Money Tips Network

I remember way back when a trip to the grocery store only offered up a few nut butter choices. There was smooth peanut butter, crunchy peanut butter, and maybe a jar of that mixed PBJ variety…

But now there are sunflower butters, almond butters, hazelnut butters, chocolate peanut butters, cookie butters, and the list grows with each passing day. Nut butters are sort of, well, a thing these days. (Related: Peanut Butter: The Poor Man's Protein)

There have been at least two periods in my life where I lived in an extremely cheap fashion.

The first was during a period in college in which I lived in off-campus apartments with roommates. I lived off of ramen noodles and whatever was on sale at the grocery store (I lived on lots of eggs) and whatever was being given away at campus meetings. During one period, I shared a tiny two bedroom apartment with six other people for several weeks (that number changed over time, varying from three residents to seven over the course of a year). I read piles of library books and spend an absurd amount of time working (I was holding down two twenty hour a week jobs while also being a full-time student).

This article is by staff writer April Dykman.

On Monday at 8:30 a.m., I found myself at the veterinarian’s office — where, unknowingly, I would spend the next three hours.

The night before, my cat Mia threw up at least five times. In the morning, I found her wedged into a corner of the bathroom. I could tell how she felt just by looking at her.

I called the vet’s office near my house right when they opened, hoping to get her an appointment as soon as possible. I was relieved when they said they could see her in an hour.

The veterinarian wanted to run complete lab work on her and either do an x-ray, which is less expensive but provides less information, or an ultrasound, which was almost $300 but could tell them more.

What’s really necessary?

Here's an email I recently received from a reader:

In an attempt to combine Dave's (Ramsey) 15% savings solution with an early retirement I'm stuck with a dilemma.  

If I put 15% into retirement accounts, then I will not be able to touch until I am 59.5 without penalty.  And that is presuming the government doesn't change the rules in the next 28 years.  Likewise, if I don't put anything into retirement accounts and do only investment accounts, I'll have a potentially inconvenient tax burden.  So the question is, how should I divide up my investments between traditional retirement accounts and early retirement accounts?

My employer matches 75 cents on the dollar for the first 8%, so into the 401K it goes.  Take the free money.  The next 2.5% would go to Roth IRAs.  The remaining 4.5% goes into my traditional investment account.  Is that prudent?

What's your advice for him?

Maybe you received a spice rack as a wedding gift. Perhaps you found a bunch of basil and cilantro in your latest CSA basket. Or possibly you're just looking to make healthier, low-calorie foods with fuller flavors on the cheap. Cooking with herbs and spices is certainly a skill even novice home cooks should take some time to master.

Drinking isn't cheap. We all know that whether it's a quiet glass of wine at home in the evening or a full-fledged night out on the town, alcohol can cost you. But do you know the true costs? Those that go beyond just the actual price you're paying for that can of Coors or bottle of chianti? (See also: How to Make Moonshine)

Check out some of the common pitfalls associated with your drinking expenditures, as well as frugal ways to still have your wine and drink it too.

Plastic comes in handy during an emergency, and when you're building reward points or your credit history. But although credit cards can be used for just about any purchase, there are things you should never charge to your card. Sometimes, you're better off using cash or a debit card. Here are 10 things you should never put on your credit card.

Unless you have a particularly mean streak, or you're in the middle of a bid for vengeance, you never knowingly want to offend people. It's human nature to actually do the opposite, and tread carefully to avoid making someone feel bad. After all, the consequences of that can be broken friendships, lost jobs, fights, or much worse.

But that doesn't mean we aren't all guilty of using the occasional phrase that, while seems harmless enough, is actually offensive to some people. Here are 10 phrases you should rethink.

I use rebate sites for as many of my online purchases as I can.  After getting a free account, it’s only a small amount of extra work to save a few dollars — or even more than a few! — on thousands of online stores.

Mr. Rebates is one of a number of rebate sites available.  Using Mr. Rebates is simple:

• Sign up for a Mr. Rebates account, which is completely free.
• Log into Mr. Rebates before you shop online.
• If Mr. Rebates offers cash back on purchases from your favorite stores, go through the links on Mr. Rebates to get to the store instead of typing it into your browser.

It really is just about that easy to start accumulating your rebates!

How it works under the hood