People didn’t used to have to remember passwords. My grandfather passed in 2004, and he kept paper records his entire life. He may have had a few passwords and the like he had to remember, but not many. Now, with much of our activity online, almost everything we need to access has a password. And … Read more
There’s never a good time to lose a wallet or a purse. Here are the steps we went through when we had a lost wallet to deal with … “I lost my wallet.” Not the worst words to hear over the phone on a Friday afternoon, of course, but certainly not the best, either. Almost … Read more
Procrastination kills. Also, procrastination costs. Here are ten ways that procrastination can cost you … Being disorganized can cost you money. Being fat can also cost you money. (A lot of money!) Now for more bad news: Procrastination can cost you money! Here are ten different, exciting ways that waiting until the last minute can … Read more
I love loyalty programs. But I don’t love this about them, and it has cost me plenty … I admit it. I’m a sucker for loyalty programs, especially if they don’t cost anything to join. (Most don’t.) It’s not exactly free, of course. You’re giving personal information and thereby giving them a name and face … Read more
I suspected my pile of computer books wasn’t worth too much, but it was worse than I thought … Have you ever been concerned that you could turn into a hoarder? This concern crosses my mind more often than I care to admit. It usually crops up when I have to tear my office apart to … Read more
Free Money Finance was one of the first personal finance blogs I commented on. This was in 2005, so nearly … TEN years ago?! Yikes. FMF is very successful, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him in real life. I can attribute what I know of his success to a number of things, and … Read more
Software as a product is a strangely complex beast. Freeware, commercial software, open-source, closed source, crippleware, nagware, bloatware, software as a service, tiered usage, service contracts, upgrades — software comes in all kinds of flavors and reasons for disdain. And as someone who lived during the rise of Microsoft, we sure loved to hate Bill … Read more
“Free” is one of my favorite four-letter words. There’s almost no other more powerful marketing word. (Except perhaps “you” because people love to have people pay attention to them.) Sadly, free isn’t free. Everything has a cost. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s so very easy to be lured into doing someone … Read more