Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. How much should you tip? 5 people share their habits (Time). Tipping has gotten complicated—what to do with the dreaded tip screen. Here’s how to cut your cable and cell phone bills (Fast Company). Make sure you’re talking with the right person, and other […]
Archive | Spending Smart
You’ll Never Know What You Can Get Unless You Ask
I am constantly amazed at what you can get just by asking. I’ve written before about an experience we had with our van. It needed a costly repair that seemed to be due to a manufacturing defect. Just by asking, I got not just the amount of the repair reimbursed; I got more than the […]
Profitable Ideas: Acceptable Lifestyle Creep, The Case for College, and More
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. Acceptable types of lifestyle creep (Mr. Stingy). Regular readers know I don’t love the word “frugal.” As long as you’re living generously and saving/investing adequately, there’s nothing inherently wrong with doing some trading up. Choosing simplicity in a world obsessed with more (Becoming Minimalist). […]
Profitable Ideas: Money-Saving Habits, Overcoming Your Fear of Investing, and More
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. 10 little shopping habits to help you save money (No Sidebar). I especially like the sixth suggestion. Why you’re scared of investing (and how to overcome it) (Darius Foroux). To be sure, investing can bring fear. Here are some steps to help keep it […]
How Healthy Is Your Financial Environment?
We may have gotten past the global Covid-19 pandemic, but there’s another pandemic that’s been going on a lot longer — a global pandemic of obesity. In the U.S., more than 42% of adults area classified as obese. What’s to blame? In part, it’s our “food environment,” according to Andy Bellatti, cofounder of Dieticians for […]
Profitable Ideas: Money Regrets, The Comparison Game, and More
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. 80% of Americans say they have financial regrets—here are the most common ones (Money). Learning from other people’s mistakes can yield priceless lessons. Teen’s financial literacy bus teaches kids about money (Good Morning America). Very cool that he’s not just putting the lessons to […]
Profitable Ideas: Fight Fair About Money, Social Media and the End of Childhood, and More
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. Does your child need to file a tax return this year? (Kiplinger). The rules are somewhat complicated (big surprise there, right?). Another reason to file is if they had earned income and contributed to an IRA (preferably a Roth IRA!). A helpful guide to […]
Life’s Biggest Financial Decisions — The Early Years
We make lots of financial decisions every day. However, over the course of our lives, there’s a small handful of decisions that really matter. How well we navigate them will make an especially big difference in whether we struggle with money or live with financial freedom and joy. As I describe the decisions, please keep […]
Profitable Ideas: Why We Buy, Virtual Credit Cards, and More
Weekly list of curated personal finance articles from around the web. Why we buy: the role of comparison in our spending choices (Becoming Minimalist). “Social indifference” is a good goal — actively not caring how other people are spending money (I didn’t say it would be easy!). Virtual credit cards: what are they and should […]
Radical Ways to Accomplish Your Financial Goals
One of the most common questions I get in workshops is, “Where can I possibly find the money to…” save, give, get out of debt, or simply make ends meet? The answer is often found in questioning our spending assumptions. I recently worked with two couples and recommended that they go from two-car households to […]