Blog

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

Consider the opportunity cost

Posted by on | Featured

  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

Tags: , , , , ,

Why it may be worth spending more for simplicity

Posted by on | Featured

  (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

Tags: , ,

You can determine how much things cost

Posted by on | Featured

  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

Tags: , , ,

Who is The Man?

Posted by on | Featured

  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

Tags: ,

You must fight the Tired

Posted by on | Featured

  Life is tiring. Anyone who brings up an argument like, “What? You only work eight hours a day, so you have sixteen hours left” is either myopic or trying to sell you something. If you’re single, then you need … Read More … Read More

Tags: , ,

Why bother to keep your miles from expiring

Posted by on | Featured

  Let’s say you have 3,000 miles with Delta, 5,735 miles with US Airways, and 1,326 miles with Virgin America. Redemptions of frequent flyer miles usually start at the 25,000 mark. At this rate, you’ll have enough for an award … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , , ,

How to keep your miles from expiring without spending extra money

Posted by on | Featured

  Far too many sites about travel hacking seem to talk endlessly about how to get zillions of frequent flyer miles by signing up for credit card bonuses (that require spending thousands of dollars in a certain period of time). … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , , ,

Pay what you owe (and take the high road)

Posted by on | Featured

  Last time I talked about how I automate all my bills, and recommend that you do the same. But during the course of my argument, I dropped in this statement: …most of all, your record will say that you … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , , ,

I don’t pay bills

Posted by on | Featured

  …and you shouldn’t either. Here’s why: … Read More

Tags: , ,

Don’t let being alone stop you

Posted by on | Featured

  Last time, I talked about how experiences are better shared with people, and in fact can be less important than the people themselves and their camaraderie. But as I was writing, I had a interesting devil’s advocate thought: “That sounds … Read More … Read More

Tags: , , ,