Blog

In-app-ropriate: don’t use an online service to track your spending

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on April 6, 2015 | Featured

There are numerous sites and apps where you can sign up to manage your money, track your spending, and all of that. From what I’ve seen, they range from okay to horrendous, depending on what their angle is (and … Read More … Read More

Tags: bank accounts, budget, budgeting, credit cards, Glen Phillips, online, Toad the Wet Sprocket

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

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on April 2, 2015 | Featured

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 … Read More

Tags: crosswalks, pedestrians

In defense of jaywalking

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 30, 2015 | Featured

“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

Tags: crosswalks, jaywalking, pedestrians, streets, walking

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

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 26, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: award travel, credit cards, groceries, spending

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

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 23, 2015 | Featured

Tags: aer lingus, avios, award travel, Boston, british airways, credit cards, Dublin, flights, London, planning

Why the flex spending account is ridiculous

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 19, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: flexible spending account, money, pharmacies, pre-tax, taxes

Spend a third less on medical expenses

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 16, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: expenses, flexible spending account, medical, self-employment

On responding to “withering” cultural pressure

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 12, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: David Foster Wallace, peer pressure

Home ownership revisited

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 9, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: home, home ownership

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

Posted by Mike Pumphrey on March 5, 2015 | Featured

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

Tags: banks, credit cards, debit cards, fees, foreign transaction fees, international travel, travel, travelers checks

Blog

In-app-ropriate: don’t use an online service to track your spending

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

In defense of jaywalking

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

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

Why the flex spending account is ridiculous

Spend a third less on medical expenses

On responding to “withering” cultural pressure

Home ownership revisited

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

Empathic Finance - Mike Pumphrey, AFC®

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