Decisions

Tow truck

When is it time to buy your next car?

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Everyone seems to drive a nicer car than you. They’re all newer than yours too. Cars are such an extension of our selves in this auto-obsessed country of ours, which is unfortunate, because cars often have an inverse effect on … Read More … Read More

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Queue ticket

How do you figure out how much money you need in retirement?

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I had a little fun with our fictitious shopping trip on the luxury eBay. While I enjoy toys as much as anyone, I think the desire for ultra-rich luxuries seems less about desire for luxuries and more of a need … Read More … Read More

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Drumsticks

Amazon Prime just raised its prices by 20%. What’s 20% of $0?

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The news was electric. Amazon, the great dark god of retail, was going to raise its prices on its popular Amazon Prime subscription service, from $99 a year to $119 a year. That wasn’t the electric part though. That was … Read More … Read More

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Carhenge

What would you do if your car died today?

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“Mobility is empowerment” is a phrase I’ve long internalized. That goes for the micro level (being able to get from place to place) and the macro level (being able to move to another place). And if you are far away … Read More … Read More

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Gas prices sign

Adventures in pointless frugality: Shopping for a gas station

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I’ve been fascinated in one way or another by gas prices ever since I worked at a gas station in college. At first it was just the geographic variation in prices, like how I could drive across the river from … Read More … Read More

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Handholding

What to do when an emergency isn’t unexpected

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I’ve long said that you can gauge whether something is an emergency if the following three “U” words describe the situation: Unexpected Urgent Unavoidable I use this metric to be able to distinguish between actual emergencies and things that feel like … Read More … Read More

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Cameras

Online trust, or How to figure out your biggest threats online

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Greetings from Seattle, Washington! Actually, hello from Charlotte, North Carolina! On second thought, salutations from somewhere in Azerbaijan! It’s fun to be anywhere at the click of a button. By this I mean, anywhere as far as my computer traffic … Read More … Read More

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Statue blindfolded

How I tried to buy something totally anonymously online

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My experiences with trying to buy something online without revealing anything about my identity, and why this is so difficult. (I talk about using products or services, but I received no commission for this. I do not do affiliate marketing. … Read More … Read More

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Mask ornament

Why it’s so hard to buy online and maintain any privacy

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In a perfect world, no one would have any right to know what I buy, where I go, and what I do unless I gave them that access. This seems rather quaint now. Today, everything you do is scrutinized, advertised, … Read More … Read More

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Tug of war

How not getting the sale can still be successful haggling

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Haggling for purchases is a great idea. Not only does it allow the obvious benefit of getting something for less than the original price, but it also forces you to decide how much you want something, and forces you out … Read More … Read More

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