Decisions

À la recherche du hard drives perdu: my data recovery experience

So as I reported earlier, a hard drive containing valuable personal files died on me recently. I thought I hadn’t backed up in a few months, which would have been hard enough, but it turns out that I hadn’t backed … Read MoreRead More

ATM withdrawal

Another way to track cash expenses

People have very widely varying attitudes toward cash. While some people feel money more when they spend cash, other people don’t feel it at all. In fact, the way some people have explained it to me, if the transaction doesn’t … Read MoreRead More

Windfall apples

What to do with the extra tax money in your new paycheck

I really tried to avoid talking about the tax plan, and couldn’t help myself. But that was more of a “feelings” piece, and less practical. This article is coming from the other, more practical side. In the U.S., our new tax … Read MoreRead More

Future painting

Years from now, you’ll wish you started today

If there’s one thing I hear from so many people, it’s that they wish they started something years ago. Often it’s saving for retirement. “I just think of all those years I could have been saving, and I wasn’t doing … Read MoreRead More

Five years in review: Your top 10 favorite posts from 2012-2017

And just like how I detailed my all-time top 10 favorite posts, I decided to do the same with yours. Now, I know this couldn’t really be a good list of everyone’s “favorite” posts. But Google Analytics does a good … Read MoreRead More

Five years in review: My top 10 favorite posts from 2012-2017

I’ve been writing this site for over five years. Wow. Every year I do a round up of both my favorite posts and your favorite posts. But with the five-year mark passed, I decided to take a look back. All the … Read MoreRead More

London Eye

Year in review 2017: Your top 10 favorite posts

It’s not all about me. While I wrote about my favorite posts for this year, I’m much more interested in your favorites. So I fired up my Google Analytics, that imperfect measure of interest, and looked up what were the … Read MoreRead More

End of year ball

Year in review 2017: My top 10 favorite posts

Well here we are, on the cusp of the end of a huge year. Every year seems to be both over in a flash and incredibly long, and this year was no different. But on balance, this year was pretty … Read MoreRead More

Ouija board

The HSA “testing period”: The Sophie’s Choice of health care costs

Last time, I talked about the maximum contribution you can make to a Health Savings Account (HSA) each year. Contribute any more, and you pay a steep penalty. We don’t want to do that, but we do want to contribute … Read MoreRead More

Crayons

How much can you contribute to an HSA?

I have a pretty uninspiring health care plan. I guess you don’t appreciate what you have until you no longer have it. My previous job had excellent health care. Both medical and dental were top notch and cost next to nothing. I … Read MoreRead More