Radical Finances

Hotel sign

How I redeemed my points from the Priceless Surprises promotion

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Earlier this year, I talked about the Priceless Surprises promotion. Put on by Mastercard and IHG, the company behind Holiday Inn and a bunch of other brands, this sweepstakes was ostensibly about staying at lots of hotels, but had a … Read More … Read More

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Mountain Climbing

The resolve of the mountain climber, or how to deal with financial overwhelm

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I think of building wealth and becoming financially secure as a process not unlike climbing a mountain. It’s a big one, and it’s hard going, and it involves a lot of successes and setbacks along the way. The top of … Read More … Read More

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Bucket being filled

How to pay for non-emergencies

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We know what an emergency is. It’s an incident that is both unexpected, urgent, and unavoidable (and unfortunate). When you have an emergency, you use money from your emergency fund. (And if you have debt, here’s how you can still … Read More … Read More

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Ambulance

What to do when you have an emergency

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Emergencies happen. We can minimize our exposure to incidents as best we can, but there are some things that we can’t control. That’s why they’re emergencies. We can debate what counts as an emergency. For example, I don’t believe wear-and-tear … Read More … Read More

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Explosion

The debt blunderbuss, or can you have an emergency fund and still pay off debt?

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There is a financial cage match article that I can’t write: debt vs. the emergency fund. It’s not hard to see why there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to question of what comes first before the other. How much debt you … Read More … Read More

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Seed sprouting

If you feel like you have too much debt to ever save for retirement

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Debt reduction and wealth building are part of the same process, so you are working toward your money goals even if you don’t think you are. I believe retirement is possible for us. But at the same time, I’m on … Read More … Read More

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Is retirement possible?

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Retirement is a scary thing to think about. Many people think that they’ll never be able to retire, that they will be forced to work until they die. But it’s worth taking a look at what retirement is and whether … Read More … Read More

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Tennis Shot

It’s okay, you were never taught

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I run a discussion group in Portland called the Portland Integrative Finance Community. It’s been tremendously satisfying for me, but the feedback I’ve gotten from attendees so far has been remarkable. Many people have mentioned how positive it was to … Read More … Read More

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Net

What is your financial net worth?

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I don’t necessarily think of one’s finances as a game (unlike, say, Tony Robbins), but more like a process, a challenge, a long task. Perhaps a kind of art. That said, I also think it’s useful and important to know … Read More … Read More

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Ask graffiti

Have you lowered your bills recently?

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This week, I managed to lower my phone bill by over 25%. It was easy, and didn’t even require a call into the (dreaded) customer service. But there’s nothing special about me and my situation, and you can do the … Read More … Read More

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