blogs

Can you guess what’s in the box?

Here’s a little help. It takes two people to lift and carry the box. It measures 47.2 inches in length, 35.4 inches in height and 31.5 inches in width. It's from Europe. Oh, an

Business Succession Planning Part 3: Using Disability Insurance to Protect your Business Interest

So buy now you have a shareholder's agreement in place, and it has been funded properly with Life Insurance. But what happens if an owner becomes disabled? It could mean bad new

5 Perfectly Respectable Uses for Instant Mashed Potatoes

Like most people, I can tell the difference between authentic mashed potatoes, made from fresh spuds, and the dehydrated “flakes” that come in a box. This doesn’t mean that you can

Papa Murphy’s update: nice save.

As some of you are aware, I experienced the wait of all waits at Papa Murphy’s recently. Over one hour for a phone order, which left me fuming (partly at my own politeness for not

Introducing an Amazing Suite of Web Tools for Creative People

Are you an artist at heart and love to dabble with photography and videos? Do you find that Photoshop and video editing tools are too expensive and cumbersome to use? Well, now t

Bankruptcy is a good thing

I don't mean that declaring bankruptcy is a good thing--obviously that sucks for everyone involved. But a system of bankruptcy is a good thing. It's good for creditors an

Take back St. Valentine’s Day from Hallmark and Hershey’s.

Today is St. Valentine’s Day. Delivery vans filled with flowers are passing each other on the highways; the supermarket aisles filled with pink and red cards are chock full of men

Stretching Meals for Unexpected Guests

I think I’ve lucked out — plenty of my friends live in my immediate vicinity. One even lives in the next apartment building over. This does mean, however, that people are in the ha

Mommy, Where Do Stocks Come From?

"Mommy, where do stocks come from?" I guess you could say that a stock starts with an idea or a gleam in a business owner's eye...

Doing without is often better than making do

For anything you might buy there are almost limitless choices. For purposes of argument, I'd like to group them into three categories: You can buy the best; you can buy some

“If you've got an area of excellence…rich can be arranged.”

That’s part of a quote from a great Martin Scorcese movie – The Color Of Money. Certainly not in my top 10, it has Tom Cruise in it after all, but it had some sparkling dialogue fr

Is Six Figures Really That Much?

Nowadays, six figures is still above average, but its buying power in terms of lifestyle may have eroded even more than the value of a dollar, as those of us within striking distan

Don't Have A Sven? Sandy Might Be the Next Best Thing

If you've seen AT&T's latest smartphone commerical , then you know just how handy having a &quo

Wisdom from My Favorite Frugal TV Character - Julius Rock

My favorite cheap TV character is Julius Rock from Everybody Hate Chris. Julius is a character based on Chris Rock's father and in almost every episode of the show his fruga

Making Your Own Luck is No "Secret"

It's a much older secret than "The Secret," and much truer: Most lucky people are good planners and good decision makers. To a non-planner, a broken-down car is lousy

The Key To Making Money Online? Diversification, Baby!

Most of us are familiar with the term "diversification". Its what the well-respected analysts tell us to do with our investment portfolios to insure against the ups and d

The story of a guy with Downs Syndrome, some grocery bags and an idea straight from the heart.

Something I have often heard from teachers, mentors and my own parents is the following phrase: “Be the best at what you do, whatever you do.” It’s a lesson I have tried to live up

Growing My Own Food...In My Apartment

I'm planning out a garden for this spring. I don't have any access to a yard to plant my garden in, but I have a balcony on my apartment that gets plenty of sun.

How I Grocery Shop

First, I will commit heresy by saying that I no longer write a full weekly menu.

How Haggling Taught Me About Life

I used to be afraid of bargaining. The thought of haggling over a price, or even asking for a discount, was embarrassing. Then I began visiting countries in which haggling is expec