What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Getting a back-up car 2. Why you should keep stuff? 3. Frozen slow cooker meal tips 4. Prioritizing credit card debts? 5. Maximizing schedule with long… Read More Questions About Frozen Slow Cooker Meals, Gym Memberships, Churning, Annuities and More!

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance or other book of interest. Also available is a complete list of the hundreds of book reviews that have appeared on The Simple Dollar over the years. One of the best discussions I’ve ever had with a reader was with Emily. Emily worked in an office… Read More Review: From Bud to Boss

As a regular patron of Sam’s Club (mostly due to proximity), I can emphatically say that I’m a fan of warehouse club stores. I’ve also had the opportunity to visit the other two major warehouse shopping chains in the United States, CostCo and BJ’s. For those uninitiated, Wikipedia describes a warehouse club: A warehouse club… Read More Comparing Warehouse Shopping Chains… And How You Can Get In For Free!

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance book or other book of interest. I really enjoy reading personal finance books that target young professionals – the one group that I believe could use the personal finance help the most. So many of them are really well-written, but they each take one of two… Read More Review: Generation Earn

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Blaming the lazy people? 2. Homemade cider kits 3. Building blog traffic 4. Capital in the Twenty-First Century 5. $300 a week on food 6. What… Read More Questions About Thomas Piketty, Stockpiling, Dryer Sheets, Coaching and More!

Every year, we find ourselves drowning in a giant orgy of gift-giving. We buy and buy physical items that we give to our family and friends, hoping to see a big smile on their face and a warm embrace. For me, my weakness is children; I tend to want to buy them a present that… Read More The First Christmas Present You Should Buy

Every other week, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity, personal development, or entrepreneurship book. A few months ago, I was very pleasantly surprised by Mark Forster’s personal productivity book, Do It Tomorrow. Most of the time, when I open up a personal productivity or time management book, I can pretty much predict what the… Read More Review: Get Everything Done

In Monday’s reader mailbag, I answered a question from Tammy on the drawbacks of self-employment. In my answer, I said that this could honestly be a lengthy article on its own. Whenever I try to tackle big broad questions like that in a fairly short mailbag answer, I usually end up getting questions from readers,… Read More The Ins and Outs of Self-Employment and Working from Home

Many of my friends refuse to shop at Wal-Mart for various reasons. Here’s a quote from a recent email I received on this very topic (which I’m fairly sure originated with a consumer advocacy group): Wal-Mart’s prices aren’t lower. For one month, a newspaper in Arkansas tested the prices of 6 Wal-Marts against other stores.… Read More The Wal-Mart Question

Every Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal finance or other book of interest. Also available is a complete list of the hundreds of book reviews that have appeared on The Simple Dollar over the years. One aspect of getting a good deal that I do not enjoy is the negotiation process. I’ve gotten over… Read More Review: Getting More