I've gotten a bit lazy when it comes to couponing.  I wasn't keeping up on clipping coupons or organizing them or even putting the coupon inserts in their files. Sometimes I'd forget my coupon binder in the car (or worse yet, at home) and not bother to retrieve it. It's not that I didn't care.  It was that I just couldn't bring myself to spend the time to do it.  As I reflected on the No Eating Out Challenge, I realized that if I had been better about couponing during the month, I would … [Read more...]

Sometimes I truly believe that our vehicles just know when we have an extra $200 in our savings. When I told that to a friend of mine recently, he asked if I had any advice for how to save money on car repairs. I jokingly responded, "Marry a mechanic."  I later followed that with the advice to keep up on maintenance.  While it is sometimes spendy and can be an inconvenience, you'll save a lot more money if address little things before they become big things. Maintaining your car is the … [Read more...]

Let me say this first: I'm not a very big fan of the word "Psych" as a verb.  I think it goes back to those days in junior high when people would say, "Psych!" after they told you something you wanted to believe, but wasn't really true. So when I picked up the book Psych Yourself Rich by TV personal finance star  and author Farnoosh Torabi, I was a bit skeptical. Turns out it's a good book with a lame title.  The subtitle actually better reflects what this book is about:  "Get the mindset … [Read more...]

Some of my fellow cheapskates may already know that Ultimate Cheapskate Jeff Yeager has released a new book. So I'm a little behind in reviewing his first book The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches. Well, better late than never. As the Northern Cheapskate, I picked this book up at my local library so that I could see what someone who calls themselves the Ultimate Cheapskate has to say. I was actually expecting something like the extreme (and hilarious) ideas from Secrets … [Read more...]

I don't know about you, but I suspect that there are simply not enough hours in the day. Of course, I know the truth.  We all get 168 hours every week to spend them as we see fit, and that the reality is I spend waaaay too much of that time on Facebook and watching old episodes of Family Guy. Ugh.  Anyway... I recently got the chance to read Jim Randel's new book The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift. First off, let me say this:  Jim Randel is good at … [Read more...]

If you're looking for the training manual for your personal finances, you may want to check out Your Money: The Missing Manual by JD Roth. Those of you who are personal finance junkies may already be familiar with JD Roth as the author of the very popular blog Get Rich Slowly.  He's clawed his way of out debt, turned his finances around and become a personal finance guru. I've enjoyed his blog for several years now, and the book is a good read as well. Your Money: The Missing Manual is … [Read more...]