Home › Consumerism Commentary

Consumerism Commentary

This informative group blog was honored by Kiplinger as a “must-read” blog and named as one of Yahoo!’s “Ten Money Blogs Everyone Should Read.”

Profile of Consumerism Commentary

Latest Posts from Consumerism Commentary (page 9)

Calvin December 2012 Net Worth

Published Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 11:45 by Consumerism Commentary

Naked With Cash is the year-long series on Consumerism Commentary where seven readers’ households share their financial progress on a monthly basis. I’ve partnered with financial planners who will offer some guidance along the way. Read this introduction to learn more about the series. Calvin is in his early 40s, earning a salary of $120,000 plus bonus as an IT project manager in New Jersey. […]

Subcontract the Work You Don’t Want to Do

Published Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 23:18 by Consumerism Commentary

Until he was caught by a security firm hired to investigate a suspected hacking, an employee of an unnamed company took advantage of an extreme inefficiency in the job market. He was reportedly earning a six-figure salary as a computer programmer — I suppose programmers are called developers in the parlance of our times — but not doing much of his work. That by itself isn’t very shocking. […]

A New #Cut4Bieber: Justin Bieber’s Prepaid Debit Card

Published Monday, January 14, 2013 - 13:32 by Consumerism Commentary

There’s apparently a celebrity of some sort called Justin Bieber. I don’t know much about him, but I might have heard a song of his one time. He might have been a baby only a few years ago, but today he’s following in the footsteps of some of my favorite gurus, in a love-to-hate sense, financial and pseudo-financial. […]

Anonymous S December 2012 Net Worth

Published Monday, January 14, 2013 - 12:17 by Consumerism Commentary

Naked With Cash is the year-long series on Consumerism Commentary where seven readers’ households share their financial progress on a monthly basis. I’ve partnered with financial planners who will offer some guidance along the way. Read this introduction to learn more about the series. Anonymous S is a 24-year-old engineer earning $67,000 a year plus bonus. […]

Podcast 169: Helaine Olen, Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry

Published Sunday, January 13, 2013 - 15:00 by Consumerism Commentary

The Consumerism Commentary Podcast is no longer on a regular schedule, but I plan to produce new episodes throughout the year as the opportunities arise. Today’s guest on the podcast is Helaine Olen, author of Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry. […]

Anne and Matt December 2012 Net Worth

Published Friday, January 11, 2013 - 11:18 by Consumerism Commentary

Naked With Cash is the year-long series on Consumerism Commentary where seven readers’ households share their financial progress on a monthly basis. I’ve partnered with financial planners who will offer some guidance along the way. Read this introduction to learn more about the series. The first readers to share their December 2012 net worth are Anne and Matt. […]

$1 Trillion Platinum Coin: The Next Episode of Reality TV

Published Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - 12:06 by Consumerism Commentary

Political theatrics doesn’t stop. I’ve been ignoring the latest issue for as long as possible, but this is so ridiculous I couldn’t go on ignoring it. Now that pundits have stopped talking about the fiscal cliff, the discussion has turned to the debt ceiling, the artificial limit Congress has put on spending that they have already approved. […]

Quit Your Job This Year

Published Monday, January 7, 2013 - 11:22 by Consumerism Commentary

If you’ve been thinking about leaving your job, do it this year. If you haven’t been thinking about quitting, but think you might be valued as an employee somewhere else or have something more to offer the world, start thinking about saying goodbye to your boss. Every time as an adult I left one job for another — or to work for myself — it was something I regretted not doing sooner. […]

You Can’t Control Everything About Your Money

Published Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 14:34 by Consumerism Commentary

Choices play the biggest factor in success in life, financial success or otherwise. […]

Fiscal Cliff Bill Passes: American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8)

Published Wednesday, January 2, 2013 - 11:24 by Consumerism Commentary

Late last night, the United States House of Representatives passed is designed to avoid the fiscal cliff, the bill already approved by the Senate that avoids the fiscal cliff, the automatic tax rate reversion and spending cuts agreed to last year by Congress. […]