I went with my family to Costco this past weekend. Our typical shopping trip there is in the $100 to $200 range. I’ve been eating almonds like crazy now that my wife has taken over my meals for the month, so we needed to stock up on that and some other low-carb foods. Before we … Read more
Chances are excellent that you’ve heard of Khan Academy. If you haven’t, here’s the gist: One guy (Salman Khan) is a great tutor, and eventually gets so much business from friends and family that he starts posting YouTube videos on different topics using nothing but a screen capture program, a Bamboo tablet, and free drawing … Read more
I don’t consider myself a funny person most of the time. Once in a while, though — usually when I’m tired or otherwise stressed — I’ll get in one of those moods, and inspiration (or just lowered inhibitions) hits. I’m sure most of you can relate the need to appease your inner actor or comedian. … Read more
There’s a time to buy things, and there’s a time to sell things. The thing has outlived its usefulness, or it’s the wrong color now, or it’s no longer played with by your kids. The thing is taking up space, or taking up your mental energy, or costing you some monthly maintenance fee — or … Read more
My wife’s first historical fantasy book has seen a climb in sales over the past few months. It’s quite a blessing to see this lifelong labor of love being well-received by her friends and other readers. The income from the book is getting steady enough and large enough that it’s becoming a fairly reliable expense … Read more
Here’s an purported end-run on worrying about saving for retirement: spend some of those golden years in prison. The argument goes like this: Are you staring down the loaded barrel of ten or twenty years of old age on two months’ worth of living expenses? No family to take care of you? Well hey: If … Read more
One of my Yakezie friends Fiscal Phoenix got some advice from a financial planner about paying off debt. The choice was between paying down student loans and paying down credit cards. The credit cards had a lower average balance and a higher average interest rate than the student loans. Given these pieces of information, it … Read more
Mortgage rates continue to go lower. Crazy low: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 3.61%, and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages at 2.83%. This places the rates squarely below 4% and 3%, respectively. Seriously: How low can they go? These rock-bottom mortgage rates are happening at a time of year during which sales are most brisk: springtime. Demand for … Read more