This article is a guest blogger submission from Julie Ali, happy stay at home mum of two elementary school boys who really loves to write.

When I try to write about my unconventional financial thinking, I am forever being shot down. Family members have said that I was a fool for my ways. Other people, no doubt have thought we were cheap, losers or worse. But I have stopped thinking about what other people think about us. I think only about what our family thinks about our family. We think we are doing what we need to do to be self-reliant, independent and happy. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by ‘frugal’ and first published at 1stMillionAt33. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

If you have never paid the AMT or Alternative Minimum Tax, you may not be familiar with the intricacies of this ‘other’ tax system. About 2 or 3 years ago, I knew that most likely I had to pay the AMT that year. So in order to reduce my federal income tax, I did what I normally do, over-paying or pre-paying my state and property tax so that I can have more itemized deduction, hoping to reduce my federal tax and AMT. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by Andy Hough of Bank Bonuses.

With the recent rise in gas prices there have been many blog posts about ways to save on gas. I decided to test how well one of these tips would actually work.

Many posts suggested that keeping your car tuned up would help your gas mileage. Since my car needed a tune-up, I decided to see what the difference in my miles per gallon actually was.

Before the tune-up I was getting about 25.5 MPG. After the tune-up I managed 34.5 MPG, 9 more miles per gallon. That is 90 extra miles per 10 gallon fill-up. With a gas price of $3 a gallon it would have cost me $10.59 more to drive those 90 extra miles before the tune-up. The cost of the tune-up was $60 so I will more than make up for its cost in 6 fill-ups. Of course your vehicle might not need a tune-up as badly as mine needed one so your savings will vary. It is clear though that getting a tune-up when your vehicle needs one is maintenance that pays for itself.

This article is a guest blogger submission written by Chris and first published at YoungFinanceGuy. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

Growing up, it was just me and my mom and dad (well, a cat too). I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. It was just us. During my childhood, I was fortunate enough to live in a nice house, have nice things and go on several vacations with my parents. Thus, I was victim to the “Only Child” stereotype of being completely spoiled and getting whatever I wanted. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission from Julie Ali, happy stay at home mum of two elementary school boys who really loves to write.

Every time I embark on a new journey I have to remind myself to take just a small step. For example, recently, I was determined to write a novel. I went at novel writing with great enthusiasm and fervor and I was totally bored with the whole process within a couple of days and promptly abandoned the stirring embryonic saga. The novel now sits like a spent cartridge and the fired gun lies next to it. I am not a novel writer (as yet). I needed to take a small step (which was to write a few lines) and instead, I ran a marathon, got an injury and am now, sidelined. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by ‘frugal’ and first published at 1stMillionAt33. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

Have you wondered how some people get so incredibly rich? There’ss a saying: “You need money to make more money.” If you hear that from a poor person, it may sound like sour-grapes. But underlying it, there is probably a grain of truth, not well-understood by the person who says it, but a good observation nevertheless. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by Dennis of YoungMoneyBlog. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

In just over a decade, the internet has revolutionized our way of life. With nearly all information becoming digitized on the net, the bricks and mortar of yesterday are quickly becoming the dot coms of tomorrow. Your daily newspapers are viewable online, information available at your public library can be accessed through the net, communication can be done via email or through VOIP technology, and window shopping can be done in front of your computer screen. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by Jason Guthrie of the BeanCounterBlog. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

The IRS defines taxpayer burden as “time and money taxpayers spend to comply with their federal tax obligations” (i.e. the average time and expense required to complete and file a tax form). And the IRS has slowly started to realize that the taxpayer burden has become very hard to bear for many taxpayers. We’ve known this for years, but apparently the IRS has been slow to realize this. And I’m a firm believer that there are some very intelligent people out there who could simplify the tax code and the tax collection process a hundred times better than the suits in Washington. And now’s the time for those people to stand up and say something. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by ‘frugal’ and first published at 1stMillionAt33. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to his RSS feed?

Sometimes I am simply blown away by my wife’s creative saving tips when shopping. If you don’t know that merchandise at Costco is not cheap, then you don’t know nearly as much as her. My family doesn’t use the Costco executive card to get the 2% savings because we cannot justify 2% with our low amount of purchase. To break even on the additional $55 that we need to pay (from $45 to $100 for the executive card), we would need to spend at least $55 / 2% = $2750 a year. Even if we spent $2750, we would need to save an average of 1.6% on the price to justify the $45 basic membership card. [more]

This article is a guest blogger submission written by Kira, who runs Penny Foolish. If you like what you see, why not subscribe to her RSS feed?

My coworker brought in her brand new puppy for Monday and Tuesday, since temporarily there was no one at home to watch her, and I instantly had adorable-thing jealously. She was a really sweet puppy, and when she went home Monday I was quite anxious for her to return on Tuesday. Getting to play with this tiny creature instantly reignited the I Want A Dog desire which had been relatively dormant since I left for college. [more]