Personal Finance Advice

Sunday, December 28, 2008, was a black day. I needed advice from a real person regarding my iPod. My younger son needed software for his iPod. My wife had returns to make at Old Navy and The Gap. My older son needed something to do. Thus the stars were aligned for a family trip to the mall. As a general rule, I hate shopping malls. I also hate crowds, parking lots, food cou [...]

CNNMoney.com recently had an interesting article about high salaried executives who have been laid off in our struggling economy and are now taking massive pay cuts to get back into the working world. "Life After A Six-Figure Salary" was an interesting article to me. A) I don't know if I'll ever see a six-figure salary in my lifetime and B) Sometimes that relieves me - especially when those ar [...]

Perhaps quitting a job should be easier… The good news? I’m making money from two jobs. The bad news? I have to work two jobs. My last day at ‘Big Box Store’ is quickly approaching…err… what I thought was my last day. ‘Hey Rebekah, quick chat?’ my manager asked as he peaked out from his office. ‘Sure’ I said and sat down. ‘I know we’ve talked about y [...]

This past year has been all about changes, some good and a lot not so good. We’ve rode the gas price roller coaster and held our breath to see the first African American President get elected. Some have cried over the bouncing stock market and some have jumped on board and bought cheap, hoping to sell high. The past year has forced us to expand our imaginations and stretch our pennies until t [...]

The weather around here hasn't been that great and we haven't been able to make the trip to do our major monthly grocery shopping. That's when we stock up on the essentials since they are cheaper at another store. We have been running out of things, so we decided to head to a store that is closer to us. Some things we couldn't bring ourselves to buy. $1.30 for a can of soup versus $0.79 is a [...]

Generally, I don't do New Year's resolutions. I tend to decide to do things throughout the year and then just get on with them. New Year's resolutions come with to much pressure and they've always seemed forced to me. So I tend to avoid them. But this year is different. I have one New Year's resolution and it has to do with my finances and my stuff. This year, I resolve to use up, complete, or oth [...]

There was a woman I worked with awhile back and it did not matter if she was vomiting, feverish, in mortal pain or just had a sniffle - she would be sitting in her cubicle, glowering at whoever was unfortunate enough to have to ask her a question. One day when we were working together, she was almost in tears because she felt so poorly. And I snapped at her, "Julie, if you feel so terrible - g [...]

I’ve stuck by my commitment to reducing costs by taking public transportation. Sure I’ve had a few problems including run-ins with transients, druggies, and intoxicated folks but my biggest problem seems to be me. Based on the recommendations from readers and co-workers, I’ve made friends with the train drivers. It seemed like a very good idea to have an extra set of eyes watching out [...]

The New York Times is doing a series called "Debt Trap - A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible." On New Year's Day, they did an article that rings so very true to me. If you recall, my credit card debt started with a candy bar offered on college campus. Since I started blogging, I have come to realize that whenever you get a credit card through anoth [...]

In addition to taking orders for cabs from the townspeople of the burg that I live in, my company also has a number of larger vehicles. We run shuttles between area hotels and the local airport, they are usually booked for wedding parties, etc. We also have a handful of sedans and a couple of stretch limos. At 9:30 AM, still rather pre-coffee for me, my phone rang with a very polite woman on [...]