Would you like this entire series in a convenient downloadable PDF? Check it out! For the entire month of December, The Simple Dollar is running a special series on building a better blog for 2007. These posts assume that you’re already blogging, that you have a passion for improving your blog’s long term traffic, and

At a certain point in my young adult life, I reached a crossroads of intense poverty. Although I was working and going to school, I literally had no extra money to spare with the engines of tuition, supplies, and rent grinding me down. I lived in a tiny apartment with only running water, a hot

As I read Make Your Kid A Millionaire this week, I found myself stunned at the huge amounts of money that the book assumes that you will give to your child. I can swallow a 529, but a Roth IRA for your child? Buying a home for them? These concepts seemed like utter fairy tales

I have a “rainy day” fund that I don’t include in any of my normal financial calculations. It just sits there, quietly accumulating small deposits and interest. In fact, I don’t even look at the account unless I am considering a major purchase or am coming across dire straits. How is this different from an

The Simple Dollar is running a series in which we re-evaluate Money Magazine’s “25 Rules To Grow Rich By”. One “rule” will be re-evaluated each weekday until the series concludes; you can keep tabs on the action at the 25 Rules index. Rule #14: Aim to accumulate enough money to pay for a third of

This week, The Simple Dollar is conducting a detailed review of Kevin McKinley’s Make Your Kid A Millionaire. This title focuses on the role parents play in building a net worth for their child, both financially and psychologically. Does this book provide some interesting insights, or is it merely a repeat of the power of

Where are you? You should be coming soon! I just watched the UPS man drive by… Tips From Adam Sandler’s Bulk Shopping Trip This is why I dearly love the Frugal Duchess; only she could come up with some sort of personal finance insight from reading US Weekly magazine. Why am I wasting my time

Early this morning, I was thinking about Julia, the first girl that I ever had any interest in whatsoever. I have a lot of faded memories of sitting in the park with her on the swings, talking about everything and nothing, and of hiking through the woods. I only got to know Julia for a

Recently, after discussing my fears about a home purchase, I received a very thoughtful email from a reader that I wanted to share with all of you. I love your site. I just discovered it and I pop in every day. I don’t usually respond but I have to tell you this…. You aren’t silly

Growing up, I watched my parents maintain their checkbook ledger quite carefully, though it was easy for them: they only wrote checks or (on a rare occasion) made a counter withdrawal from their checking account, and they also would manually go to the bank and make deposits of any paychecks they received. Today, I still

The Simple Dollar is running a series in which we re-evaluate Money Magazine’s “25 Rules To Grow Rich By”. One “rule” will be re-evaluated each weekday until the series concludes; you can keep tabs on the action at the 25 Rules index. Rule #13: Keep three months’ worth of living expenses in a bank savings

This week, The Simple Dollar is conducting a detailed review of Kevin McKinley’s Make Your Kid A Millionaire. This title focuses on the role parents play in building a net worth for their child, both financially and psychologically. Does this book provide some interesting insights, or is it merely a repeat of the power of

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new laptop. 2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB RAM, 256 MB video RAM, and a 80 GB hard drive (not counting my external one) should take care of my needs for a long while. Revolt Against Telemenu Day My advice to this person is to

I recently had the opportunity to read Enough with the Adsense!, a pretty provocative response to a rather provocative Simple Dollar post about “pay per post” schemes. In that post, the mercurial Dimes refers to me as logorrheic (guilty as charged) and also makes the astute observation that my site and many others shamefully use

If you’re going through the process of buying an automobile (as I am right now), there are many thoughts that are likely to pass through your head – and none of them should involve kicking tires. To avoid being suckered into buying a certain car when you get on the dealer’s lot, it’s a good

Recently, my niece was trying to calculate how much money would be in her savings account in six months. She was using the APY as a simple interest rate and thus was coming up with a number larger than what would actually be in her account. It was a small difference, but she seemed to

The Simple Dollar is running a series in which we re-evaluate Money Magazine’s “25 Rules To Grow Rich By”. One “rule” will be re-evaluated each weekday until the series concludes; you can keep tabs on the action at the 25 Rules index. Rule #12: If you’re not saving 10% of your salary, you aren’t saving

This week, The Simple Dollar is conducting a detailed review of Kevin McKinley’s Make Your Kid A Millionaire. This title focuses on the role parents play in building a net worth for their child, both financially and psychologically. Does this book provide some interesting insights, or is it merely a repeat of the power of

I got a cold over Thanksgiving and all I seem to be able to do is sleep.  I clicked around for a bit and found the following interesting posts, though. A New Way To Pay Off Your House I find this idea intriguing. In essence, what you’re doing is depositing all of your income into