Decluttering is definitely a good thing as opposed to buying containers to store stuff that doesn’t get used, and never will. However, throwing stuff out (or donating or recycling) should be done with some care. If you buy a tool, gadget, etc. to accomplish a specific task and then go on to sell/donate/recycle it…

Not my story, but this happened to an ex-girlfriend several years back. She lived in downtown Chicago in a high rise apartment building, and had bought a new Civic Si a year prior. It was parked in the building’s parking garage. She road to work with the new guy she was seeing, and when they got back to her place that…

My wife hates haggling. So much so that she doesn’t like to be near me when I try to haggle. It makes her uncomfortable. If she can’t afford something, she’ll just walk away. If she can, she’ll buy it. I try to haggle on some purchases because I figure if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

I bet a large part of the cost savings comes from eliminating all of the whiz-bang gizmos on the LR. I doubt the Chinese knock-off has air suspension, for example. When you eliminate these sorts of features, you improve reliability, but also decrease comfort and driving experience.

I also listened to the Freakonomics podcast on this, and while I generally think that Payday loans are predatory, they do fill a gap. The new requirements will make the loans much harder to issue and much less profitable. People who are stuck in the debt trap, or who have escaped it would argue this is a good thing.…

You might think you’d make a killing, but I’d bet against you. Part of the reason the interest rates are so high is the risk of the loans. People with bad credit take out these loans. Their credit is bad because they don’t have a good track record of paying loans on time, or at all. What happens when you loan someone…

I read the article, but I would like to know more about what the actual content of the scam is. I also wonder how well it works. When I was in college, few students would have any money to give and would tell the impersonator to f-ck off.

If you are relocating with your animals outside of the US, I highly recommend working with a company that specializes in these sorts of services. We moved two dogs from the US to Singapore about a year ago and it was an extremely tedious, time consuming process with lots of lead time. A pet relocation company will…

Good to know, thanks Tom. I’d like to read more on this when you have the chance to write something up.

Hey Tom, can you comment on special pricing plans, like Ford’s X Plan pricing which is 0.6% above invoice plus an admin fee? It seems like a decent way to get a no-haggle deal on a new Ford. I am curious if there is more meat on the bone on a routine basis. As I understand it, any factory rebates also apply when…

Agreed... savings and CDs don’t beat inflation, but the money in these isn’t there to make you money. It is insurance.

I think it is best to have a staggered approach to an emergency fund. While access to cheap/free credit is a good way to float cash in an emergency, it isn’t a great idea to have to liquidate stocks, mutual funds, or index funds at the bottom of the market.

Nice idea, I like it! It makes kids think about what they want to invest their time in. It also means that less money will be spent buying gear, paying for lessons, etc., for an ever changing slate of activities. I would suggest one modification... How about letting kids have 2-3 trial sessions of an activity (if…

There needs to be a balance between perseverance and knowing when to quit something that isn’t working for you. If you quit things too soon, or don’t invest time in them, then you’ll only ever be successful in the things that you like or are innately good at. On the other hand, if you stick with something that you…

I am a salaried employee, so I monitor every paycheck. I know how much I should make for each paycheck, and if there is a variation, I immediately take a deeper look. I can’t imagine not looking at each pay stub for accuracy.

It isn’t that straight forward. I got robocalls to my IP phone number at my house for YEARS for various people who had the phone number before me. At first I would talk to the people and tell them the person they were looking for didn’t have this number, etc. The calls kept coming. I became emphatic. The calls kept…

Do Unions also negotiate benefits, not just pay? I think that if a person does not want representation, they should be able to opt out. However, the practical nature of the situation is that while the Union doesn’t represent them specifically, it represents a group of people in the same position. So, the person…

Yeah, liquidation sales are a con these days. SA used to carry a good range of firearms and ammo. I’m willing to bet there will be no deals on these items though. I imagine prices will be raised, then lowered, to lure people in.

Another strategy, thought it is more painful, is to do some balance transfers. For example, say you put all your non-rent/mortgage, non-installment loan spending on a credit card each month. Apply for a card with an introductory 0% interest rate on balance transfers. You should be able to get this rate for anywhere…

If someone decides to interview you (and definitely if they go on to hire you), they will gather your employment history as well as your year of graduation, age, etc. The idea about not including dates, and instead a sequence and duration, would allow you to avoid having to explain gaps in employment and might get you…