I mentioned my little brother earlier because he was taught his son that two pairs of shoes equals one iPod. (Remember that they're moving, and his wife is packing sixty pairs of shoes.) He just called to chat. I told him I was busy, but he offered me another story and gave me permission to print it.

His wife used to work at Nordstrom. While there she took advantage of the employee discount. A lot. In fact, she spent over $10,000 on clothes during that period. (Meaning $20,000 retail price, I think.)

Even when the family didn't have any money, she'd come home with clothes. My brother would call her on it, but she'd deny that they clothes were new. "Come on," he'd say. "I know what's in your closet." One day he complained to her about the new clothes she was wearing, and she claimed they were old, when he pointed out that there was a price tag still dangling from whatever it was she was wearing.

During late autumn and most of the winter, I live in another world. I join millions of others lost in Azeroth, the fictional universe for the computer game World of Warcraft. Believe it or not, one of the best lessons I've ever learned about money came from playing the game.

I was frustrated at never having enough gold to purchase the equipment I wanted, so on a whim I began to buy and sell goods at the in-game auction house. I was shocked at how much money I made. Normal gameplay might yield a few gold pieces per week, but I was able to make twenty or forty a week through arbitrage. And my character was fairly young! Over the course of a couple months, I was able to earn about 350 gold pieces, which is an amazing amount for a mid-level character.

And then I learned another lesson about researching investments when I spend all that money on a weapon of little value and a mad race to max out my Enchanting skills.

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. "How much did these cost?" my brother wondered. "Only about $75 each," his wife told him.

Their kids are still a little young to understand money, so my brother tried to translate this for his oldest son. The kid had just spent a couple weeks working, for which his grandfather paid him $20 per day. He saved his money and at the end of the two weeks, he bought an iPod. (Though what a seven-year-old kids wants with an iPod, I'll never know...)

"One way to look at it," my brother told him, "is that for every two pairs of shoes, you could have an iPod."

My friend Lynn works for a major U.S. insurance company. I recently asked her for tips to help people save money on auto insurance. I expected maybe a few quick ideas, but she went above-and-beyond with the following detailed list. If you own a car, you should read these tips. For readability's sake, I haven't blockquoted this, but it's all Lynn.

Note that every insurance company is different — not all of these ideas work everywhere. The first thing you can do to save money on auto insurance is to self-insure as much as you can afford. Do this in the following ways:

• High deductibles. Everyone preaches this, yes, but it's usually the easiest way to cut costs. Usually. (If your car is over ten years old, the savings may be minimal.)
• Remove towing. Good maintenance and planning can save you money. Don't run out of gas. Don't lock your keys in your car. Make sure you have a spare and know how to change it. Sometimes your car will break down, but if your car is well-maintained, it won't happen often. You pay $10 - $30 a year over the life of your policy and one tow costs $100. Note that in the event of an accident, towing is almost always covered under collision.
• Remove car rental. Small economy cars cost about $20 - $25 per day to rent. Car rental is $20 - $40 per year. Play the odds. If you rent a car on vacation, your insurance will cover you while driving that car. Don't pay for the extra coverage. The only things it offers are:
  1. Zero deductibles. You go all year long with your deductibles, why change now? Also, if you pay for the car with a credit card, they may pay for any out of pocket in the even of an accident.
  2. Downtime coverage. Downtime means that while the rental car you wrecked is in the shop being repaired, it can't be rented out to other customers and they can ding you for the daily fee. This may be an issue if they can show that all other cars were rented out and they lost money because of you — Hawaii is notorious for charging this. But, again, it's a risk you might decide to self insure rather than pay $21 a day for the insurance.

Aside from self-insuring, there are other steps you can take to save on car insurance.

My wife — the NPR addict — pointed me to a Marketplace commentary by
Amelia Tyagi. Tyagi says not to focus on small expenses, but to focus on big expenses. You can listen to the piece in RealAudio format from the NPR website, or read this transcript:

Clip those coupons. Shift to that cheap, scratchy toilet paper. And whatever you do, don't buy any more lattes at Starbucks.

You've heard it before. Some famous financial advisor, shaking his finger and telling you how all you have to do is save $5 a week and all your financial problems will disappear. Before you know it, you will be debt free, investment rich, and lighting cigars with Donald Trump.

I hate dealing with bureaucratic corporations. Their customer service is a joke. Even dealing with small companies can be a challenge. But I'm slowly learning how to coax good customer service out of the companies I call. Here's a list of my favorite tips.

According to consultant Dr. Gary S. Goodman:

Customers need to take some responsibility for the quality of the service they receive. And if they want better service, they should try becoming better customers!

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 Chocolate. He carried boxes of chocolate bars with him to church, and sold them after Sunday School. I remember standing on the church lawn, waiting while Dad joked and told stories and sold candy.

Here's a tip I cannot believe I'm sharing in public.

For years I've battled dandruff. I mean I've had it bad. Recently it's reached nightmarish proportions — my scalp was like North Dakota in January.

I tried all sorts of remedies. I tried Selsun Blue. I tried Head and Shoulders. I tried Denorex. Nothing worked. I even tried not washing my hair at all. That didn't help the dandruff and just created the added grossness of greasy hair. Continue reading...

Last weekend my wife and I browsed a local farmers market. At one stall, Kris found a necklace that she loved. "Will you buy this for my birthday?" she asked. When I learned that the necklace in question had been hand-made by a 14-year-old girl, and that this was how she was raising money for college, the deal was sealed.

This young woman is making money from her hobby. She's also helping her parents to know whether they should provide financial support for college. (My guess: seeing how industrious this girl is, they'll be happy to help with what they can.)

I am a sucker for kids selling things. It's not just that I think it's cute — I also like to reinforce positive behavior. Developing the courage to sell cookies or lemonade or magazine subscriptions or jewelry is an excellent thing. It's one of the best ways to teach children the nature of money (and valuable social skills). Continue reading...

Yesterday I shared the most important money tip: to gain wealth, you must spend less than you earn. Get Rich Slowly has covered many ways to reduce the spending side of the equation. But how can a person increase the earning side?

Consider an entrepreneurial endeavor. Start a small business based around one of your hobbies. It's not difficult to earn a couple thousand dollars each year doing something you love in your free time. The key is to not let the hobby-as-business overwhelm you. Keep it fun. Don't let it become a chore.

With that in mind, here are some real-life examples of hobbies I've seen people turn into side-businesses. I know people who: