Merry Christmas

I don’t have anything critical or even clever to say today.  I am with family and not thinking about personal finances – at all. I hope you are in a good place as well. Enjoy and refresh yourself today. Merry Christmas!

Have You Stupidly Spent Your Christmas Bonus?

Let’s assume that you are fortunate enough to receive a year-end or Christmas bonus. Have you spent it? Or worse, did you spend it in anticipation of receiving it, like Clark Griswold did? Read more

Grandma the Foreclosure Fighter (and Bum)

There is a 71 year old nightmare of a woman who has refused to make a mortgage payment since 1985 and has been successfully fighting foreclosure since then. She uses all kinds of barely there legal arguments, transfers to her daughter, and now bankruptcy. Read more

Secret Spenders Deserve a Special Place in Financial Hell

CNN/Money managed to get 6 people to confess/boast about their talents for “secret spending.” I wonder what their spouses are thinking right now. I know what I would be thinking if I were that spouse: What is more pathetic about my spouse – secretly over-shopping or outing yourself on the Internet? Read more

Strange Happenings at the Book Store

This post is only tangentially related to personal finance but I felt a need to write about my experience as a remote worker anyway. Read more

Ending the Mint Experiment

A few minutes ago I canceled my account with Mint. I opened it earlier this year and have tried to appreciate its value. Unfortunately, it’s been more trouble than its worth.   Read more