I love bay leaves, but it is not like they are expensive. After awhile I just toss in three or four where I would have used one or two.

I recently moved out of New York City after living there for 10 years. This was part of why I moved (one of many reasons). It's also part of why I miss New York, but not enough to move back. Anyway, shortly after I moved, I spent about 5 weeks in Japan, in Tokyo and Kyoto but also throughout the countryside.

I sometimes think he thinks I spend money just to spend money but I'll tell him to buy item X and he'll buy the cheaper version of it and be unhappy with it. And then he has to live with me telling him I told him so.

I learned young. Don't ask me why at my age that I was excited about buying office equipment, but it says "Real copy machine" right on the box.

Twice I fell for the "there's something inherently virtuous about having a beater car." There isn't. Beater cars are horrible. They fall apart and make you feel like you're Poverty Man. At least the 1990ish Camry was a wagon, and I sold it for more than I paid for it. The 1996 Protege was a train wreck. I sold it my…

Subscribe and save is a convenience issue. It's a "no-brainer" so to speak. Savings are secondary.

Ugh. Amusing chart, but I'm getting so fed up with white-collar America hating on cheap American lagers. Are they great beers? No. But that doesn't mean they are only good for getting drunk, and the criticism that's hurled at them is thinly-veiled classism.

I can't judge, but I entirely agree bills should be split equitably, not necessarily equally. There was a time my partner was making double what I was, and she paid far more of the bills so we both got by, and when she went job hunting I covered all the bills. I think relationships mean eroding the walls between mine…

I mean, it depends on your relationship, but our opinion is that we both work equally hard regardless of pay, so we put in a percent instead of a $ number. Are you living in a bigger house, or does he drive a nice car due to his higher salary? He may be part of the higher cost of living your paying for, which means…

My personal system that works for my wife and I and sounds more complicated than it is- 3 accounts with direct-deposit.

That's exactly what my wife and I do. Direct deposit the amount from our paychecks to cover all shared expenses into our shared account, what's left is dropped into our personal accounts. Works pretty well and seems to cut down the money arguments immensely. There are still discussions to be had and adjustments to…

One thing I have learned is that if you are going to combine finances and bank accounts, make sure both have a separate account to put money in as a "buy whatever you want account." It could be for random purchases or gifts.

A variation for those who like the "zen" of cooking all by themselves, but don't want to make a bunch of different things nor eat the same thing for days/weeks - do a freezer meal exchange party. Each person makes the proper amount (7, 14, whatever) of a meal, then you get together and exchange your different meals.

Here are my thoughts on this:

This is a great way to increase rewards all year. If you get 6% at grocery stores but only 1% on gas, you can buy gas gift cards at the grocery store and still earn 6%. I use it all the time for places that don't fit into my extra rewards percentages.

We just had our second kid on Monday, well early Tuesday. We've gone through a lot of it. What I'll say though is the heaviest weighted thing is money. I'm not going to vent about my frustrations with child-care cost, but a long term plan/budget needs to be put into place. This was easier the second time as we…

Absolutely, actually there might be "secret" bathrooms on other floors (or abandoned floors) of your office building that are less frequented.

They are not entirely wrong, just heavily biased. I own a couple Icebreaker products (base layers) and they are fantastic. The three-layer system is widely accepted, the choice of materials is where you see the brand bias. But there's little arguing that there are benefits to using synthetics as well as wool, or a…

BUT HOLLYWOOD TOLD ME IT WOULD BE ADORKABLE. DAMN YOU HOLLYWOOD. DAMN YOU.

Eh. Depends on the situation. Sometimes the very thing that breaks the tension is someone being willing to acknowledge, "That was awkward," and then everyone can move on.