This is a guest post from Jessica Ward.
It happens to many of us: we design a lean, mean budget, but over time, like a worn-out rubber band, it begins to lose its pull. Sure, it’s still there and still performing its duty, but it isn’t the well-tuned machine it used to be. You might have [...]

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As I write this, I’m sitting in the living room of my childhood home. My dad has been experiencing some fairly serious age-related health issues, so I took some time off to come home and help out for a few days. Unfortunately, he’s at a point where my mom can’t care for him entirely on [...]

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Awhile back, I ran across an amazing infographic by Randall Munroe, creator of xkcd. I haven’t mentioned it until now, however, because I didn’t really have time to dig into it. But now that I have, I have to say that I’m very impressed.
This infographic (picture in miniature below) is absolutely huge, and it comes [...]

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Gourmet coffee is still one of the favorite villains of every financial expert looking for something to blame for Americans’ overspending or lack of retirement savings. Ever since David Bach introduced the concept of the Latte Factor in his bestselling book, “The Automatic Millionaire“, the public’s love of fancy coffee has become a favorite whipping [...]

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As a followup to my recent article about paying sales tax for online purchases, I wanted to highlight an interesting article from last summer that a reader named Heather pointed out in the comments section.
In short, Arizona has added a dedicated line to their state tax returns for taxpayers to reporting unpaid use taxes. This [...]

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The other day, I ran across an interesting article by Rick Ferri about how to go about investing a lump sum of cash. Should you dump it all in the market at once, or should you dollar cost average? Based on historical data, your highest expected return comes from investing it all at once.
Of course, [...]

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You’re probably working through your holiday gift list about now, and you might be realizing that your budget is going to be pretty tight. How far would you go to stretch that budget?
Questions of ethics rarely enter the shopping realm. When it comes to saving money, what’s not to like? After all, in these lean [...]

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Do you make a point of shopping locally? What about shopping local? While they might sound same, there’s an important distinction — at least in my mind. When I say “shop locally,” I’m referring to the practice of buying from stores in your community. But when I say “shop local,” I’m talking about buying from [...]

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Check this out… According to TransUnion, which is one of the big three credit bureaus, credit card delinquencies are currently at their lowest level in 17 years.
Surprised? I am. Given all the tight job market, stagnant wages, and increasing food prices (among other thing), I wouldn’t have expected it.
At the same time, however, more Americans [...]

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If you’re among the fortunate few, you not only have a job you love, but one that will earn you at least a decent living over a sustained period of time.
For all too many Americans, however, that’s a pipedream. Many of them toil away at jobs they detest, but that pay the bills. After a [...]

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