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Security issues, competing technologies, and unproven consumer demand are some of the kinks that still need to be worked out by mobile payment platforms such as Apple Pay (shown) and Google Wallet. Photo: Apple

When I set out to write about the pros and cons of mobile payment or electronic wallet technologies, I assumed it would be a simple and interesting subject.

Interesting, yes. Simple? Not at all.

Apple Pay, Google Wallet, SoftCard, and PayPal are some of the leaders in the emerging mobile payments field. But how might these mobile wallets improve my life or shopping experiences? And why would one be preferable to another? To learn more, I interviewed a handful of experts in the technology field to get their opinions.

Self-employment offers immense flexibility, but the irregular income means you’ll need to plan ahead to get through lean times. Photo: Kate Hiscock

In 2008, I took the leap from a traditional white collar job into self-employment, mostly on the back of a small side gig I had built for myself that was mostly based around The Simple Dollar. It was a scary change, as I walked away from the stable salary and relative security of my previous job in exchange for the immense schedule flexibility that self-employment offered.

The first year or two provided a powerful learning experience. I made several mistakes along the way and if it were not for my already-frugal lifestyle and my wife’s income, it could have been really painful.

Buying a new car may seem like a no-brainer. But when you’re still making monthly payments years later, you might end up wishing you could spend that money elsewhere. Photo: Joshua Chase

Your 20s are a time of self-discovery, a time to mature and grow. Many people reach several life milestones in their 20s: graduating from college, buying their first home, getting married, or starting a family.

But if you set aside all those exciting and momentous occasions, the best thing about your 20s might be this: You still have time. You can make mistakes — lots of ‘em — and have plenty of time to recover and rebound like they never happened.

But what if you didn’t make those mistakes in the first place? Wouldn’t that be easier?

In 2005, Sarah and I had our first child. In 2007, we added another. In 2010, we added a third. Today, all of them have gone through their infant years (and their toddler years, for that matter).

The fun part about having kids in consecutive order like that is that you have the opportunity to really test out different strategies for saving money while caring for your little one. We learned several lessons from our first child, several more from our second, and we really reaped the rewards with our third child.

Here are thirty things we learned during those years about saving money without depriving our infants of the wonderful care they deserved.