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

Target Red Card

How store credit cards foreshadow the retail apocalypse

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In my last post, I mentioned how I had once had an Exxon credit card given to me by my mom to use for emergencies. It made me think about those specialty credit cards. How quaint I thought. A credit … Read More … Read More

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Exxon

Emergencies are the worst time for using debt

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Not long after I got my drivers license, my mom gave me an Exxon card to carry around with me. “For emergencies, in case you run out of gas and are stranded.“ I never used it. It’s not that I … Read More … Read More

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Hoagie

Can someone please explain to me why there is so much wage disparity?

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I worked in retail for many years. I sometimes have nightmares that I’ll have to go back to it. And yet, I think my retail experiences were relatively tame. A department story, a toy store, a gas station, Kinko’s. I … Read More … Read More

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If you’re not wealthy, is it your fault?

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I’m troubled. I was listening to a program on the radio (which I’ll leave unnamed for reasons you’ll see soon). It was one of the 27 various programs on financial wellness that seem to pepper the AM dial at any … Read More … Read More

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Dawn field

Does frequent travel conflict with financial well-being?

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If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you’ve no doubt seen me periodically talk about my quest to see one new country a year. You might find this topic potentially a diversion, even perhaps antithetical, to much of … Read More … Read More

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Eclipse

The new country I will travel to in 2019…or maybe 2020

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Did anyone notice anything strange in the sky this past Monday? Or, failing that, did you notice anyone looking at the sky wearing (hopefully) something that looked uncannily like 3D glasses? Of course I kid. Over a large swath of … Read More … Read More

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Pool water

What if you can’t contribute to a 401(k)?

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In my previous post, I talked about what to do if you’re ineligible for contributing to a Roth IRA. This most commonly is due to having an income over the limit set for those contributions. But just like you could … Read More … Read More

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Sand

What if you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA?

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Roth IRAs are awesome. There’s just no other way that I can see that regular folks can invest in a way that lets money grow tax-free, without any Required Minimum Distributions or anything like that. Plus, a retirement account where … Read More … Read More

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Boeing Jet

Forget Amazon, I’m going with Jet

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I talked about how Amazon has recently taken to requiring you to join Amazon Prime in order to purchase some of its products. To me, that seemed like a bridge too far. And so I began researching alternatives to Amazon. … Read More … Read More

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Why Amazon is starting to remind me of the mob

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If you recall my time on the Slow Carb Diet, you may recall that I’m a big fan of Vega protein powder. The one I use has a good amount of greens and antioxidants, a tasty flavor without sugar, and … Read More … Read More

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