Tag Archives: Financial

One of the biggest struggles I had to overcome to live a more frugal life was getting jealous of the things other people were doing, particularly my friends. I’d see a coworker with a new car and I’d feel a twinge of jealousy. I’d visit a good friend and they’d …

Once I had some appreciation of the value of financial goals, my first real financial goal was to pay off all of our high-interest debt. It was a very tangible, real goal — a nice short- to medium-term goal for which I could easily track my progress, easily figure out …

A few days ago, the weather here took a big turn toward heat. Temperatures shot well into the 90s with a wonderful dose of Midwestern humidity to boot. One might think it was a perfect day to stay inside, but I actually spent much of it outside. I didn’t run …

For many people, the two biggest sources of stress and emotional frustration in their lives is their financial situation and their job, and those two frustrations are usually deeply interconnected. I like to call it the “golden handcuffs” — if you’re in a tough financial spot, you are handcuffed to …

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.1. Back to work advice2. Going across town for gas3. Higher deductible a good idea?4. Evaluating Amazon Prime5. Is my …

A few weeks ago, I did a brief radio interview where the hosts of the program asked me whether I thought frugality and cutting expenses or investing and earning more money was more important. I thought for half a second — you have to really think on your feet with …

It’s being reported by global media that COVID-19 may cause the worst economic recession we’ve seen in 2 decades, and it’s said that it’ll be the worst in Malaysia’s overall history. Entrepreneurs who have been in business for a long while have weathered some of the ups and downs of …

The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed our economy. The U.S. has approved $ 3 trillion in pandemic-related relief, more than 22 million Americans are applying for unemployment, and 7.5 million small businesses are at risk of closing. At some point, we will all be financially impacted by the economic ripple …

How much do you really know about personal finance — or about sending money abroad? This is your chance to test your knowledge against the founder of The Simple Dollar, Trent Hamm. He scored 8/10. Can you do better? If the spirit of competition isn’t enough, five respondents will win …