Announcing the new I Will Teach You To Be Frugal

I was wrong. I’ve been making fun of frugality tips for too long, but do you know what? $3.00 lattes *do* save a ton of money over 30 years. Today, I’m announcing a new focus: frugality.

Tip: Using sub-savings accounts for unexpected expenses

“The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.”
– Kurt Vonnegut
I wish we were always smart enough to prepare for flat tires, traffic tickets, coffee spills on our laptops, emergency flights for someone sick [...]

Trent says The Scrooge Strategy is “short-sighted” — I respond with a challenge

Do you ever wake up in the morning, roll over, and say, “Man, I wonder what my personal-finance brethren said about me as I was sleeping?” No? Hm, I guess it’s just me. Anyway, stay with me today as we weave the story of toilet paper, toothpaste, a rudimentary SWOT analysis, and a $1,000 challenge [...]

Why your opinion about the stimulus plan doesn’t matter

I don’t write much about current events here, because they usually don’t affect your personal finances, but I wanted to point out something interesting I just read.

Image by pink_fish13
Have you ever noticed how everyone seems to have “the answer” to the healthcare crisis or the economic meltdown? The problem is, they usually don’t see above [...]

20 questions that your financially unprepared friends are afraid of

Note: In many cultures, you would be considered a huge jackass for asking these questions out loud.

1. How much money do you spend each month?
2. Where does it go?
3. Where do you want it to go?
4. Are you rich?
5. What does rich mean to you?
6. Hey, how’d you pay for that iPhone?
7. How much do [...]

How to save money on your worst problem areas

Need to cut down on eating out? Going out?
Here’s how I do it (this is from an upcoming lifehacking movie):

I cover this in more detail in tip #1 of The Scrooge Strategy, where I show you exactly how to implement what I call “The Two-Headed Savings Approach.” Here’s a preview of the 1,095-word tip: