If you ever own a home, you know that the monthly mortgage, property taxes, and insurance are not the only payments that you’ll ever have. A significant portion of your housing expense involves its maintenance from both inside and outside the house: plumbing work, appliance repairs, repainting, yard work, etc. …

“Dow falls 832 points in the third-worst day by points ever” was the headline last Thursday on CNN Business. The media loves to sensationalize declines in the stock market, like any other news topic. The increase in readership almost always results in increases in advertising revenue. But the truth is the …

If you’ve been following my posts, you probably know by now that this is not a FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early) blog. For one thing, I’m already in my forties when I wrote my first post.  There’s no way I could retire in my 30’s without sneaking into my sister’s time …

Imagine yourself walking into a dark alley, in the middle of some ghetto neighborhood, and halfway through, a masked thug suddenly appears, pulls out a sharp knife and exclaims, “Your Money or Your Life!”  Unless your first name is Chuck and your last name is Norris, chances are, you would surrender …

One reason why I share my net worth over Labor Day Weekend is that of something with symbolic importance. The holiday is meant to celebrate the achievements of American workers. To quote the U.S. Department of Labor, “a tribute to the contributions of workers have made to the strength,  prosperity, and well-being …

In Part I of this blog series, I talked about the expensive mistakes my neighbors are making by sending their children to private schools. At the risk of being forever castigated by my neighbors if they ever discover my posts, I’ll continue with Part II to talk about one of …

One of my goals in writing this blog is to help you become smarter with money. You’d think it’s just common sense. But as it turns out, common sense is not so common.  Otherwise, people wouldn’t buy things they can’t afford. They wouldn’t smoke cigarettes or eat junk food either. …

What do you do when you’re dying to visit Europe, but don’t have a large budget to spend on five people? Would you take out your credit card and charge the expense? Or do you try and expand the budget? The answer is neither,  you should think of a viable …

You’ve seen it in the news, especially during an economic depression. A man loses his job, gets into a big pile of debt, runs out of options, and then kills himself. In more tragic cases, he takes his whole family with him. If you think having a job is stressful, …

The labeling term “Organic” refers to accredited methods agricultural products are grown and processed. Regulations vary from country to country, but in general, organic crops must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, or fertilizers from municipal sewage… Eew! Organic food is not defined …