The Pareto Principle holds that, for many events, 80% of the effects can be attributed to 20% of the causes. Also known as “the 80/20 rule,” or “the law of the vital few,” the Pareto Principle has been found to apply to a surprisingly wide variety of things in everyday life.
Examples of the Pareto Principle
The [...]

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This is a guest post from Neal Frankle of Wealth Pilgrim. If you like what you see here, please consider subscribing to his RSS feed.
Have you ever wondered if it makes sense to spend big bucks on an undergraduate education? Some time ago, I read another blogger’s post explaining why college is worth the cost.
The [...]

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This is a guest post from SD Guy of StretchyDollar.com. If you like what you see here, please consider subscribing to his RSS feed.
Depending on where you live and when you planted your garden, you’ve most likely been enjoying the fruits of your labor. We’ve had a good year, though it’s been difficult to keep [...]

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By the time most of you read this, I’ll be airborne. I’m heading out for a short work-related trip, and will be renting a car at the other end. Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to book a car rental, and the rates were atrocious.
According to Kayak (my overall favorite travel site) the best [...]

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Lifestyle inflation is a huge threat to your financial well-being. Unless you’re exceptionally well-disciplined, it’s very difficult to keep your spending from increasing in lockstep with your earnings.
The primary reason for this is that gradual increases in your income/spending are, more often than not, barely perceptible from one year to the next. If you [...]

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This is a guest post from Kevin Mercadante of Out of Your Rut. Kevin is also author of Lighten Your Load, an e-book focused on reducing expenses while still maintaining a comfortable lifestyle.
At the risk accused of heresy, I’d like to open up a discussion of — for lack of a better description — frugality’s [...]

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We’re just back from an end-of-summer trip to the beach. A good time was had by all, and the kids headed back to school this morning. While on the road, I had an interesting experience with the concept of relative price evaluation, and I wanted to share a few thoughts here.
How people evaluate purchase prices
For [...]

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While I am a staunch frugalite, I am not a cheapskate! In fact, price is but one of many factors I consider when making a purchase, no matter how large or small. Like anyone else, however, I’ve made mistakes in the past that serve as continual reminders that good deals don’t always pay!
You get what [...]

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Today I just wanted to highlight an excellent comment that I recently received. In response to “Quit Shopping, Save Money,” a reader named ‘sekishin‘ said:
“When considering a purchase, picture a stranger offering you [the cash value of the purchase] or the item in question. Which is of greater value you? Which would you choose?”
This is [...]

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Up until a few months ago, if someone would have asked my wife or me to get rid of one of our cars, we would’ve just snickered and responded, “Impossible!” But then it happened… I wrecked my car.
A bit of background
From the time we met in 2003 up until seven months ago, my wife and [...]

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