Financial Hack

It actually happened. I ran out of money in my food budget. Usually I can scrape together a $5 meal and eat it for two days but…I didn’t have $5.
Old me? Pull money out of next month’s budget.
New me? Find something – ANYTHING – to eat. I found a [...]

I’ve been told about the importance of good hair products for women. I’ve always been on the fence about them.
Does my long hair really need $40 shampoo?
I buy my hair products from the same place I buy my milk and my garden supplies… Target. I clip coupons from the paper for Infusium brand [...]

Not only am I $24 shorter in my grocery budget this week, the employees in the lighting department think I’m a pot head.

I’ve got an insider trading tip.
If you invest in this… you WILL gain benefits.
This isn’t a Murdoff Ponzi scheme and I’m pretty sure I won’t suffer Martha Stewartesque consequences (though I could use a lovely hand knit prison sweater).
I’m talking about investing in…
your marriage.
What does marriage investment have to do with your finances?
A [...]

April’s tax hikes gave me yet another incentive to push myself to find additional ways to save. I’ve cut most of my budgets as much as possible but there was one I could scrimp a little on…
gasoline
I am fortunate to live near the center of a beautiful city and most of my errands are [...]

I lack a green thumb.
An example of this fact?
We have two bougainvilleas in our backyard. I tried to keep one alive and kill the other. The one I tried desperately to keep alive… I killed. And the one I tried my hardest to kill… is flourishing like a giant miracle grow plant. [...]

The personality preference class was… interesting.
HR put me through an hour of testing and three hours of scenario testing. It wasn’t until halfway through that I realized… the results of this test may hurt me! Am I going to lose my job over this? But, like I said before, I’m big on [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, I have really bad teeth. Sure they look great… but they should considering I spend an average of $2,000 a year in maintenance.
In light of this, I’ve grown accustomed to paying dental bills but… I was a little thrown off at my last one:
Bill From:
Satan. *cough* My dentist.
Bill To:
Marshmallow Teeth [...]

Now that my car is paid off, I’ve rolled the amount I usually apply toward my car to my credit card.
I’m paying $800 over the minimum payment each month…
$800 could help my fledgling work wardrobe…
$800 could mean eating more than store brand wheat noodles for dinner…
$800 could fix my internet so I would no longer [...]

I’ve been taking the stairs at work once or twice a day and have become increasingly frustrated at my inability to hike 10 flights without stopping to breathe like an asthmatic smoker with advanced stages of lung disease.
At first, I could only hike 4 flights before needing a break. Now I can hike 7 [...]