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Blog

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

Rise up with a sinking fund

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  I found out that my car needed some work recently. My mechanic quoted me a figure that initially made me stagger a bit. I don’t know why I was surprised, as anything having to do with a car that’s … Read More … Read More

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Why you must become an investing expert

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  Talking about investing tends to bring out some strong feelings in people, often negative. “I hate it!” is a common refrain. “I don’t want to have to deal with it” is another. Now, I’m sympathetic, as all my life I’ve … Read More … Read More

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Occam, your investing advisor

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  I was talking with a friend who had recently decided to go back to school. One can’t discuss school for very long without the subject of loans coming up, and my friend indicated that he would indeed be taking … Read More … Read More

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Why I pay tolls gladly

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  I’ll admit it, I used to avoid tolls. I remember on drives from Philadelphia to points south, there was a toll booth at the Delaware/Maryland border that could be avoided by getting off at the prior exit, paralleling the … Read More … Read More

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Is personal responsibility enough?

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  As should be pretty obvious by now if you’ve been reading for a while, you know that I’m a very big fan of taking responsibility for your own life, and specifically your finances. (And, if not, welcome!) I believe … Read More … Read More

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Why not to travel

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  As I’ve written about on many occasions, I feel like travel is a vitally important practice to add to your life. It can soothe the soul, clear the mind, open the heart (though if you’re not careful, it can … Read More … Read More

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Consider the opportunity cost

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  I’m sitting here waiting to pull the trigger on a short trip to the Caribbean. Just a few days, nothing too fancy. I have some free hotel night awards, one of which I need to use before the end … Read More … Read More

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Why it may be worth spending more for simplicity

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  (Meta-note: 100th post!) I was having dinner with a friend recently, and at one point we started reeling off the “obvious” pithy financial wisdom we knew. Things like “spend less than you make” “invest in index funds” “avoid fees,” … Read More … Read More

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You can determine how much things cost

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  If I told you that you could have something you really wanted for $600, but you could also have it for $19 a month for three years, which one would you choose? If you chose the latter, I invite … Read More … Read More

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Who is The Man?

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  Ever since I launched this site, it has contained the tagline “Practical strategies for sticking it to The Man.“ But who is The Man? It’s not who—or what—you might think. … Read More

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