Here’s hoping you and your family are having a wonderful holiday season! Normal posting resumes this afternoon with the latest entry in the 365 series as it winds down

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I’m thankful for my oldest son, who shows astounding maturity and thoughtfulness for his age. With almost every action, he not only demonstrates hos own trustworthiness, but sets a tremendous example for his friends and particularly for his younger siblings. I’m thankful for my daughter, whose boundless energy and creativity bring a

On Friday, a bug appeared in the software for The Simple Dollar that prevented a portion of users from viewing some sections of the site. This bug has now been fixed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused

Thanks to Forest Wander for the picture. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end – Seneca As I write this, Sarah and I are completely debt free. We have no mortgage. We have no car loans. We have no student loans. We have no credit card balances. We have no consumer loans of

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas today, celebrating another winter holiday with your family, or find this simply to be another day on your calendar, the best of wishes to you. Regular updating will resume tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d like to again share with you a poem that I

Over the past few days, I entered into an agreement to join forces with Cut Media to ensure the long-term future of The Simple Dollar. What Does This Mean For Readers? To me, this is the most important question to be asked about this arrangement. I have signed a long-term agreement with Cut Media with

A few days ago, my wife’s aunt passed away. She was a wonderful woman. She possessed an incredibly positive spirit, even though her life had brought her unbelievable hardship through no fault of her own. She overcame more challenges in her life than anyone else I’ve ever known, and it was a privilege to have

Today is a day set aside for reflecting on the things most important to us. Many of us (including me) are sharing today with our familes and closest friends. Here’s hoping that your Thanksgiving is a wonderful one. The Simple Dollar will return to its regularly scheduled programming tomorrow morning

Like a lot of you, for me the upcoming week is filled with meals shared with family and friends. Over a seven day stretch, we’re eating at least five planned meals with people we don’t get to see too often. In all that bustle is a reminder of the people we were, the people we

I mentioned a while back that I had some big plans in place for 2012 with regards to some projects for The Simple Dollar. I thought I’d share part of these plans with you today. One of my big goals for 2012 is to find a publisher for my fantasy novel. The novel is mostly

One wouldn’t have to have read this website for very long to know that Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple and Pixar, is one of the people in this world I admire (in fact, I even mentioned him in the reader mailbag this morning). Earlier today, when I learned that he had passed away

Ten years ago today, I arrived at work without knowing anything of what was going on in New York and Washington. One of my coworkers told me about it (there was still some genuine confusion as to what was going on, so he thought there were planes also headed to crash into the White House)

Over the past three weeks, I’ve taken a long vacation. My family and I traveled to the Seattle area to see the sights, visit family, and take our children to Mount Rainier and the ocean. We attended my sister-in-law’s wedding and reception and a few other events surrounding it. After that, we hosted several family

Memorial Day is a holiday that was originally created to honor deceased soldiers, but has largely grown over the years to honor all deceased people. As a way of commemorating this day, I usually spend some time thinking about what some of the people in my life that have passed on have taught me, and

Since my tongue-in-cheek post on Monday about my “seminar series,” I’ve been stunned at the outpouring of emails and notes from people who wanted to pay me anyway for that “seminar.” I really appreciate it. I deeply appreciate it. Right now, though, I’m in a financial situation where, for the time being and for the

Many readers of The Simple Dollar have come here over the years to get ideas on personal finance, improving their life, improving their career, and improving their use of money. Although many of the articles heavily include details from my own life, I don’t really have a great full summary on why I write The

This week, someone from my past reached into the present and dropped a job offer on my lap. If this job offer had appeared three years ago, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. It allows me to work from home. It allows me to take complete control of an interesting software development project

This past weekend, our infant son fell quite ill. He got a very high fever that kept spiking up to a worryingly high number, then falling a bit, then spiking again. He was completely lethargic. He seemed most content simply resting with his eyes open while being held, which is as far away from his

I hope that your 2011 is filled with financial and personal success. I’ll be spending today with my family, relaxing and recharging. Keep reading, because I have some exciting stuff planned for this year, including a completely different approach to putting my next book in your hands. (Your regularly scheduled programming will resume Monday. A