A few years ago, someone I know sent out an email saying that he was cancelling Christmas that year due to financial constraints. He had gotten caught in the trap that Christmas was more about the expensive gifts than the time spent with others. Being an “almost minimalist” by nature, I have always believed simplicity

If you’re like me, there isn’t one giant, glaring unnecessary expense in your budget that you can simply eliminate and save big bucks each month. Rather, saving money comes from chipping away at lower dollar amounts that have managed to increase over time. Admittedly, it’s much less satisfying to dock yourself $10 for eating out…

It’s been just over two years since I got my first credit card. I now have three and I’m never looking back. Ah, credit cards. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways: ·         Credit cards track my spending. The problem with withdrawing money from an ATM and paying for everything in cash…

Unless you’ve got an unlimited amount of cash and a limitless line of credit, saving money is probably something that you could benefit from.  There are countless ways to save money, from coupon clipping to budgeting and shopping at discount stores, but did you know that your Android smartphone could help?  I’ve waded through the…

For years now, the folks at Wisebread have been giving out great advice on living well for less. Now they’ve gathered all their wisdom together between two covers in 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, a new book featuring hundreds of great ideas from all their…

Chances are at least one of your New Year’s resolutions had to do with money. So how are you doing on your budget? I can’t count the number the times I’ve created budgets only to throw in the towel and decide that they just don’t work. Usually my frustration is due to any of the…

We haven’t even crossed the six month mark for Christmas this year, but here I am, talking about gift-giving. I haven’t lost it, though: along with Christmas, I’ve already got my gift giving for Father’s Day, various birthdays and a few weddings planned for. How many hours each year do you spend shuffling around…

When you’re thinking about productivity, one of the most important questions you should ask yourself is just how much your time is worth. There is no question that there are some tasks you should pay other people to do, but it can be hard to decide just which ones to hand over to trained professional…

In January, we asked you for your tips about living within your means and keeping to your budget, with the chance to win a db clay wallet. You gave us 144 responses in total – some of which had excellent advice. Here’s our round-up of the best tips and tricks for budgeting: 1. Don’t spend more…

Christmas – it’s the lovely time of the year again; the time for giving and sharing of gifts with family and friends. As much as we want to celebrate and be jolly during this festive season, we want to make sure that we are careful about spending so that we don’t spoil the festive mood. From…

Unless you’re infinitely rich or prepared to rack up major debt, you need to budget your income. Setting limits on how much you are willing to spend helps control expenses. But what about your time? Do you budget your time or spend it carelessly? Deadlines are the chronological equivalent of a budget…

We live in expensive times. As prices go up and up and up (gas is hovering around $3.00 a gallon across the U.S., milk is expected to top $5.00 a gallon before the end of the year, and so on), even the normal discount stores are starting to feel a little pricey. For many of…

Zen Habits has another excellent article about the importance of habits and goal setting to achieving success. This post lists the habits that will help you to become financially stable. Some of my favorites from the list are detailed below: Make savings automagical. This should be your top priority, especially if you…

SwitchPlanet is a site that lets you trade the DVDs, CDs, and games you no longer want for stuff that you do want. SwitchPlanet lets you enter your preferences for the stuff you want, and what you’re willing to trade. What’s particularly nice about SwitchPlanet is that it’s free to join, and…

Ask the Advisor has an exhaustive list of 136 tips for college students to save money. I wish I had seen this list when I was still in school. Many of the tips are common sense, and I was able to come up with some of these tips during my own four-year…