August 29th, 2010

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance book or other book of interest.
One of the most interesting parts of being a popular internet writer that reviews a lot of books is that, over time, I’ve wound up on the mailing lists of various publishing companies. They send me piles of books that might be of interest without ...
August 28th, 2010
Last year, everyone proclaimed that print newspapers were dying. It turns out that fewer newspapers have gone under than some had predicted, but I don’t think anyone is announcing that newspapers ...
August 25th, 2010

When I reached my financial bottom in April 2006, one of my first responses was to simply start reading a lot about personal finance. I checked out a pile of books from the library on personal finance and tackled a lot of different suggestions from those books, along with some of my own ideas that I came up with ...
August 11th, 2010
This past weekend, I attended GenCon 2010, a gaming convention in Indianapolis, IN, with a group of several friends. I had been saving up to attend this convention for a while, and that savings consisted largely of money saved in the way I described this morning: making lots of small choices that saved money and didn’t negatively impact my ...
August 5th, 2010

With so much technology literally at the tip of our fingers, it is easy to get sucked onto the information highway and wind up blowing a budget just to keep up with the flow of traffic. We all want the latest and greatest stuff but what you don’t know (and don’t really need) is what could be hurting you in the ...
August 3rd, 2010
My four year old son thinks that the way you get a new video game is by trading for it at the used video game store.
At dinner time, they both eat exactly what their parents eat – and that’s considered normal, as opposed to making them a special kid-friendly meal that racks up the extra food dollars.
My two year old ...
July 28th, 2010

Since passing my CFP® exam, more and more of my friends are coming to me for financial advice. Sometimes they have a specific question, sometimes they want to create a plan to get out of debt, and sometimes they just want some advice on how to manage their finances going forward. No matter what they ask for, I always start ...
July 21st, 2010
It’s raining outside. My children want to go to the park.
That means it’s time to come up with an indoor solution. That means, of course, that it’s time for an elaborate blanket-and-chairs fort in the living room.
Live Within My Means? How? It’s not too hard to live within your means if you just follow one rule: ...
July 19th, 2010

Some prix fixe meals offer better bargains than others. How to decide.