From the category archives:

Dollars and Sense

Making Money With Your Hobby: My Story

by Tim on February 6, 2012

Music lessons: one way to make money with your hobby

I love to talk with my friends about business ideas and goals they have to ‘make it big’ someday. But one of my pet peeves is when I hear them say, “I wish there was a way that I could make money now.” I almost have to keep myself from staring back at them with a dazed look that says, “Are you kidding? There are plenty of ways to make money!” [click to continue…]

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When Money Was Real

by Alex on January 30, 2012

in Dollars and Sense

Do you still carry cash?

When I was young, money was real.

I couldn’t get a ham and cheese sandwich for a nickel or anything like that, but I could use the 2 dollars I’d been saving to buy a pack of cards from the game shop or my favorite candy for 50 cents. When my dad took us kids out to eat, his wallet held $20s, $10s, and $5s for him to use in exchange for the delicious food. [click to continue…]

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“18 Months Same as Cash!” … Really?

January 25, 2012

Is zero interest for 18 months REALLY zero interest? If you can walk a tightrope while juggling flaming torches, then maybe. But beware — many of these offers are fraught with conditions that will make your head spin. Best Buy, for example, is currently offering 18 months zero interest on all purchases over $429. However, [...]

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How to Get the Most Gasoline Savings From Your Kroger Points

January 23, 2012

When my home town Kroger store recently opened a gasoline station, I tried out their discounted fuel. Not knowing exactly how the program worked, I simply asked for the biggest discount, which turned out to be $0.50 a gallon. With my 18 gallon purchase, I saved $9! Needless to say, I like this program! To [...]

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Why I Put a New Engine in My Old Cadillac

January 18, 2012

My post “My car needs a new engine. Should I sell it, fix it, or junk it?” from October, 2010 received quite a few comments, with many recommendations to sell it, quite a few to fix it, but only a couple who thought I should replace the engine. Since that time, I have continued to [...]

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7 Weird Ways to Save in 2012

January 16, 2012

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a New Year’s goal to save a certain amount of money. Usually it was for a specific item like a car, vacation, or to pay off student loans. For some, their goal to save more money revolves around looming credit card debt, which is at [...]

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Why You Should Resolve to be Weird This Year

January 4, 2012

Have you heard these? “Isn’t the average credit card debt something like $15,000? My $12,000 isn’t all that bad, is it?” “Yes, I pay $600 monthly on car payments, but everyone has car payments.” I have — in fact I heard these two statements in the past two weeks: people justifying their dismal financial standing [...]

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7 Ways to Winterize Your Home

December 14, 2011

With the temperatures dropping fast, it’s time for you to start thinking about winterizing your home. A few steps can help your home stay energy efficient without sacrificing your family’s comfort. Most of these things can be done in a day, so take some time this week to check these off of your to-do list.

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5 Popular Christmas Gifts and Inexpensive Substitutes

December 5, 2011

It wasn’t easy, but I figured out a way to talk about Christmas and economics in the same article. A fundamental part of economics is the fact that substitutes can alter our decision to buy something. If the price of what we want is too high or if scarcity causes the item to leave empty [...]

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How I Got Frontier to Lower My Rates

November 30, 2011

I wish I could say that I am a savvy customer – one who is always a step ahead of each and every vendor – but that would be a lie. I am not that person. However, almost by accident, I recently managed to get Frontier to lower the rates on my bundled (TV-telephone-internet) plan.

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Our Ten Dollar Christmas Challenge

November 28, 2011

Our family is in the midst of “The Great Christmas Experiment” this year: we opted for a family vacation in June instead of a gift exchange at Christmas. No, we are not anti Christmas…in fact, we love the season dearly. It is just that when we overdosed on gift exchanges last year, we (even my [...]

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Readers’ Input Requested…Am I Too Tough on My Strategic Default Stance?

November 16, 2011

When I wrote the post What is “Strategic Default” and Should You Consider It?, I was tough on those who have used this tactic. First, a definition: Strategic Default, according to Wikipedia, is “the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e. default) on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the [...]

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