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Musings on personal finance and more...

Rapid flash beacons, or how to be a chicken about crossing the road

  Behind the wheel, we tend to become more sociopathic. Am I the only person who has heard the quip “10 points!” when you see a pedestrian infringing on your (car’s) road space? And I’m speaking as a car owner as well, so … Read More …

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In defense of jaywalking

  “Here, we’d just speed up and turn our wipers on.” – Bill Hicks, on what would happen in Texas if a pedestrian tried to randomly cross the road Portland and New York City are very different places. (Film at … Read More … Read More

Conferring with the enemy (Part 2): Fulfilling minimum spend requirements on a credit card

All posts in this series: Conferring with the enemy (Part 1): A credit card for a travel plan Conferring with the enemy (Part 2): Fulfilling minimum spend requirements on a credit card Conferring with the enemy (Part 3): The waiting (for … Read More …

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Conferring with the enemy (Part 1): A credit card for a travel plan

All posts in this series: Conferring with the enemy (Part 1): A credit card for a travel plan Conferring with the enemy (Part 2): Fulfilling minimum spend requirements on a credit card Conferring with the enemy (Part 3): The waiting (for … Read More … Read More

Why the flex spending account is ridiculous

  I found myself recently in a large national chain pharmacy store late at night, wandering the aisles and thinking to myself: “Now what else can I find to spend money on?“ This ridiculous question sums up so much of … Read More … Read More

Spend a third less on medical expenses

  If I told you that you could spend up to a third less on your medical expenses, would you be interested? Well you can. It’s called the Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and it’s usually available through employers. This is … Read More … Read More

On responding to “withering” cultural pressure

  Our parents got peer pressure all wrong. The apocryphal “dealer on the playground” never existed, at least not in my experience. No one ever said “it’ll make you feel good” to me, and I never heard anyone I knew … Read More … Read More

Home ownership revisited

  One of my very first posts at Unlikely Radical was titled “Why renting is better than owning“. Later, I noted that while some people feel that home ownership provides a feeling of security, others will feel exactly the opposite. … Read More … Read More

Why foreign transaction fees are (annoying but) no big deal

  WARNING: This post contains math. Are you old enough to remember travelers checks? When I went on my first trip abroad when I was much younger, that was still the de facto method of using currency when in a … Read More … Read More

What karaoke taught me about self-identity

  I’ve often said that there are two types of people in this world: those who think there are two types of people in this world, and those who don’t. Sorry, I’ll start again. I’ve often said that there are … Read More … Read More

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