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Blog

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

Corner store

Why prices actually fall as you build wealth

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Cost is a psychological phenomenon as much as it is a mathematical phenomenon. Back in my college days, the question was, which can I afford to get at Denny’s, a soda or fries? Could I afford to get both? (Actually, … Read More … Read More

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Why prices will seem to change as you build wealth

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(I don’t condone software piracy. But this is a story where some rules were bent. And then un-bent.) In college, when my income was basically nil, I was just starting to get into audio engineering. While I was primarily working … Read More … Read More

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Statue blindfolded

How I tried to buy something totally anonymously online

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My experiences with trying to buy something online without revealing anything about my identity, and why this is so difficult. (I talk about using products or services, but I received no commission for this. I do not do affiliate marketing. … Read More … Read More

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Mask ornament

Why it’s so hard to buy online and maintain any privacy

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In a perfect world, no one would have any right to know what I buy, where I go, and what I do unless I gave them that access. This seems rather quaint now. Today, everything you do is scrutinized, advertised, … Read More … Read More

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Shadow selfie

I want you to be your own insurer

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As I’ve stated before, I have a natural built-in aversion to many insurance products. Mainly, this is because they are so heavily marketed and advertised (and you know how I feel about that). I just am usually not convinced that … Read More … Read More

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Safe door

Can your money ever really be safe?

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I feel like there are a lot more radio programs of a financial nature than there used to be. This might be a confirmation bias, in that I’m seeking these things out. I could just as easily say that I … Read More … Read More

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Tug of war

How not getting the sale can still be successful haggling

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Haggling for purchases is a great idea. Not only does it allow the obvious benefit of getting something for less than the original price, but it also forces you to decide how much you want something, and forces you out … Read More … Read More

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Push pins

Is a credit card safer than a debit card?

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I recently got some pushback about using debit cards. I always appreciate this. I want ideas to be battle-tested, and I welcome the opportunity to think critically about decisions I’ve made and suggestions I’ve given. I don’t need everyone to … Read More … Read More

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Bank Vault

Here are some better ways to spend $600 than on hard drive recovery

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I spent roughly $600 to recover personal files from a dead hard drive. Now, $600 is a lot of money. It was half of the price of my first car when I bought it. It was more than what my … Read More … Read More

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À la recherche du hard drives perdu: my data recovery experience

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So as I reported earlier, a hard drive containing valuable personal files died on me recently. I thought I hadn’t backed up in a few months, which would have been hard enough, but it turns out that I hadn’t backed … Read More … Read More

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