spending

What Do You and a Credit Card Thief Have in Common?

I've always considered myself to be an educated credit card user. I keep my balances low, pay on time, and don't do anything that could potentially come back to haunt me.. Little

Not the sort of person who ...

Wise Bread is stuffed almost to bursting with suggestions on how to live large on a small budget. But certain suggestions trigger a particular kind of negative reaction:—w

Use only what you need

That’s the advice from a beautifully-executed campaign from Denver Water, right here in my own backyard of Colorado. The campaign (created by Sukle Advertising, a very smart, strat

The whole sorry mess in one picture

How much money is there in the economy to borrow? Well, if you don't have foreigners lending you large amounts of money, and you don't have central banks creating large amounts of

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

Should you spend your money while you can?

A new article on Slate today details a study by some economists that say people should enjoy their money while they are still healthy and young. The conclusion of their study is th

Track your spending. Or not.

One of the most universal bits of advice from financial planners is to track your spending. It's also one of the most universally rejected bits of financial advice--rejected by pe

Does your culture support saving?

My brother told me once that, when he was in college, he handled money this way: "When I got paid, I set aside enough money for cigarettes, then spent the rest buying pizza and bee

Why "Buy One Get One Free" Is Usually A Bad Deal

Recently, I read about a promotion from a home builder in San Diego where consumers could buy a 4000 square foot house for $1.6 million and get a smaller home by the developer valu

Pay attention

Is there an amount of money that's too small to concern yourself with? People make that case, usually saying something like "Life is too short to waste time counting pennies." Th

How to turn an $1800 stimulus check into $1980.

It seems the retail giants are serious in their quest to get hold of your economic stimulus check. One of the biggest, Sears, is offering to multiply your check if you spend it the

The Bailbondsman Approach: Why Some Of Us Stay Broke

The government is letting people think that it's okay to make bad choices. The Treasury is rewarding bad behavior and the consumer is learning nothing except to keep up the

Frugal Tip: Do Not Spend When You Are Sad

Have you ever paid more than you normally would for something when you are trying to cheer yourself up? A recent study showed that a group of people who were sad offered almost fo

Making Every Penny Count With A Zero-Based Budget

Feel like you're just living payday-to-payday? Having trouble figuring out where all your money goes? Then a zero-based budget just might be for you.

Raise your standard of living by focusing your spending

Are you tired of reading the same frugality suggestions? I'm talking about the repeated exhortations to eat out less, turn off your cable, and stop buying expensive coffee dri

5 Ways to Dodge Peer Pressure to Spend

How do you resist the urge to spend money when you're with less-than-frugal friends? 5 tips inside.

The Quiet Millionaire: Part 2 – Major Obstacles to Financial Success

Want to have the wealth you need to follow your dreams? Brett Wilder, Certified Financial Planner and author of The Quiet Millionaire suggests that there are 7 major obsta

Start with recurring monthly expenses

I tend to divide spending up into four categories. [more]

Money Metaphors (You wouldn't punch a kitten, would you?)

Equating my money, emotionally, with something that I find dear and worthy of protection, may force me to treat my money with the respect it deserves.

Adaptation: Lessons learned from being unemployed

Some of the lessons learned from a stint of unemployment can really change your life for the better.