maybe a million-and-a-half) sent me a story about Crissy Thompson from Gain...Read more »
Ask the Readers: “I’m Doing Well Financially But My Family Is Not” (147 comments)
Personal finance would be easy if it were only about the numbers. But it's not. Money management not only requires that we master our own whims and emotions, but that we navigate the sometimes rocky w...Read more »
A Real Millionaire Next Door (134 comments)
Kris and I love our neighborhood. People are friendly and helpful, yet mostly mind their own business. It's a perfect combination. One of our favorite neighbors is the old guy next door. Let's call hi...Read more »
Reader Story: Beware of Scams and Pyramid Schemes (106 comments)
In the past, I've shared the story of the worst job I ever had. In a lot of ways, it felt like I was part of a pyramid scheme or multi-level marketing operation. I've been approached to participate in...Read more »
A Rather Obvious Metaphor for Personal Finance Couched in a True Story About Physical Fitness (8 comments)
This piece originally appeared at Andrea's Consultant Journal in a slightly different format. Exercise is a funny thing. When you start a fitness regimen, you feel awful, especially if it's been mo...Read more »
Reader Success Story: To Wii or Not to Wii? (32 comments)
I received another great e-mail yesterday describing a reader victory. Joshua has been wanting to buy a Nintendo Wii, even though he knows it's not the best use of his time or money. On Friday, he sta...Read more »
Reader Success Story: “We Paid Off $23,000 of Debt in 16 Months” (50 comments)
The best part about running this site is reading stories from readers who have managed to take control of their finances and kick debt to the curb. Some people share their success in the comments, but...Read more »
If I Can Do It, Anyone Can (26 comments)
At this moment, Kris and I are driving home from a long weekend in Central Oregon. Every year, we rent a home in Sunriver, and spend three days with some of our best friends. It's great fun. (Yesterda...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Energy Conservation Tips? (76 comments)
Dan wrote with a question unlike any I've received before. He lives in Alaska, where the residents of Juneau have been confronted with a sudden energy crisis (more here). Here's Dan's story: I am...Read more »
Some Thoughts on Goals and Adult Education (44 comments)
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 stay-at-home mother. (Lisa contributed two GRS guest post...Read more »
How One Reader Uses Haggling to Save Big Bucks (66 comments)
Last week, Jason shared a guest post on how to negotiate to save money. Daylily Diva wrote to share her own experiences, which I've reproduced here with permission. I love haggling — it's sec...Read more »
Grocery Store Mysteries: Cheap Milk (66 comments)
We ran out of milk this evening, so I made an emergency trip to the grocery store to buy more. Generally we purchase a half gallon of one-percent, which lasts us about a week. When I went to grab t...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: The DIY Footrest (41 comments)
I've been working at home for a month now. I like it. The first week was a little scary, but the past few weeks have been immensely productive. I've caught up on e-mail. I've conducted and given some ...Read more »
How to Turn $500 into $7 the Hard Way (91 comments)
Back in our young and foolish days, Kris and I bought an encyclopedia set from a door-to-door salesman. This was in 1995, at the very cusp of the digital age. We had been on the internet for about a y...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: Wrecked Rental (184 comments)
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...Read more »
Would You Make a Ten-Minute Phone Call for $57? (35 comments)
GRS reader Dan recently wrote to share a story I hear often. Many people are afraid to ask for a better deal — they think it's not worth the effort. Dan has decided that it is: I thought I'...Read more »
Excited and Scared: One Week as a Full-Time Blogger (60 comments)
I've had a week now to adjust to the idea that I'm a full-time blogger, that I'm completely in control of my financial success or failure. To be honest, I'm both excited and scared. I had the same...Read more »
How My Net Worth Went from $-40,000 to $285,000 in Five Years (117 comments)
This is a guest post from FrugalTrader, who blogs about personal finance from a Canadian perspective at Million Dollar Journey. In 2003, my girlfriend (now wife) and I graduated from university...Read more »
The Key to Wealth is Being Satisfied with What You Already Have (77 comments)
For the past few weeks, I've been making sales calls with David, my replacement at the box factory. We're visiting existing customers to explain the transition. Most of my clients know that I'm part-o...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Home-Based Physical Fitness (89 comments)
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...Read more »
What To Do About Stolen Mail? (102 comments)
When I came home on Wednesday, there was no mail in our mailbox. That seemed strange, but it happens sometimes. I didn't think much about it. Tonight, though, we realized we were missing our latest...Read more »
An Angel on One Shoulder and a Devil on the Other (45 comments)
We received a Costco coupon book in the mail today. Costco — a membership warehouse store — has very low prices and generally does not take coupons. A few times a year, though, they send o...Read more »
Ask the Readers: I’m Not Good With Money — How Should I Handle a Windfall? (76 comments)
Mitch recently wrote to me with one of the toughest reader questions I've seen yet. He lives a paycheck-to-paycheck existence, but will soon be coming into a lot of money. He wants to know what he sho...Read more »
Some Thoughts on Making the Transition from Debt to Savings (28 comments)
One of the most rewarding aspects of writing Get Rich Slowly is sharing success stories and strategies with the readers. In the forums, there's an entire section devoted to financial success stories. ...Read more »
Making Progress: An Update on My Goals for 2008 (31 comments)
On New Year's Day, I shared my three primary goals for 2008: To save a $10,000 emergency fund. To lose 40 pounds. To write a book about personal finance. Some readers thought setting only ...Read more »
“Simplify, Simplify!” — In the Footsteps of Thoreau (18 comments)
This is a guest post from Mark Cunningham, one of the co-authors of The Prosperous Peasant. Cunningham is a member of the Woodstock Writers Guild, the monthly writing group to which I belong. In my...Read more »
2007 Discretionary Spending: The Highs and Lows (76 comments)
I write a lot about personal finance, but how well do I practice what I preach? For the most part, I follow my own advice. Much of what I write here is based on personal experience. But my financial l...Read more »
Money Talk at the Barber Shop (24 comments)
I went to get my haircut yesterday. Wayne, my regular barber, wasn't in, so I drew the new guy, Richard. "So what do you do?" Richard asked as he tied the apron around my neck. I smiled. "I'm a ...Read more »
In Which My Sister-in-Law Decides to Get Rich Slowly (23 comments)
On Saturday, I joined Kris and her sister for a quick tour of local thrift stores. They picked up clothes; I picked up books. After a few hours of shopping, we took a break to grab some cheap tacos fo...Read more »
Car Trouble: A Real-Life Lesson in the Value of an Emergency Fund (155 comments)
I drove south yesterday morning to meet with Mac, my partner at Get Fit Slowly. Between Portland and Salem, a warning light came on in my Ford Focus — the temperature gauge had risen into the re...Read more »
A Life Well-Lived is Not About the Bling (80 comments)
I love real-life stories of people who get rich slowly. Paul Navone, a 78-year-old resident of Millville, New Jersey, is one of those. On December 21st, Navone donated $1 million to Cumberland County ...Read more »
Penny Pinchers: Mart and the $10 Boots (13 comments)
I love family reunions. My cousins are bold and brassy. They're loud, and quick with a funny story. They're also cheap. At a New Year's Day reunion last week, we swapped tales of extreme penny-pinchin...Read more »
Is a 6.25% Checking Account the Best Deal in Portland? (48 comments)
I'm a recent convert to the world of online high-yield savings accounts. Now that I have my debt paid off, I can finally afford to save some money. It was difficult for me to choose an account: Should...Read more »
My Three Goals for 2008 (and How I’ll Tackle Them) (55 comments)
On Monday I suggested that instead of resolutions, you should set goals for the new year — a subtle but important distinction. I also recommended that you keep your list of goals small and manag...Read more »
It’s a Wonderful Life and the Value of Social Capital (37 comments)
Yesterday I made a sales call to a local business, a nursery owned by one of my former high school classmates. Keith and I didn't move in the same circles and were never friends, but I always apprecia...Read more »
How Good Habits Keep Small Mistakes Manageable (23 comments)
I have been swamped lately — absolutely buried. I'm busy at the box factory, busy with my blogs, and busy with holiday social activities. It's been nearly impossible for me to juggle everything....Read more »
How I Became a Millionaire While Working in My Pajamas (105 comments)
This is a guest post from the Millionaire Mommy Next Door. At her blog, MMND shares her recipe for success, happiness, and financial freedom. This piece originally appeared on her site in a slightly d...Read more »
Walking the Talk: Saying “No” to Temptation (52 comments)
Kris and I spent our Thanksgiving in Central Oregon, visiting my brother and his family. Because Tony's in-laws were out of town, we set up camp in their palatial home. To my delight, I was even a...Read more »
Free at Last! Saying Good-Bye to 20 Years of Debt (243 comments)
Twenty years ago I was a freshman in college. I was a poor kid from a poor family, but my roommates came from wealth. In order to fit in, I went out and picked up a department store credit card. I bou...Read more »
My Millionaire Schemes (46 comments)
I made a rare trip to Powell's City of Books yesterday. This used to be one of my favorite hang-outs, but as I've learned to love frugality and to hate clutter, my book spending has plummeted. As a re...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Keeping Warm in Winter (95 comments)
Cold cold cold — I am cold. Remember George Bailey's "drafty old barn" in It's a Wonderful Life? Our place is like that. This 100-year-old farmhouse is cold all winter long. There are drafts...Read more »
How 15 Minutes Saved Me 15% on My Television Bill (58 comments)
This is a guest post from Stephen Ward, who writes at Project Paradox. Although many frugality experts decry the need for television, my wife and I enjoy it too much to give it up. That didn't st...Read more »
Letter to a Godchild: Passing on Financial Wisdom (42 comments)
This is a guest post from Suzanne S. I’m English and live in California. My goddaughter recently graduated in England (with a degree in Art). I’m one of those who regrets not starting off wit...Read more »
Quitting the Day Job: Finding the Guts to Pursue Your Dreams (223 comments)
Something amazing has happened in the past eighteen months. While I've been learning about personal finance — and sharing my knowledge with you — Get Rich Slowly has grown from a small si...Read more »
Beating the High Cost of Weddings: How We Did It, and How You Can Too (94 comments)
Think you need to spend a fortune to tie the knot? It's just not so. Kris and I got hitched for a couple grand in 1993. In this guest post from JerichoHill, he explains how he kept costs down for his ...Read more »
Beware of Citibank’s Retroactive Late Fee (46 comments)
Here's one way for banks to compensate for their losses during the subprime lending debacle: screw their other customers. GRS reader Morydd shared a scary story in the discussion forums. His wife has ...Read more »
Get More Bang for Your Buck by Using Coupons and Sales Wisely (17 comments)
This is a guest post from Amanda, a Colorado tech writer and an activist for children with congenital heart disease. My conversion to frugality began about a year ago, but it’s only been recently...Read more »
Yardwork and Financial Setbacks: A Metaphor (11 comments)
A metaphor Kris and I did more yardwork today — it never ends. We wheeled out the chipper and continued to grind away at the branches and the leaves. We spread the resulting mulch at the base o...Read more »
Basic Personal Finance: Know How Your Accounts Work (30 comments)
Sometimes it's the easy stuff that catches us off guard. We spend so much time trying to get the big stuff right, that we forget about the basics. I've had a couple experiences lately that left me fee...Read more »
A Credit Card is Not an Emergency Fund (84 comments)
Sometimes I wonder: Have I always had personal finance conversations all the time? I don't often initiate them, but money seems to be a constant topic, even when people are unaware that I write about ...Read more »
Mystery Checks in the Mail (15 comments)
Earlier this month, Julie warned us that Macy's had flipped her store card and sold her data to Citibank. I recently experienced something similar. A few months ago, I received some "advance checks...Read more »
Learning to Love the Not-So-Big House (101 comments)
I had lunch with my friend Cameron a few weeks ago. Over plates of Kung Pao Chicken and Mongolian Beef, the conversation drifted toward personal finance. We began to talk about the repairs and upgrade...Read more »
Recurring Monthly Costs: Which Are Worth It? Which Are Not? (120 comments)
I met some friends at a local restaurant Monday night. While chatting, we found ourselves bopping to the music playing on the radio. For more than hour, great song followed great song: U2, Eurythmics,...Read more »
Always Check Your Receipts (30 comments)
IKEA opened in Portland recently. I'd never been to IKEA before, but had heard that it's a great place to pick up inexpensive furniture and gadgets for the home. One recent Friday afternoon, Kris and ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How to Live Debt-Free? (101 comments)
I will be debt-free by Christmas. In just a few weeks, I will have repaid all my consumer debt. Only my mortgage will remain. It's taken a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but the end is near. I'm ...Read more »
On the Relationship Between Temperament and Financial Behavior (13 comments)
This guest post is from Jaimie, who writes about personal finance at paidtwice.com. Do you look before you leap? Or do you jump right in with no reservations? Recently I've been watching my da...Read more »
Countrywide and Me: A Real-Life Look at Risk Tolerance (41 comments)
My month-long experiment with Countrywide Financial is over. As I've mentioned before, I keep a small portion of my investment portfolio designated for "fun" trading. That is, trading that is more ...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How Do Couples Combine Finances? (60 comments)
Most young couples must eventually decide whether to keep separate or joint financial accounts. We've discussed the pros and cons of each method, but we've never explored the practical considerations:...Read more »
Using Quicken to Analyze and Correct Bad Spending Habits (33 comments)
Comic books have always been one of my money demons. Geeky, but true. I used to buy the actual comic magazines: Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men. As an adult, however, I graduated from spending just a buck...Read more »
12 Investing Mistakes I’ve Made (and How You Can Learn From Them) (63 comments)
This is a guest post from Pinyo, author of Moolanomy, a personal finance blog about money, wealth, investing, and more. I've been investing since 1996. In the process, I have learned a lot, mainly ...Read more »
Shaking the New Car Itch: A Tale of Priorities (108 comments)
When I went to the street to get the mail on Saturday, the latest issue of The New Yorker was in the box. Walking up the sidewalk to the house, I idly began to remove the subscription cards. I stopped...Read more »
Drama in Real Life: “You’re Fired!” (75 comments)
We just fired an employee. Letting a person go is never an easy thing, especially at a small family business like ours. We treat our employees well, and relate to them as real men and women instead...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Do-it-Yourself Home Maintenance (26 comments)
I hate plumbing. Whenever a faucet begins to leak or a drain clogs, my stomach sinks. I know it means hours of frustrating work. It's not that plumbing is difficult — it's just that I'm not well...Read more »
How to Feed Yourself for $15 a Week (198 comments)
Our discussion about how to eat for cheap generated a lot of great tips. Daiko shared a detailed explanation of how he once got by spending just $15/week on food. This is a great real-life example of ...Read more »
An Introduction to Financial Archaeology (37 comments)
Despite past financial failings, I've always had at least one good habit: I save every receipt, bill, statement, invoice, and memo that I receive. For nearly fifteen years I've used the same low-t...Read more »
The Frugal Collector: 10 Ways to Curb the Habit (29 comments)
I spent my Labor Day weekend scouring my bookshelves, sorting thousands of books and comics. I tried not to think about how much I'd paid for things, instead dividing them into two piles: Books a...Read more »
Bank of America Demonstrates How to Alienate Potential Customers (64 comments)
Last month I shared stories of good customer service Kris and I have experienced recently. Sadly, this sort of thing seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Tim wrote to share a frustrating ex...Read more »
When a Saver and a Spender Say “I Do” (25 comments)
This guest post is from Sara Wallace, a member at Debt Management Talk. When my husband and I got married, we brought a lot more to our marriage than ourselves. Financially, I brought my entire lif...Read more »
Grocery Store vs. Farmers Market: Which Has the Cheapest Produce? (47 comments)
Last year I asked, "How much do you spend on food?" Answers varied widely. Some commenters couldn't comprehend that others could spend so much — or so little. I've always believed that buying pr...Read more »
Money Mistakes: That Old Black Magic (46 comments)
I make a point of sharing my financial success stories with you — it's only fair that I confess when I make mistakes. I've been doing so well for so long, that I'd forgotten what it's like to "f...Read more »
Blow-by-Blow Account of a Housing Addition, part four: Combating Murphy’s Law (5 comments)
This is a guest post from Jericho Hill. In part one of this series, the author discussed the costs of a housing addition. Part two explored funding, and part three featured tips for saving money on co...Read more »
The Tyranny of Stuff (102 comments)
"Did you learn anything in England and Ireland?" a friend asked the other day. I brushed the question aside; I didn't have a good answer. But I've been thinking about it. Maybe I did learn something: ...Read more »
Blow-by-Blow Account of a Housing Addition, part three: Construction (11 comments)
This is a guest post from JerichoHill. For the past few weekends, I've described what I learned through the process of building a home addition. In part one, I covered costs. In part two, I covere...Read more »
What I’m Doing Right (140 comments)
Today's guest post comes from M, a blogger and writer living in San Francisco. She keeps a fascinating personal blog, as well as Bay Area Love Letters, a site devoted to San Francisco and Northern Cal...Read more »
Extreme Personal Finance: From Penthouse to RV (41 comments)
He's back! The ever-controversial Tynan offers today's guest entry on downsizing from an expensive condo to a 21-foot RV. On April 20th at 3am I was still awake. I stood on the balcony of my pentho...Read more »
Blow-by-Blow Account of a Housing Addition, part two: Capitalization (13 comments)
This is a guest post from JerichoHill. Last week I introduced the first of a three-part series on my experiences with building a major home addition. It dealt with defining your objectives and det...Read more »
Small-Town Personal Finance (35 comments)
I've been saving this post for several months, waiting for a time to share it. After Penelope's guest-post yesterday about moving to a smaller city, I figured now was the time. I grew up in a small...Read more »
Blow-by-Blow Account of a Housing Addition, part one: Costs (7 comments)
This is a guest post from JerichoHill. Recently my fiancée and I have engaged in a bit of home-renovation. Several years ago, Julie bought half of a duplex in a suburb of Washington, D.C. It is ra...Read more »
Good Customer Service Still Exists (40 comments)
This is a guest-post from my wife, who recently had a great customer service experience. I brown-bag my lunch on workdays, often making enough dinner to have leftovers for the next day's lunch. As...Read more »
Confessions of a Personal Finance Guru (37 comments)
This is a guest-post from Liz Weston, one of my favorite professional personal finance writers. You guys send me more articles from her than from any other expert. (Except maybe Ben Stein — you ...Read more »
How to Start a Family Without Breaking the Bank (87 comments)
This guest post is from Nickel, author of Raising4Boys.com and FiveCentNickel. I recently received an e-mail from a reader asking about the "real" cost of raising kids. In short, she's he...Read more »
Ask the Readers: How Can You Help a Family Member in Financial Trouble WITHOUT Loaning Them Money? (73 comments)
"The Tim" is in a bind. He'd like to help his brother-in-law out of a tight spot, but he's not interested in loaning him money. What are his options? Here's his story: My brother-in-law is curren...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Small Victories (23 comments)
Sometimes I get giddy when I save just a little bit of money. The cyan ink in our printer ran dry yesterday. When I went to the store today I had the option of buying name-brand ink for $8 a cartr...Read more »
How to Save a Dollar (44 comments)
Here's a guest-post from my cousin, Mrs. Darling. She previously shared information on how to raise a family on one income (here's part two). The third part to that series will appear here in August. ...Read more »
Some Brief Thoughts on Life and Death (31 comments)
My cousin Ron died of cancer last Sunday. He was 47. I spent much of the past two days preparing a video presentation for this afternoon's memorial service. After scanning and processing scores of pho...Read more »
Ask the Readers: What if You’re Frugal But Your Roommates Aren’t? (61 comments)
Eleanor wrote with a question that could test even the mightiest personal finance expert. "What," she asks, "can you do when you want to save money and your roommates don't care?" I share a house...Read more »
You Are Your Own Worst Enemy (108 comments)
My friend Gillian called the other day — she's been having money trouble and was looking for help. "I'm not really a financial advisor," I told her. "I write about money, and I try to help peopl...Read more »
Why I Applied for a Credit Card (and Why It’s Not the End of the World) (38 comments)
Credit cards ruined my life. Between 1989 and 1998, I accumulated nearly $25,000 in credit card debt. During that time, I added about $2,500 of new debt every year (over $200 each month). I was a comp...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Personal Finance During a Health Crisis? (28 comments)
What would you do if you knew you were dying? How would a cancer diagnosis affect your personal finance decisions? The Travelin' Man from Stuff You Oughtta Know isn't dying yet, but he's had a scare. ...Read more »
The Debt to Pleasure: What is the Cost of Fun? (50 comments)
Last weekend, I played paintball for the second time in my life. I had great fun charging through undergrowth, hiding behind logs, and shooting my friends at close range. Paintball is a blast, but I'm...Read more »
Reader Story: What My Father Taught Me About Debt (12 comments)
Happy Father's Day! Louise from Our Odyssey dropped a line the other day to share a story of how her father taught her about debt. When I was fresh out of college in June of 1985, my Dad gave me $...Read more »
The Power of Yes: A Simple Way to Get More Out of Life (129 comments)
For much of my adult life I've been shackled by fear. I've been afraid to try new things, afraid to meet new people, afraid of doing anything that might lead to failure. This fear confined me to a nar...Read more »
Convenience Store Economics (64 comments)
I stopped by the 7-11 yesterday for the first time in years. I was thirsty and wasn't willing to wait until I got home for a glass of water. I grabbed a $1.59 bottle of Aquafina and headed to the chec...Read more »
Where Can I Invest My Money to Realize at Least a 10% Return? (45 comments)
In a forum thread called "Why do so many people hate on Dave Ramsey?", Rush complained that Ramsey's advice is too conservative. Squished18 replied by saying: "You're advising me to invest my $100K 'a...Read more »
Ask the Readers: Is It Better to Invest or to Prepay a Mortgage? (194 comments)
Paul writes with a common question that illustrates how challenging personal finance can be, even when you're doing the right things. Sometimes it's difficult to choose between several good options. H...Read more »
Commandment #4: Be Frugal (20 comments)
Last night while cleaning the house, I found some old papers. Among the many memories, I found a document entitled "J.D.'s Ten Commandments". I can't tell exactly when I wrote this, but I'd guess it w...Read more »
Personal Finance on Film: The Farmer’s Wife (34 comments)
"It makes me feel so greedy and selfish to see these people struggling, almost losing it all, over a $100 debt, and I go out and spend $100 on yarn." — Kris, while watching The Farmer's Wife las...Read more »
Crossing the Line from Frugal to Cheap (51 comments)
Sometimes it's hard to tell when I'm being frugal and when I'm just being cheap. One side effect of losing weight — a positive one, mind you — is that I don't fit into some of my favori...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: One Man’s Trash (27 comments)
On my drive home from work yesterday, I passed a stack of wood along the side of River Road. On top of the pile was a hand-lettered sign that read: FREE LUMBER — HELP YOURSELF. I drove past, not...Read more »
Feeling Broke: Little Things Add Up (54 comments)
Every weekend, I enter receipts into Quicken. Usually I feel good about this process, but yesterday's session left me bummed. I feel broke. My checking account is down to $38.90. After I get gas this ...Read more »
Coping with Unemployment: Blogging is NOT the Answer (41 comments)
Lazy Man wrote to me yesterday with a crisis from one of his readers. I received this very distressing letter today: "Hi Lazy man, tell me how do you create a blog to get help to pay my bills....Read more »
Introducing: Fiscal Fitness Journals (1 comment)
Several years ago I discovered John Stone Fitness, a site that documented the life of a man whose body looked like this: as he undertook a journey to make his body look like something else enti...Read more »
Money-Making Hobbies: Mystery Shopping and Belly Dancing (16 comments)
Several readers have written with stories of how they make money from hobbies. Today, Scarfish talks about two ways she's found to earn extra income while having fun. I'm a big proponent of having ...Read more »
How One Father Taught His Son About Money (27 comments)
An anonymous reader e-mailed a story about the financial education he received from his father. Something my dad did for me when I was a kid — after I got my first job (delivering papers) at ...Read more »
Real-Life Choices: Retirement Savings vs. Debt Reduction (47 comments)
I've accumulated $3500 and I don't know what to do with it. As you may recall, I am carrying the remainder of my credit card debt in the form of a home-equity loan (or HELOC). The current balance o...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: The Garden in Spring (18 comments)
On Sundays, I've been sharing how to earn money from hobbies. Some hobbies can also save you money, which is just as good. Like many advocates of frugality and simple living, Kris and I take pleasure ...Read more »
Dumb Things I Sometimes Do (34 comments)
I've made great progress with my personal finances over the past year. I am paying off debt. I established an emergency fund. I even opened a Roth IRA. But I'm not out of the woods yet — I still...Read more »
When Did You Start Caring About Your Finances? (59 comments)
Cap at Stop Buying Crap recently asked: "When did you start caring about your finances?" This is an interesting question. I've always believed that my finances were important to me, but I never actual...Read more »
Ask the Readers: When Does This All Pay Off? (97 comments)
Annie is a young woman who seems to be making all of the right moves. She has an emergency fund, she's saving for retirement, she's living frugally, and she's paying off her debt. But she's beginning ...Read more »
Money-Making Hobbies: Binding Books and Printing Buttons (20 comments)
Every Sunday I share a little about making money by doing something you love. This week Matt writes that he and his wife both earn money from their hobbies. He likes to build websites, but his wife do...Read more »
101 Things in 1001 Days (31 comments)
After writing that the road to wealth is paved with goals, I realized that my own list of goals looks a little ragged. Some of the goals are outdated. Many have been met. And I've developed new priori...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Fashion on a Budget (37 comments)
When I was in high school, I was enthralled by the world of fashion. This was the era of Miami Vice, of Tubbs and Crockett and their pastel suits. Of Footloose-inspired skinny ties (and knit ties, too...Read more »
What’s It Like to BORROW Money with Prosper? (33 comments)
I recently posted two entries (1, 2) with experiences from people who loaned money through Prosper, the person-to-person lending service. "But where are the reviews from borrowers?" some of you asked....Read more »
A Contrarian View: Why I Love a Huge Tax Refund (63 comments)
Kris and I received $2789 in tax refunds this year. Already I can hear the sound of hundreds of heads thumping against hundreds of desks. Many of you are wailing, "Why?! Why?! Why?!" Of all the fin...Read more »
An Introduction to Making Money Selling Digital Photos (59 comments)
This is a guest post from reader Mike Panic, a freelance photographer and network administrator. In his spare time, Panic runs three sites: Randomn3ss, iPhotoForum, and iLikeCheapStuff. Who doesn�...Read more »
Reader Story: Tackling Debt Through Volunteer Work (8 comments)
An anonymous reader sent the following story about the approach she is taking to tackle her debt. First I need to point out that this won't work for everyone. I only have a two-year degree from a c...Read more »
The New Math: Cheap Alternatives to Cable Television (148 comments)
Here's one of my dark financial secrets: even as I write about saving money by asking for rate reductions or cancelling services you don't use, even as I post guest entries about the evils of televisi...Read more »
Sometimes a Cheap Meal is Expensive (20 comments)
My sister-in-law, Tiffany, called yesterday. "Do you guys want to have lunch at the new Thai place?" she asked. We did. Kris and I are eager to find another cheap restauarant close by. We picked up Ti...Read more »
Extreme Personal Finance: Homeless By Choice (10 comments)
Several readers wrote to share this story of extreme personal finance from the pages of the Los Angeles Times: 26-year-old Andy Bussell has been living in his truck, homeless by choice, for the past y...Read more »
Getting Out of Debt: Oh What a Relief it Is! (22 comments)
JLP at All Financial Matters recently shared the story of how he got out of credit card debt. It's not exciting or glamorous, but then paying off debt never is. We paid off our last two credit card...Read more »
More Real-Life Prosper Experience (14 comments)
Earlier today, Frykitty shared her experiences with Prosper, the person-to-person lending site. Her post prompted an excellent discussion. Here's some follow-up information from Justin McHenry of Zen ...Read more »
Prosper: Investing on YOUR Terms (52 comments)
Note: I've received many questions about Prosper, but I've never used it. Here's a post from Frykitty, the very very quiet second author at Get Rich Slowly. She recently set up a Prosper account and h...Read more »
My Parents Ruined My Credit! (27 comments)
Last month a reader wondered how her family's credit history affected her own. This month Daniel has a slightly different problem: his parents did ruin his credit, though indirectly. He writes: W...Read more »
Money Interviews: Imagination Movers, part four (2 comments)
This is the last installment of an interview with Scott Durbin. Durbin has made an entrepreneurial leap of faith, leaving behind a safe job to pursue a dream, starting a rock band for kids. In the fir...Read more »
Building Success from the Ashes of Failure (5 comments)
When I was a young man, I had a poor relationship with money. The "money blueprint" I had inherited from my parents didn't give me the skills I needed to build wealth. The only positive financial role...Read more »
Money Blueprints: What Our Parents Taught Us About Money (20 comments)
I had dinner with two friends from high school last night. We shared good wine, good food, and, especially, good conversation. Much of our discussion focused on our shared history: the things we did t...Read more »
Sometimes It’s Okay to Splurge (32 comments)
I feel as if I've been a Scrooge here lately: "don't watch Super Bowl commercials", "don't buy gadgets", "bundle up to stay warm", etc. While it's true that saving money requires sacrifices, I don't m...Read more »
The Curse of the Money-Saving Gadget (40 comments)
One of our friends has a Starbucks habit. He used to stop every morning for a venti five-shot white-chocolate mocha. Last summer he spent $300 on a fancy espresso machine. He also bought a few accesso...Read more »
Scary Story: Billed for Service I Never Received (43 comments)
While cleaning cruft at my personal site, I found this little gem from 2005. It belongs here. In the middle of December I received a bill for $5.30 from Sprint. There's nothing remarkable about t...Read more »
Procrastination Can Cost You Money! (26 comments)
As I was driving home from work yesterday, I passed a police officer. When his car pulled onto the road behind me, I thought nothing of it: my vehicle is in good repair and I was obeying the traffic l...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Cheap Neighborhood Entertainment (10 comments)
When we still lived in a small town, my wife and I would sometimes walk the half-mile to the high school to catch the latest drama production, or to hear an orchestra concert. These performances were ...Read more »
I Do Not Use Credit Cards (73 comments)
I don't like credit cards. Many smart people — including my wife — use them wisely and never have problems. I'm not one of those people. Most of my money woes stem from credit card debt ac...Read more »
How a Wellness Coach Whipped Me Into Shape (41 comments)
Three months ago I wrote about the high cost of being fat. I had spent $4500 over four years because of my weight. The problem wasn't just costing me money — it had caused sleep apnea, a torn AC...Read more »
I Make $6.50 an Hour — Am I Poor? (40 comments)
Karen Datko at MSN Money writes that she had "a comfortable life with decent pay and health insurance". Now she finds herself in survival mode. She wonders: "I make $6.50 an hour. Am I poor?" I los...Read more »
The Cost of Customer Loyalty (21 comments)
For the past few months, I've made a point to buy gas at a nearby Chevron station because they gave me a customer loyalty card. After I fill up my tank ten times, I'll receive a free "gold" car wash (...Read more »
Book Review: Quarterlife Crisis (13 comments)
When I recently mentioned my interest in the book Quarterlife Crisis, GRS-reader Laura volunteered to review it. She didn't find it as useful as she had hoped. I've just finished Quarterlife Crisis...Read more »
2006 Discretionary Spending: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (34 comments)
I write a lot about personal finance, but how well do I practice what I preach? For the most part, I follow my own advice. Much of what I write here is based on personal experience. But my financial l...Read more »
Personal Finance Puzzlers: The Check is in the Mail (14 comments)
On Saturday, November 4th, I mailed my monthly home equity payment. I know I mailed the payment because that was the day I took my car in to have it serviced. I walked from the shop to the post office...Read more »
The Dangers of the Payday Loan Trap (20 comments)
Need quick cash? Don't use payday loans, advises guest writer Marc Hedlund. Payday loans offer a quick path to debt. The New York Times published an article last week about the growth of "payday lo...Read more »
Want to Save Money? Just Ask! (8 comments)
Wrapping up "ask for it" day, 2 Pennies Earned suggests that if you want to save money, you should just ask! In the last two years, I've been given two weeks' free rent, received several hundred do...Read more »
Reader Story: Ask to Save! (2 comments)
Jac recently wrote to share a success story — he managed to get a bank to drop some fees simply by asking! I'm currently on a six month exchange in France. I opened a new account with Westpac...Read more »
Reduction Quest: How to Save at the Money Game (9 comments)
Darin has made a game out of saving money. Twice a year he sits down with his bills and tries to see how much he can save. Here's his story. Each year between Christmas and New Years Day, I sit dow...Read more »
The Night That Mama Cried While Angels Sang (1 comment)
Here's a guest-post from my cousin, Mrs. Darling. She previously shared information on how to raise a family on one income (part two). This story is set ten years after my aunt's six-dollar Christmas ...Read more »
You’re Never Too Young to Save (18 comments)
I went to the credit union today to deposit my Christmas bonus. I waited my turn behind a boy who was about four years old. In one hand he held a wad of cash, and in the other he held his account info...Read more »
How One College Student Handles Credit Cards (25 comments)
I've been blown away by your responses to the new Ask the Readers feature, especially to yesterday's question about what do do if you have no credit history. Here's a story Derek e-mailed me about his...Read more »
Jump-Start Your Life With a Financial Plan (33 comments)
I've recently exchanged e-mail with Wesley, a reader who has exercised self-discipline to become debt free while still in his twenties. He's even paid off his mortgage. Here's how he did it. I’...Read more »
Warning: Identity Theft Doesn’t Stop During the Holidays (5 comments)
Randy at Parable of the Talents warns that identity theft doesn't stop during the holidays. In fact, it's likely that crooks are more active than ever! I recently received an email that I thought w...Read more »
The Light at the End of the Tunnel (38 comments)
It's an odd feeling to be accumulating money for the first time in my life. When I was young, my family didn't have much money. Any money I earned, I spent. This was a learned behavior. I was imita...Read more »
What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? (47 comments)
How can you know what you want Till you get what you want And you see if you like it? — Steven Sondheim, Into the Woods We had some good friends over for dinner the other night. While ...Read more »
Cheap Clothing Jackpot (9 comments)
Last month I wrote about saving money by shopping for second-hand clothes. Today, in a nearby business park, our neighborhood used-clothing shop had a warehouse sale. Everything was a buck (except coa...Read more »
Nintendo Wii: A Study in Planned Saving (12 comments)
Last May, we held our annual garage sale on the same weekend that the Nintendo Wii was revealed. As I sat in my driveway, selling old stuff, I followed online coverage of the Wii on my laptop. I wante...Read more »
What are Your Experiences with Internet Banking? (71 comments)
Based on reader feedback, this post has been substantially revised from its original form. What makes a bank good? Some people want great deals. Some want great service. Some want convenience. Many...Read more »
Reader Survey: How Do You Cope with a Limited Income? (42 comments)
Most of us have been there at one time or another: stuck at minimum wage, hog-tied by a fixed income, or working a crap job fresh out of school. Some find themselves living in a city where the cost of...Read more »
You, Inc.: How to Be the CFO of Your Own Life (19 comments)
Many people could improve their personal finances if they simply viewed themselves as a business. In this guest entry, Flexo from Consumerism Commentary explains how he's become the Chief Financial Of...Read more »
Track Your Spending with a Cash Notebook (24 comments)
I had dinner with my friend TJ tonight. He paid for his meal with cash. After we'd settled the check, he pulled out a small spiral notebook and jotted down some numbers. "What's that?" I asked. ...Read more »
Reader Story: Two Approaches to Car-Buying (11 comments)
Earlier I posted a link to a story that indicates that new cars are more affordable than they have been since 1980. This prompted a couple of you to e-mail me your car stories. An anonymous reader wro...Read more »
Follow-Up: Buying a Part at the Junkyard (7 comments)
Several weeks ago I shared Matildaben's question about junkyards. Should I get a car part at a junkyard/salvage yard/auto recycler, and how do I go about it? I need a side mirror assembly for a 19...Read more »
Remodeling a Home, part two: A Leak in the Attic (10 comments)
This is the second in a series describing our adventures remodeling a one-hundred-year-old home. Last week I shared our experiences with a nightmare insulation contractor. This week, we learn that the...Read more »
You Can Learn a Lot From a Rich Girl (8 comments)
A reader pointed me to at post a Violent Acres. "You Can Learn a Lot From a Rich Girl" [profanity] is a cautionary tale of how anyone — even the wealthy — can find themselves struggling wi...Read more »
Money Interviews: Imagination Movers, part three (1 comment)
This is the third part of an interview with Scott Durbin, one member of Imagination Movers, a rock band for kids. Durbin is taking an entrepreneurial leap, leaving behind a safe job to pursue a dream....Read more »
Personal Finance Breakdown: New iPod (24 comments)
Personal finance is a journey. Each of us makes wrong turns along the way. Nobody's perfect. We all have weaknesses — one of mine happens to be technology. Yesterday I succumbed to a long-term u...Read more »
Remodeling a Home, part one: Little Surprises (22 comments)
Luneray's home-buying adventure is over, but I'd like to continue to share home-ownership stories every Thursday. Fortunately, I've got some doozies of my own to share. For the next few weeks, I'll de...Read more »
Reader Story: Broken Window, Stolen Goods (42 comments)
This is a guest entry from Israel Lopez. This weekend I visited a friend at San Francisco State University. On Saturday, my friend and I had lunch downtown. At about 2pm, we parked my car about 1-1...Read more »
My $300 Morning (19 comments)
Yet another reason to practice sound personal finance, and to save an emergency fund: When I went out to start my car this morning, the ignition switch would not move. It was frozen. No amount of p...Read more »
Buying a Home, part seven: First-Time Homeowners (5 comments)
This is the seventh (and final) weekly installment in Luneray's homebuying adventure. Previous entries include: Week one: Looking at houses Week two: Making an offer Week three: A lifetime of d...Read more »
Money Interviews: Imagination Movers, part two (1 comment)
A couple of weeks ago, I shared the first part of an interview with Scott Durbin. Durbin is taking an entrepreneurial leap, leaving behind a safe job to pursue a dream, starting a rock band for kids. ...Read more »
What Happens When You Try to Get Rich Quickly (31 comments)
Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, and Loral Langemeier would have you believe that in order to get rich all you need to do is throw your money into real estate, sit back, and let the profits come. It's n...Read more »
Buying a Home, part six: The Close (13 comments)
This is the sixth installment in Luneray's homebuying adventure. In the first part, she looked at houses. She made an offer in part two. Next, she meditated on coming face-to-face with a lifetime of d...Read more »
The High Cost of Being Fat (53 comments)
I am fat. I am fat, but I am not obese. I do not pause to catch my breath when climbing stairs. I do not avoid hikes or sports for fear of failure. But — no mistake — I am fat. I am far...Read more »
Reader Submission: Fritz Buys a New Car (16 comments)
Fritz wrote to share his experience buying a new car yesterday. This story illustrates a number of principles, including the ever important: "it never hurts to ask for a lower price". Last year, ...Read more »
Buying a Home, part five: Preparing to Close (3 comments)
This is the fifth installment in Luneray's homebuying adventure. In the first part, she looked at houses. She made an offer in part two. Next, she meditated on coming face-to-face with a lifetime of d...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: The Library Book Sale (23 comments)
Hi. My name is J.D., and I'm a biblioholic. I gather and hoard books. I have shelves full of them. I have boxes full of them. One of the high points of my life was the day I saw the marquee in fro...Read more »
O, Cruel Fate, Why Do You Mock Me? (17 comments)
In a twisted irony, the CD drive on my PowerBook just choked. The machine is two years old. I don't have an extended warranty. Some sort of gasket inside the slot-loading drive seems to have come ...Read more »
Money Interviews: Imagination Movers, part one (2 comments)
This is the first of a planned series in which I interview friends and family about their attitudes toward money. Most of these will be anonymized (and much shorter). Some will not. This first intervi...Read more »
No One Ever Went Broke Taking a Profit (11 comments)
If you are interested, and can afford it, you might consider setting aside some personal "investment fun money". This is money with which you allow yourself to invest outside the standard "buy-and-hol...Read more »
I Was a Grade-School Entrepreneur (4 comments)
My father was an entrepreneur. He was always starting businesses. Most failed. Some succeeded in a wild fashion. (The inheritance he left the family is in the form of his most successful business, the...Read more »
Buying a Home, part three: Dealing with Debt (21 comments)
This is the third installment in Luneray's homebuying adventure. In the first part, she looked at houses. Last week she made an offer. In today's third part, she discusses coming face-to-face with a l...Read more »
How Not to Be Frugal: Too Many Magazine Subscriptions (26 comments)
Sometimes a great deal isn't. Because I have a small computer consulting business, I've been placed on a mailing list for "corporate rate" magazine subscriptions. Corporate rate subscriptions are unbe...Read more »
Buying a Home, part two: Making the Offer (4 comments)
Last Thursday I shared the first of Luneray's posts on buying a house. In today's second part, she talks about the psychological impact of agreeing to an enormous loan. We looked at more houses tod...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Neighborhood Exchange (2 comments)
Sometimes you can save money just by sharing among your neighbors. Our neighbor Tom brought over a wheelbarrow of stuff for us last night. For me, he had a box of old photography books and magazine...Read more »
The Worst Job I Ever Had (70 comments)
Your job is one of your most important assets. It gives you earning power. It can bring you personal fulfillment. But what happens when you're stuck in a job you hate? Here's the true story of the wor...Read more »
Buying a Home, part one: Looking at Houses (19 comments)
GRS-reader Luneray is in the process of buying her first home. I've been following her weblog with interest, as I well-remember the stress from the two times my wife and I purchased a house. Here, wit...Read more »
On Meeting and Resisting Temptation (12 comments)
A friend called this morning. "There's a garage sale near me where a guy is selling old comic books. They're from the seventies. You might want to come take a look." I did want to take a look, thou...Read more »
Survey: What Does Money Mean to You? (44 comments)
Get Rich Slowly is the final entrant in JLP's Question-of-the-Day Marathon. There have been many thought-provoking questions over the past month; I hope you've had a chance to contribute at some of th...Read more »
Money and Values: Voting With Dollars (12 comments)
My high-school history teacher refused to buy bananas. We thought he was crazy, but he didn't care. "You don't understand the conditions bananas are picked under," he told us. "Those people are like s...Read more »
You Don’t Have to Explain the Math to *Me*! (2 comments)
The Woodstock Writers Guild met last night. We meet one Wednesday a month at the local pub. The food isn't very good, but my fellow writers find it difficult to resist $2.50 pints. They quaff cheap be...Read more »
An Entrepreneurial Leap of Faith (18 comments)
My friend Sparky called last night. "I'm thinking of starting my own business," he said. "I need some advice." I wondered why he wanted my advice until I realized that: I help run a million-do...Read more »
Raising a Family on One Income (Part Two) (23 comments)
This is a guest post from my cousin, Mrs. Darling. It originally appeared on her site in a slightly different form. The examples I give for living successfully on one income are real ways in which ...Read more »
Raising a Family on One Income (Part One) (91 comments)
This is a guest post from my cousin, Mrs. Darling. It originally appeared on her site in a slightly different form. I'm going to tell you just a bit about how to live on one income, but before doin...Read more »
Frugal Tendencies on Vacation, Day One (21 comments)
I'm in San Francisco. This is the first vacation I've taken since developing a frugal mindset. It's tough for me to let loose. My pennypinching ways are causing me pain. For example, we drove to Sa...Read more »
How to Give Yourself a Raise (7 comments)
This is a guest post from Stephen A. Smith. My fiancée, Kerrie, has a good job. She works for Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Book Group), where she gets three weeks of paid vacation eve...Read more »
Programmable Thermostats: A Three-Month Review (17 comments)
How much can a programmable thermostat save you? A lot, says Adam Gurno. His is the first guest-post while I'm on vacation Due to the rising cost of, well, everything, my wife and I decided to make...Read more »
Use Purpose-Driven Investing to Achieve Your Goals (16 comments)
Do you save for one thing at a time? Or do you pursue several goals at once? If you're like me, you work toward several financial goals simultaneously, but you keep most of your money clumped in one a...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Building a Cheap Personal Finance Library (14 comments)
My wife and I went thrift-store shopping last weekend. She was looking for shoes. I was looking for personal finance books. I found several: The Millionaire Next Door ($3.99) The Only Investment...Read more »
Extreme Personal Finance: How to Pay Off Your Mortgage in Three Years (31 comments)
Most people who accelerate their mortgage make one extra payment a year. Maybe two. Or they refinance a thirty-year mortgage at fifteen years. Yahoo! Canada has a story of one couple who paid off thei...Read more »
My Cheap Uncle Norman (2 comments)
My cousin Nick remembers: My dad was so cheap that he once drilled a hole in a nickel so that he wouldn't have to pay eight cents for a washer. My first memory of gas prices is driving home fr...Read more »
Pop Buys Pop (a GRS re-run) (0 comment)
I need to take a break. Here's one of my favorite tales of penny pinching, which I shared a couple months ago. It was written by my aunt. My husband likes quantity and sales. For example, we j...Read more »
Lattes, iPods, and Masterworks: New Ways to Look at Money (6 comments)
My brother is selling his house. To get it ready for market, his family has been packing stuff in boxes. When it came time to pack his wife's shoes, the kids were amazed. She had sixty pairs of shoes....Read more »
Our First Lesson in the Costs of Homeownership (1 comment)
This is a true story. My wife and I bought our first house in June of 1993. It was a nice ranch-style house in my home-town. The seller had prepped it for market by keeping the lawn a gorgeous emer...Read more »
Sometimes Free is Expensive: A Cautionary Tale (5 comments)
A couple of weeks ago I extolled the virtues of free stuff. In the comments, AB warned: There’s no such thing as "free" stuff. You still have to pay to store it, not to mention fixing stuff that...Read more »
GRS Reader Success Stories (5 comments)
I love financial success stories. It's fine to read about Warren Buffett, but I get more excited when I read about people like you and me who are shaking off debt, starting businesses, or learning to ...Read more »
The Entrepreneurial Spirit, a Tribute to My Father (14 comments)
My father was an entrepreneur. He was always starting businesses. He was always selling things. When I was very young he operated Steve's Lawnmowing Service. He also sold World's Finest Chocol...Read more »
Tricks for Tracking Your Money? (13 comments)
We all know that we should track our spending, but not everyone actually does. How does one develop this discipline? One AskMetafilter user pleads: Do you have any tricks to ensure that you track...Read more »
Ask For What You Want (0 comment)
Ramit at I Will Teach You to Be Rich writes about a friend who saved on ATM fees just by asking: I was just talking to my friend, who recently moved to New York [...]: She'll be there for a few m...Read more »
Is It Possible to Be a Frugal Collector? (14 comments)
I collect comic books. I always have. As an affluent adult, I've gone from collecting the comic books themselves to collecting large volumes that compile six, ten, fifteen issues at a time. But these ...Read more »
A Real Fighting Chance (17 comments)
Yesterday I mentioned Fighting Chance, a service designed to help consumers get the best price on a new car. Here's one reader's first-hand experience using their techniques. VinTek writes: (more....Read more »
Penny Pinchers: I Want My Four Dollars (13 comments)
A new Barnes and Noble bookseller recently opened near us. To promote the store, they mailed out ten-percent-off coupons. I dragged Kris with me last Saturday, and spent half an hour learning the layo...Read more »
My Frugal Life (1 comment)
Dawn at Frugal for Life has posted a collection of links to stories of frugality. ThriftyFun recently ran (and is still running) a series called My Frugal Life. It is a nice assortment of different...Read more »
Penny Pinchers: Pop Buys Pop (2 comments)
Here's a tale of Extreme Frugality from my aunt. This is a true story. It's long, but very funny, and a great example of a real-life penny pincher. (more...)...Read more »
Organic Produce: Price vs. Ethics (8 comments)
I was discussing Michael Pollan's new book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, with some friends over dinner the other night. It was a conversation filled with frugal themes — we had just been talking abou...Read more »
The True Cost of Car Ownership (40 comments)
The American Automobile Association (AAA) says that, on average, it costs 52.2 cents to drive one mile. To drive a Ford Focus like mine 20,000 miles per year, the average cost is 37.6 cents per mile. ...Read more »
Couples and Their Cash (0 comment)
What do couples fight about more than anything else? Sex. But what's a close second? Money. USA Today is running a seven-week series of articles about relationships and finances. Each week the pape...Read more »
Penny Pinchers: More Frugal Than You (0 comment)
"That's a nice shirt," José said to me today. José is my shop foreman. "You like it?" I asked. "I got it cheap!" "I've got one just like it," he said. "Same color. Same brand. Same...Read more »
Pep Talk: Pay Yourself First (7 comments)
All the money books tell you to do it. All the personal finance blogs say it, too. Even your dad has given you the same advice: Save ten percent of everything you earn. But it's hard. That money...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Using the Public Library (19 comments)
Most of us have financial blindspots. One of mine is books. I love books. I have a large library that grows larger all the time. When I first embarked upon my quest for frugality, I began tracking ...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Shaking That New Car Itch (19 comments)
I want a new car. An Audi. Or a BMW. I've got that New Car Itch. I've never been a fan of my Ford Focus. I like the leather seats, it's true, and I know it's relatively safe, but the car just doesn...Read more »
Auto Insurance Tip: Monthly Sucks (4 comments)
While doing my finances last weekend, I realized that my monthly auto insurance check hadn't cleared. I have a frugal friend who works with the local agency, so I dropped her an e-mail to ask what I s...Read more »
Playing the Stock Market: Don’t Second-Guess Yourself (0 comment)
Earlier this year I decided I had enough extra income to to begin making regular investments. Since January, I've invested $400 in a Sharebuilder IRA plan. This move was inspired by David Bach's Autom...Read more »
From Bank to Credit Union (13 comments)
I was an account-holder with US Bank for eighteen years. I paid an $8 "service charge" every month, as well as many other fees. Worst of all, I had to put up with truly awful customer service. Many pe...Read more »
Money Changes Everything (2 comments)
Yesterday's New York Times style section featured an article by Jennie Yabroff entitled Money Changes Everything (NYT registration may be required). If, as Samuel Butler said, friendships are like ...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: The Lunch Special (4 comments)
While practicing frugal habits, it's easy to become absorbed in a life of self-denial: "I will not buy this shirt. I will wait for this film to come to DVD. I will not eat at the steak house tonight."...Read more »
The Science Fiction of Coupons? (6 comments)
Nick over at Punny Money decries what he terms the science fiction of coupons: I acknowledge that coupons exist (much like groundhogs, oak trees, and faeries exist), but I don’t believe that usin...Read more »
Best Decisions vs. Financially Smart Decisions (0 comment)
Ramit at I Will Teach You to Be Rich has a fine post about how sometimes the Best Decisions are not the Financially Smart Decisions. The financially smart decision isn't always the right one. When ...Read more »
Frugality in Practice: Back Porch Furniture (1 comment)
This is the first in a series of practical examples of how people put frugal notions to use in real-life. I often claim that the back porch is "my favorite room in the house". It's true. This i...Read more »

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