Early retirement is a dream of many Americans — one that can be achieved by sacrificing early in one’s life to tuck away enough of a nest egg that the possibility of outliving one’s money is remote, or at least easily fixed. This is a good think to achieve, right? Charles Yarrow, vice president of … Read more
This article on Smart Spending tells about how Donna Freedman got an extra $3 off of five backpacks at Office Depot that were already on sale. Here it was a question of what the coupons were actually good for — Is it good on sale items? On more than one item? — and Ms. Freedman … Read more
It’s likely that there are some things about your job that bug the tar out of you. We all have days like that, including me. Work may bug you enough that you might start up a side business after hours. Once that side business gets rolling and you look at the numbers, you might begin … Read more
One of my colleagues is turning 50 on Monday. Two of her group members plastered a big "Over the Hill" sign across her door with a big 5-0 above it. She has to either duck under the sign, or take the sign down, to get into her office. She won’t be able to ignore the … Read more
I believe there’s a time and a place for giving, and receiving, harsh financial advice. For the person giving this kind of advice it may be very difficult, and it’s rarely pleasant. For the person receiving this kind of advice, it’s almost never pleasant. No one really enjoys being told that what they’ve been doing … Read more
I stopped at a couple of yard sales after doing some highway cleanup with our Lions Club. I’ve gotten a lot more careful about buying stuff at yard sales because we already are running out of room for new stuff. When I do buy (for my wife anyway) I try to get things at a … Read more
Mrs. Micah has thrown down a single-step personal finance challenge: Find one step you can take to make your financial system better or more organized. Oh man, I could take probably about a hundred steps to make my financial system better organized. There should be a lot of motivation for doing this, as being disorganized … Read more
A reader e-mailed me today with this question: Hi, I love the tips you give out, especially Restaurant.com. I’m curious though: what do the certificates say on them? I’d be giving them as gifts and wouldn’t want the person to realize I bought a $25 certificate for $4!!!! So I guess my question is, is … Read more