One of the problems I have with writing here at brip blap tends to be the question of “what to write?” I’ve never made this a blog that covers the subjects that many personal finance blogs cover: what credit card should I get? Should I invest in an IRA or a Roth IRA? I [...] Read more »
I have a lot of tools. I have more than a normal person should, I think. My collection of tools is based on one part frugality (I can save money by (thinking) I can fix it myself), one part wastefulness (I NEED a specialty picture-hanging hook that looks JUST so) and one part optimism (I [...] Read more »
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and fill-in-the-blank greetings. It’s a nice season, whether you’re celebrating one of the major religious holidays or just enjoying time with family and friends for the sake of, well, spending time with family and friends. I was not planning on posting a Christmas post, but then I came across a [...] Read more »
One of the things I come back to again and again in my conversations with family, friends and colleagues is that there is no way to waste money on good health. Organic food can be pricey. A gym membership can be expensive compared to working out at home. Vitamins or medications can be burdensome. But [...] Read more »
If I was going to search deep within my (financial) soul I’d admit that most of my money decisions are based on fear. Fear’s a negative word, and I don’t think that in this case my decision making is always a negative process. I am often quite happy with the result. A great example has [...] Read more »
I’m sure like many people, I feel fairly overwhelmed day-to-day with all the things that need to be done. I had attempted to manage this (twice) by implementing Getting Things Done by David Allen, with initial success but little long-term progress. I’ve recently plateaued out on my second implementation and I’m again searching for [...] Read more »
My family has been gone for a few days, visiting family in New York, while I stayed here to work. It’s been an interesting experience, being alone, because I haven’t had this much time to myself in quite a while. I’ve attempted to spend my time doing productive things, although today, many of the productive [...] Read more »
For most of us, green is the color of money. But in business, going “green” means something a little different: shifting from products and services potentially harmful to the environment to using sustainable materials and/or production processes that reduce or eliminate potentially negative impact on the planet. For many businesses, however, going green is much [...] Read more »
As a personal finance blogger, I follow economics and the ebb-and-flow of the capitalist system here in America, but I often ignore small trends that have global implications simply because they seem crazy on first glance. I’m as guilty as everyone else about missing trends because I think I know better. Here’s an example: local [...] Read more »
Car insurance for teenagers can cost as much as five times more than the rates for adults. This is because of the greater driving risk involved in teenagers evidenced by greater number of accidents and higher number of serious injuries and fatalities compared to adult drivers. In order to lower actual rates and maximize your [...] Read more »
Here’s a UK perspective on selling your house quickly – it’s an interesting (and sobering) look at a serious situation. Although nobody wants it to happen, for whatever reason you may be stuck in a situation where you need to sell your house quickly. Here are some of the reasons that you may have to sell [...] Read more »
Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance When beginning any sort of ambitious self-improvement project – be it paying down credit card debt, learning a new skill, improving your health or reading the 100 greatest books of all time – you should have a clear idea of when to [...] Read more »