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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 15)

Hobbies and Hustles

Published Friday, May 24, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

I recently read this great little article by Molly Conway entitled The Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles. In it, she makes the astute point that when you attempt to start earning money from something that’s a hobby, it ceases to be a hobby any more – rather, it starts to seem like work: I have a friend who is living her dream. […]

Who’s In Control of Your Life?

Published Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

Let me tell you three stories. The first comes from my own life, while the other two are things that I’ve observed recently. * * * For my own tale, let’s roll back several years. At that time, I worked as a research assistant focusing on data mining. […]

Why Spending Less Doesn’t Reduce Your Quality of Living

Published Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

One of the biggest mental obstacles that most people face when it comes to turning around their financial life is the perception that if they cut into their spending, they’re going to reduce their quality of life. Typically, a person’s mind flashes to the non-essential things that they care about most. So, for me, when you talk about cutting spending, I imagine cutting into my hobby spending. […]

Is Loan Protection Insurance Worth the Cost?

Published Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 08:00 by The Simple Dollar

When signing on for a loan, whether it’s a mortgage for a new home or a personal loan to consolidate credit card balances, you’re often offered insurance that promises to make the debt payments should anything happen to you. At first blush this sounds like a great idea, right? After all, such insurance is designed to step in and cover monthly loan payments and protect you from default in the event […]

Clearlane Auto Refinance Review

Published Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 13:44 by The Simple Dollar

Clearlane, an online auto lending platform that’s powered by Ally Bank, offers auto loan refinancing and lease buyout options for borrowers with nearly any type of credit score. They do so by utilizing a nationwide finance network and offering fast and easy online quotes. […]

The Seven Factors: Behaviors That Lead to Wealth

Published Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

In the book The Millionaire Next Door, the authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko surveyed more than a thousand households that had accumulated more than a million dollars in net worth, looking for traits among them that were decidedly different than the mainstream population. […]

Don’t Make These Seven Car Insurance Mistakes

Published Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 09:17 by The Simple Dollar

When it comes to shopping wisely for a car insurance policy, perhaps the number one rule to keep in mind is the age-old adage about not being a penny wise and a pound foolish. Cliched as that expression may be, buying too little coverage is one of the consumer mistakes most frequently cited by insurance professionals. Unfortunately, it’s just one of the many things consumers do wrong when shopping […]

Questions About Child Rearing Costs, Laundry Services, Unused Media, Aldi, and More!

Published Monday, May 20, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. $250K to raise a kid? 2. Long term care? 3. $20 bill budgeting 4. Expense of laundry service 5. Backlog of unused media 6. 403(b) risky? 7. Cheap or expensive bag? 8. Thoughts on Aldi 9. […]

Some Further Thoughts on the One-Bag Challenge

Published Saturday, May 18, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

Jeremy writes in: My group of friends has been kicking around an idea and I wanted to get your take on it. Let’s say you had to live out of a suitcase or a big duffel bag permanently. That’s all the possessions you could own. What would be in that bag and why? I actually wrote about this a few years ago when I discussed a month-long period where I did this as a 30-day challenge. […]

Is a Gap Year Better Financially Than Going Straight to College?

Published Friday, May 17, 2019 - 10:00 by The Simple Dollar

Nathan writes in: I am entering my senior year in high school next fall. My parents want me to go to college in the fall right after graduation. They have some savings for me but I will have to add some student loans. I want to take a gap year or two and work full time. I would put that money aside for college and figure out what I want to do because I don’t know what I want to study. […]