personal finance

Execution, Not Ideas, is Key. Duh!

Do you have many ideas but you've never put them into action? Admit it, you are lazy, and you lack the talent of initiation.

I Am Doing Well Financially. Now What?

Eventually, there comes a point in time when you can actually afford a few niceties in life. How will you react?

Making Personal Finance Fun while Fighting for Financial Freedom

My story about how I went from broke, to saving without goals, to fighting for financial independence.

The Audacity to Waste Money for Better Finances

Sometimes, what seems like a waste of money might actually be one of the best ways you can spend your cash.

Life After Debt: What's Next?

You've worked hard, scrimped, saved and paid off all your debt. Now that you are finally debt free, what ARE you going to do?

Ask The Readers: What is Your Personal Finance "Story?" (A Chance to Win $10!)

Everyone is writing a book these days (even a few personal finance blogs we know.. *ahem*). If you could, what would you call it? What would you cover? Answer for your chance to

Ask the Readers: Who is Your Online Personal Finance/Frugality Hero? (A Chance to Win $10!)

Is there an online blogger, columnist, or personality who has really inspired you to take charge of your finances? Do you secretly hope to meet a big-name PF writer some day? Is

7 Free and Low Cost Ways To Protect Your Credit

Many people have fallen victim to identity theft and credit fraud such that it's become essential for us to keep an eye on our credit. Most of the time, a fraud victim finds out a

Fresh Mint: 'Recession-proof' ideas make good business

It's rare for me to endorse any financial product or service, much less bigging-up an Internet destination that could divert traffic away from myself and wisebread.com but it's wor

How The Economic Crisis Challenges Our Financial Beliefs

As the economic crisis deepens, I'm seeing more people beginning to challenge the conventional wisdom espoused in personal finance. Given how financially difficult things have bec

The Gettin'-Baptized-in-the-Watah Epiphany

In an average week, an average chunky-blooded professional American could easily spend up to $140 on a combination of drinks that come with meals such as morning coffee, herbal tea

Johnny Says: Read This Post and Get Riyyyyyyyyyyatch

The sad truth is everybody is not going to get rich. This is why picking up the books and CDS of your favorite finance guru(s) seems like you're doing the work at getting your hous

How to check if your mortgage statement is correct

This week the Federal Trade Commission sent out around $28 million in redress checks to more than 86,000 customers of Bear Stearns and EMC Mortgage Corporation. Apparently EMC Mor

6 Ways that Dieting and Budgeting are Exactly the Same

The New Year usually brings about two very common goals for most people: Getting in shape and getting their finances under control. Dieting is the number one method of achieving t

15 Ways To Manage Risk In Your Financial Life

By managing our risks, we are better equipped with addressing unpredictable scenarios that can wreak havoc with our finances. Risk isn't a bad thing, just as long as it's controlle

Bouncing Back When There's No "Bounce" Left

We all have our ups and downs. We've all faced some pretty depressing odds and come out on top. But sometimes, it feels like you just can't get ahead, no matter how hard you try

Book review: Spend 'til The End

My wife spotted this book at the library and brought it home, suggesting (based on the title) that it might be a sort of anti-Wise Bread that I could read and mock. When I started

Why young investors should "Stay the Course" and continue to invest

With the recent upheaval in the financial markets, many individual investors are feeling the pain of shrinking investment accounts. In fact, over $2 trillion dollars have been wipe

What Makes You the Expert?

Now, more than ever, financial “experts” are crawling out of the woodwork, ready to give you advice on pinching pennies in a tight economy. While all of this concern and guidance

Dealing with Financial Drought: A Recovery Plan

You know how it goes. One minute, you have extra money sitting in the bank just waiting for you to play with it. The next, your car needs repaired, or the cat gets sick, or the roo