Blog

Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

Mud crawling

My take on Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps (Part 1, Baby Steps 1-3b)

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I offer my opinion and review of each of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, starting with Baby Steps 1, 2, 3, and the often-forgotten Baby Step 3b. This post is part of a two-part series: My take on Dave Ramsey’s 7 … Read More … Read More

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Man working out

How companies make money from you forgetting

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I recently logged in to view may checking account balance. While there, I noticed a $19.99 purchase from the site Daily Burn. I sighed. This was the second time this month that I had received a recurring charge from a … Read More … Read More

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Rocks balanced

Which would you choose: FSA or HSA?

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Not long after I figured out that I would pass the HSA testing period, I received an interesting and oblique note from my HR department. Paraphrasing here, it said that in the new year they would be evaluating the current … Read More … Read More

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Japanese Classroom

How I passed the HSA testing period

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Last year, when I started my new job, I was given two options for health care: bad and worse. I went from having access to an “A1” and “B1” plan to a “B3” and “C3” plan. Without even knowing the … Read More … Read More

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Coinstar is for wimps. Count your own change.

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Okay cadets, get in formation! We’ve got work to do. Fallllll in! Graaaaaab rolls! Coooooount coins! Sorry, I was just having fun for a change. (Sorry about that too.) … Read More

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Lock and key

Why I can’t get myself to use a password manager

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Data breaches have become so common that they are basically going on constantly. According to Teramind, in the time it takes you to brush your teeth, 19,280 data records have been stolen. And that’s not counting floss. If you haven’t … Read More … Read More

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Fin rock

“How I made $200,000 and grew my audience from 50 to 50,000 in 13 months!” and other things I ignored at FinCon 2018

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I’m just getting back from FinCon 2018. What a blast! Some previous posts about FinCon: Is it already FinCon 2018? A confession of unintentionality Affiliate mania, problem companies, and bling: Notes from the exhibition hall at FinCon 2017 FinCon is … Read More … Read More

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Surprised sidewalk

What to say when someone you know makes a financial decision you disagree with

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It’s not an infrequent occurrence that I get friends who apologize to me when they tell me about financial decisions they make. “I know you wouldn’t approve of this, but…“ The interesting thing is that more often than not, they’re … Read More … Read More

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Palm trees

Is it already FinCon 2018? A confession of unintentionality

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I try to keep my posts here informative, educational, hopefully entertaining, and always vaguely nerdy. But this site is also a journey for me as well. I’m not sitting at the top of the mountain, throwing off wisdom to the … Read More … Read More

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Sailboat

You don’t need to wait until you’re old or rich to see the world

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I’ve been in Scotland for the past week, the first time I’ve been here in about twenty years. The first time I was here was on a break from college. I had taken a spring semester off, and was planning … Read More … Read More

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