One money idea I’ve been coming back to a lot recently is the “buck-an-hour” rule of thumb for entertainment. I ran across it on J Money’s site. It’s a simple rule in principle and practice: When buying entertainment, the amount of entertainment time should work out to a buck an hour, or better. My corollary … Read more
I thought I filed my 2019 business taxes on time. This week I got a belated surprise from 2020 … It’s plainly obvious that 2020 was a tough year. Things got rough in most of the US around February / March. Social distancing and gathering restrictions happened very quickly and many normal business and government … Read more
Buying discounted gift cards can be an easy way to spend a bit less. There are a number of websites that sell discounted gift cards, both physical and electronic. Depending on the retailer, the savings can be a few percent to 25% off, or more. Though buying discounted gift cards is straightforward, I do concede … Read more
Dental work gets expensive, fast. Learn from my mistakes so that you don’t become a dental cripple with ongoing expensive maintenance … (This post was originally published on August 30th, 2013, and has been updated.) At a dental checkup circa 2003, the dentist lectured me as if I were in second grade after looking at … Read more
If you have to pay down debt, you know that it can be a long, hard road. Making it a bit of a game and celebrating is a way to keep yourself going … (This post was published on November 5th, 2013, and has been updated.) After blogging in the money niche for a while, … Read more
(This article was originally published on June 28th, 2010, and has been updated.) Recently I heard someone got a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for 2.5%. That is incredibly, disgustingly low, and makes me jealous, haha. Around two-thirds of Americans are homeowners, and many of them carry mortgages for much of their adult lives, if not all … Read more
Federal Benefits Open Season time! Are you ready? Check out these tips for making the most out of your benefit as a federal employee … During the last couple of months of the year, a lot of federal employees have the opportunity to change their allocations for health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and other … Read more
Recently in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums, there was a discussion on how people control their spending. One concept was mentioned over and over: Budgeting. Sweeping semantics like “budget” vs. “spending plan” vs. “spending goal” and so forth, most of the participants saw the value of being aware of planning at some level for spending. … Read more