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The Simple Dollar

Simple, applicable personal finance advice for the modern world.

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Latest Posts from The Simple Dollar (page 269)

Is Overmaintenance Costing You?

Published Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

Whenever I write a post and mention oil changes, I always encourage people to check the manual of their automobile to find out how often they should change their oil? Why? […]

Business Card Doodles

Published Monday, September 21, 2009 - 16:00 by The Simple Dollar

Perhaps the most well-known post in the history of The Simple Dollar is Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance on the Back of Five Business Cards. That article was borne out of my attempt to summarize my views on personal finance down to five small illustrations – and it was a big hit. Whenever I go to meetings, I tend to wind up with lots of business cards. […]

Reader Mailbag #81

Published Monday, September 21, 2009 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

Each Monday, The Simple Dollar opens up the reader mailbags and answers ten to twenty simple questions offered up by the readers on personal finance topics and many other things. Got a question? Ask it in the comments. […]

Review: The Element

Published Sunday, September 20, 2009 - 16:00 by The Simple Dollar

Every other Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity, personal growth, career, or entrepreneurship book. The brightly-colored cover of this book caught my attention on the “New Releases” shelf at the library. I picked it up and read a bit of the first chapter – a story about a girl left alone in a room and watched by her mother. […]

Thoughts on Abandoning the Paper Towel

Published Sunday, September 20, 2009 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

We have little kids. Kids are messy. Our daughter spills milk or juice on almost a nightly basis. Our son, who’s a bit older, doesn’t make messes as often, but when he does, they tend to be even more disastrous, such as a full jar of salsa knocked off the counter and shattered all over the floor. For years, our solution to this problem has been a big roll of paper towels. […]

The Simple Dollar Time Machine: September 19, 2009

Published Saturday, September 19, 2009 - 16:00 by The Simple Dollar

Many newer readers of The Simple Dollar haven’t been exposed to the hundreds of great articles in the archives of the site, so this is a weekly series that highlights the five best posts from one year ago this week, as well as the five best posts from two years ago this week. […]

Never Eat Alone: Share Your Passions

Published Saturday, September 19, 2009 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

This is the sixth of sixteen parts of a “book club” reading and discussion of Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz’s Never Eat Alone, where this book on building a lifelong community of colleagues, contacts, friends, and mentors is teased apart and looked at in detail. […]

Nostalgia

Published Friday, September 18, 2009 - 16:00 by The Simple Dollar

When I was a teenager, I spent several summers helping my father with his small-scale commercial fishing business. Early in the morning, just as the sun was creeping over the horizon, we’d push a boat out on the water, heading out to raise the lines we’d put out the night before. The water was still and brightly colored with the reflection of the dawn. […]

Rule #14: Give Without Strings or Regrets.

Published Friday, September 18, 2009 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

A reader asked me if I could break down my ideas into a handful of principles. After some careful thought, I came up with a list of fourteen basic “rules” that summarize my money and life philosophy. I’ll be presenting these as a weekly series. Charity – in fact, giving of any kind – is often hard to explain in a general sense. Many people fail to see the purpose of giving. […]

The Sleeping Fox Catches No Poultry

Published Thursday, September 17, 2009 - 16:00 by The Simple Dollar

I love reading essays, and I have a collection of essays that have truly inspired me and made me think. Among these is Benjamin Franklin’s classic The Way to Wealth – something I often read when I need a piece of financial inspiration. If the circa-1750 language is rough on your eyes, here are the principles summarized well by Art of Manliness. […]